To check my earlier thought, I uninstalled KB3081438 and then checked the UBR value. It went back to 16397, so that value is probably set by microsoft-windows-coreos-revision. It doesn't install any files; it's just a manifest file. Since it installs no files, it makes even more sense that its purpose is to modify the registry (in this case, the UBR value).
info from Microsoft update catalog KB3081438 This update replaces the following updates: Cumulative Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074659) Cumulative Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3081424) Cumulative Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3081436) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074661) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074663) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074665) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074667) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074674) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074679) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074680) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074681) Security Update for Windows 10 for x64-based Systems (KB3074683)
That's the size of the cumulative update; Windows Update itself downloads small part(s) which is/are required.
They're using a cumulative update on purpose. They keep rolling up the updates so that whenever a new users installs win10, the update will download the latest fixes all in one update. I'm sure it's a way of reducing costs on their end. If you don't like it, I'd suggest just turning off auto-update and checking when you feel like updating. I hope that they'll calm down with these updates as Win10 matures more, but there's no guarantee.
So. the cumulative updates contain all previous cumulative updates. The size of cum. update n should then be: size proportional to: n(n+1)/2 A closer look at Win8 shows at least 50% of the content has been replaced since Oct 2012.
i like this new approach. it is easier to update images and build setup dvds. it is easy to update because only updated components are downloaded. no more superseeded updates search and cleanup. also new windows installations dont have to download tens of updates which some of them are already superseeded.
That would be nice, but after 25yrs of using MS crapware I'm sceptical. Can you supply a reference directly from MS. KB308763123 A critical update to provide Tristan de Cunha English internationalization. The de Cuhna keyboard layout is included in a separate 500MB download which is optimized for twelve-fingered typing.
Thanks for explanation. I thought WU downloading all 300MB. Basically it's like Win8.1 that incrementally updates, right?
installed office 2013 on Win10 Pro and Win10 LTSB today, and notice like just a few files downloaded and installed. Was a pleasant surprise. They must be pushing the cumulative stuff for that as well. Prior to today, there would be a list a mile long of updates coming down the pipe.
No, it's different. Win8.1 started doing monthly rollups, but they almost never made previous rollups obsolete. This is a cumulative rollup which means it incorporates previous changes and makes previous rollup obsolete. You can go and uninstall previous cumulative updates if you feel that your current rollup is stable.