Microsoft has announced a Unified Update Platform that's designed to make it easier for devices to upgrade from one version of Windows 10 to another.

The UUP encompasses a set of behind-the-scenes changes in Windows 10 that reduce the processing power needed to update, shrink the size of update files, and streamline updates on Windows smartphones.

These improvements are designed to help Microsoft address user complaints about the update process. Because the company's vision for Windows 10 includes many updates, streamlining those procedures is important.

One of the biggest changes will involve Windows Update delivering only the updates relevant to the device requesting them, Bill Karagounis, director of program management for the Windows Insider Program and OS fundamentals at Microsoft, said in a blog post.

"Because more processing is being done by the service, this will lead to faster checks for update operations," he wrote. "It’s important to note that with UUP, nothing will look or behave differently on the surface, UUP is all underlying platform and service optimization that happens behind the scenes."

In the future, the UUP will make it possible for Microsoft to ship updates as differential download packages, meaning users will have to download only the parts of Windows that have changed between updates. For large updates, users could see a roughly 35 percent reduction in the size of downloads, Karagounis said.

Computerworld