Version 1909 is not a Feature Update in any conventional sense, and even Microsoft states that. It's more like a cumulative update than a feature update, which is why it installs very quickly indeed.
I've also snagged the 1909 ISO to add to my collection in case a repair install, manual Feature Update (kinda), or completely clean install should need to be done. The first and third require the ISO or bootable media created from same.
This is the only Feature Update of which I'm aware where the actual staging for same was done during the final cumulative update to the prior version, which is another reason the update goes so quickly.
The Update now button, AKA the Update Assistant, is still appearing on the Microsoft Windows 10 Download Page when I'm viewing it, and I did so just moments ago.
ONLY the "Download tool now" button appears in my IE11 and Firefox browsers when I'm using Windows 7.
But BOTH the "Download tool now" and "Update now" buttons appear in my IE11 and Firefox browsers when I'm using Windows 10.
Weird!
Microsoft has been saying, for a very long time, that the free upgrade period for Win7/8/8.1 to Windows 10 is over. We all know that it can still be done using the ISO file or bootable media created with the Media Creation Tool.
Since the code for the Windows 10 Download Page almost certainly queries what Windows it's running under, I suspect they're phasing out the Update now button on any computer not already running Windows 10.
And I can't say the following for certain by any means, but this makes me suspect even more that once Windows 7 goes out of support it may become impossible to do a free upgrade at all, at least if the machine is running Windows 7. I wouldn't be surprised if the same applied to Windows 8/8.1, although that door may remain open, unofficially, until 2023 when support ends for Win8.1.
I didn't think about that.
That would explain why Microsoft doesn't show the "Update now" button now when it detects a computer is running Windows 7.
On a side note:
I bought a refurbished Dell OptiPlex 980 minitower about 3 months ago without a Windows operating system.
It still had its OEM sticker for Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.
I did a clean install of Windows 10 Pro 64-bit in it.
It accepted the OEM key and activated Windows 10.
I wonder if it would activate if I had bought it after January 2020.
We shall see soon enough, as you can be sure that those who are waiting until the last possible moment, or letting the drop dead date pass, will be reporting what's happening when they attempt to use a Windows 7 key to activate Windows 10 afterward.
I have never, ever understood why at each and every major version update of Windows there is a significant contingent who just will not do it, and for the flimsiest of reasons for the most part. If you have chosen a given OS and you want to stay in that ecosystem then you move along with what the maker of said OS is offering. It applied when I was working in Unix-based environments (before the rise of Linux), IBM proprietary OSes, DEC proprietary OSes, and more. It's an exercise in both futility and foolishness to do otherwise. And once any OS is officially unsupported, well, continuing to use it in any capacity where contact with cyberspace is involved is insane. You're just asking for disaster.
I did a clean install of 1909 from a Usb stick. Then I ran Windows Update and it found several updates but they failed to install. After a restart they all installed ok though.
I prefer creating and using a bootable install DVD over creating and using a bootable install USB thumb drive.
It tends to be more successful in completing the setup process, and there's less chance of it getting damaged or lost.
I refuse to own a desktop/tower or laptop/notebook that doesn't have a disc drive.
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