Mysterious Windows 10 Feature Experience Pack discovered: What is it?

Windows Feature Experience Pack
(Image credit: Future)

After the Windows 10 version 2004 update, something called the "Windows Feature Experience Pack" is mysteriously appearing under the "Specifications" section of the "About your PC" settings menu. However, there has been little confirmation as to what it's actually doing. Microsoft has not provided any official comments hinting at the reason for its existence, but we have a few ideas.

On Microsoft's official "Available Features on Demand" website, the "Windows Feature Experience Pack" is listed there. Unfortunately, this also doesn't provide much of a clue as to why it exists. All we see here is a warning that informs readers not to remove it because it "includes features critical to Windows functionality."

However, a primary belief for what this actually does is to give Microsoft the ability to update core software components through the Microsoft Store without having to go through the trouble of updating the entirety of Windows 10. This is useful for when Microsoft intends to make small changes to certain features and applications, allowing them to quickly roll out fixes and updates.

There's also been speculation for quite some time that Microsoft has been planning to separate the Windows 10 UI and UX from the actual operating system itself. This would allow a "lite" version of Windows 10 to exist for testing functionality on varying types of hardware.

If either of these possibilities is true, it's hard to imagine why Microsoft wouldn't be upfront about the usefulness of this feature. It seems like something Windows 10 users would be happy about, as it would reduce the frequency of updates to the operating system.

Momo Tabari
Contributing Writer

Self-described art critic and unabashedly pretentious, Momo finds joy in impassioned ramblings about her closeness to video games. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Media Studies from Brooklyn College and five years of experience in entertainment journalism. Momo is a stalwart defender of the importance found in subjectivity and spends most days overwhelmed with excitement for the past, present and future of gaming. When she isn't writing or playing Dark Souls, she can be found eating chicken fettuccine alfredo and watching anime.