Previously, the time gap between launch and a Microsoft declaration was shorter, on the order of four months as an average. The delay was the longest yet for Microsoft, breaking the prior record of six and a half months set by Windows 10 1909, 2004's immediate predecessor. That guidance was notable - not for its appearance, for Microsoft has consistently declared Windows 10 versions' suitability for broad rollout - but because it came more than eight months after the May 27, 2020, launch of Windows 10 2004. 'Windows 10, version 2004 is designated for broad deployment,' Microsoft said. On this date, Microsoft told commercial customers that Windwas reliable and stable enough that it could be deployed to all corporate PCs. If Windows 10 21H1 does appear, it will be installed primarily by Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro customers because of its shorter 18-month support lifecycle. It is possible that Microsoft will not issue a spring feature upgrade (as it's done since 2017) reports have circulated that the firm will shift to a once-a-year tempo by giving the first slot of 2021 to the launch of Windows 10X, another attempt by the company to craft a lighter-weight OS to compete with the likes of Google's Chrome OS and Apple's iPadOS.

(Remember, Microsoft changed its feature upgrade naming convention in June 2020, dropping the yymm format for the new yyH1 and yyH2 for each year's first- and second-half releases.) Windows 10 21H1 - probably nicknamed 'April 2021 Update' - may release after this date, the month's Patch Tuesday. This is the latest schedule pencil in these dates. That's why everyone should be marking the calendar with Windows' most important release events.

Each mutation of the plan comes as a surprise to customers.

For all its talk of 'monitoring feedback' and 'hoping to learn' whether to repeat the delivery of one major refresh and one very minor retread, or return to a pair of equal upgrades, Microsoft didn't seem to hesitate when picking the former – not during an upside-down, inside-out year of the novel coronavirus.Įach year of Windows 10 witnesses new decay of the original concept. With half a year – first or second – as a target, Microsoft gave itself the wiggle room the original plan had rejected as old-fashioned, if not obsolete.Īnd as expected, Microsoft will reprise the 2019 major-minor release practice this year. This year, Microsoft messed with the nomenclature of the still-twice-annual upgrades, dropping the yy03 and yy09 labels for the vaguer yyH1 and yyH2, an admission that the supposed precision of the earlier tags fooled no one.

Update windows 10 oktober 2019