Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft officials have not said anything publicly about the next feature update of Windows 10. Although 21H1 references were observed in Insider test collections and some Microsoft documentation, there was no other official information about the next release.
That was until yesterday, February 15th. A blog post from the Microsoft Tech Community about the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP) – observed by Neowin.net – gave an “official” confirmation that Windows 10 21H1 is coming and will be a minor update, as previous rumors indicate has.
Updating Windows 10 2H1, like 20H2, will act almost like a cumulative update. Drivers that meet the Windows 10 2004 requirements do not require new signatures. The Windows 10 2004, 20H2 and 21H1 will be based on the 2004 base, according to the blog post.
The reason it’s important at all is because a number of IT people have been accustomed to Microsoft releasing a major Windows 10 feature update over the past few years, followed by a minor update in the fall. This year, the spring / H1 update will be less important. Rumor has it that the fall / H2 feature update of Windows 10 will be bigger in terms of new features. Among the new features are a number of user interface and in-box application UI changes that include the code name “Sun Valley”.
Microsoft officials do not talk about this more than the above blog post. The Windows team has not yet released a 21H1 test solution for the Beta or Release Preview rings, but it is likely to happen soon.
Once Microsoft 21H1 is completed after being tested – and is likely to add fixes and updates to it, it will start rolling out 21H1. The process will probably be like what happened with 20H2. The 20H2 update was a small update for 2004, activated with an “Enablement Package”, which looks and feels a lot like a cumulative update. For anyone who has a version older than 2004, the 20H2 update is updated like a regular version of Windows 10, which means it will not be as fast and painless. (This is in the same way that Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 1909, which was a minor update until 1903.)