Microsoft has finally publicly announced the next Windows 10 update, version 21H1. The company has for some time adopted a twice-yearly release cadence for its Windows 10 feature updates, but it was unusually quiet about the update we would expect this spring. Now it’s finally appeared in a blog post on the Tech Community forums, and it looks like it’s going to be a pretty small update.
The report is about the Windows hardware compatibility program and the changes that version 21H1 will bring – or rather, the changes it will not make. The blog post is almost a carbon copy of the post for version 20H2, and it confirms that no changes are being made to the hardware certification. The same requirements and rules that applied to Windows 10 version 2004 a year ago remain the same for both versions that follow.
Of course, this is because Microsoft is releasing Windows 10X this spring, and that will be the big focus for now. The next major update for regular Windows 10 is expected to land in the fall – with some major changes expected – but so far Microsoft itself has given no indication as to whether a spring update for Windows 10 would appear. or if it were merely a minor update like version 20H2. It’s not surprising that version 21H1 does exist, but it’s good to see Microsoft finally acknowledge that.
Windows 10X itself has been virtually unheard of in any official way since last year. About a month ago, an almost final build-up of the operating system leaked online, giving us to expect what we could expect, but Microsoft could not admit it in any way. However, the Redmond giant plans to hold its Ignite conference in early March, and we may finally hear more about its plans during the event.