Microsoft has confirmed for the first time Windows 10 21H1. The company has adopted a release cadence of two deliveries per year but has been uncharacteristically quiet about the update for next spring. Now, it has finally surfaced in a post on the Tech Community forums and it is confirmed that it will be a fairly modest update.
Microsoft confirms Windows 10 21H1
The post is about the Windows Hardware Compatibility Program and the changes that Windows 10 21H1 will bring. Or rather the changes it will not bring. The data is identical to what was stated in the 20H2 release and confirms that no changes are being made to hardware certification. The requirements and rules that applied to the 2004 version a year ago will remain the same for the two subsequent versions.
Concretely. The new features that were expected for this year are going to be delayed to the fall release and Windows 10 21H1 will be another service pack that will update version 20H2 while merely updating 2004. It will be the first time in the development of Windows that Microsoft publishes two service packs, focused on improving stability, with a solution of known bugs and security patches updated, but without updating of important features.
Everything indicates that this change of strategy is motivated by the work with Windows 10X. It should have been released last year on foldable like the Surface Neo, but complications in development (especially in running applications) and the extension to other equipment such as basic laptops to slow down the great momentum being gained by Chromebooks, have made it a strategic release that may have reduced the desktop version itself.
All that work will be put to good use. So much so that the main new features for the fall release, “a revitalizing and modernizing project for the Windows desktop experience” announced product manager Panos Panay, will be those that have been developed for Windows 10X, new start menu, activity center, taskbar and generally a big facelift for the GUI.
The last unofficial information on the release date of Windows 10 21H1 spoke of June.
