Microsoft is reportedly planning to reduce the number of feature updates that Windows 10 receives per year to only one. According to a new report from ZDNet, the company may change its major update release schedule to only one per year for Windows 10 starting 2021.
The reason behind the change is to make more engineers available to focus on Windows 10 as well as Windows 10X.
If the information ends up being correct, then moving forward, the company could end up delivering the releases of Windows 10X during spring and Windows 10 feature updates during the fall. Also, Microsoft is expected to integrate some of the features included on Windows 10X, such as visual elements, containerization, and security features to the desktop version of Windows 10.
If the company moves forward with the plan, in the fall of 2020, Windows 10 20H2 will be available as a minor update for devices already running version 2004.
In spring 2021, instead of delivering Windows 10 21H1, the software giant will release the first version of Windows 10X, which will only support single-screen devices primarily for businesses and education and without support for legacy (win32) apps running in containers (via Windows Central). However, the report suggests that the operating system will initially run Universal Windows Platform (UWP) and web apps only. Then during the fall, the next feature update for the regular version of Windows 10 will release as the 21H2 update.
If the schedule continues the pattern, then in spring 2022, Microsoft will be releasing the first feature update of Windows 10X that should work for both single-screen and dual-screen devices.
As always, this information can always change, and Microsoft could end up going in a totally different direction, but this is the current internal plan.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].