Microsoft has finally publicly acknowledged the upcoming update of Windows 10, version 21H1. The company has adopted a release rate twice a year for updates to its Windows 10 features for some time, but has been unusually silent about the update we would expect this spring. Now, it has finally appeared in a blog post on the tech community forums, and it looks like it will be a pretty small update.
The post is about the Windows hardware compatibility program and the changes that the 21H1 version will bring, or rather, the changes that it will not make. The blog post is almost a copy of the 20H2 version post and confirms that no changes are being made to the hardware certification. All the same requirements and rules that applied to Windows 10 version 2004 a year ago remain the same for the two versions that follow it.
Of course, this is due to Microsoft launching Windows 10X this spring, and that will be the big focus for now. The next big update to the usual Windows 10 was expected to arrive in the fall (with some major changes planned), but so far Microsoft itself had given no indication as to whether a spring update for Windows 10 would come out, or whether it would simply it would be a small update like the 20H2 version. It’s not uncommon for the 21H1 version to exist, but it’s nice to see that Microsoft finally recognizes it.
Windows 10X itself has not been nearly unreleased in any official way since last year. About a month ago, an almost final version of the operating system leaked online, which gave us a glimpse of what to expect, but Microsoft has not been able to recognize it in any way. The Redmond giant is scheduled to hold its Ignite conference in early March, but we can finally hear more about its plans at the event.