Windows 10 20H2 update later this year will be minor

Martin Brinkmann
Jun 17, 2020
Updated • Jun 17, 2020
Windows, Windows 10
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Microsoft revealed yesterday that the next feature update for the company's Windows 10 operating system will be called Windows 10 20H2 and that it will be a minor update just like Windows 10 version 1909.

Just like Windows 10 version 1909, Windows 10 20H2 will be delivered "in an optimized way"  using servicing technology. In other words, it installs like a regular cumulative update on devices running Windows 10 version 2004.

When Microsoft published Windows 10 version 1909 it stated that future updates would not be similar to the minor feature update, but it changed the strategy soon thereafter.

Devices that run an older version of Windows 10 can't be upgraded this way, a full installation is required to bring Windows 10 20H2 to these devices.

windows 10 version 2004

Microsoft selected a naming scheme for this and future Windows 10 feature updates to "provide consistency" across releases. All feature updates for Windows 10 will use the naming scheme Year-H-1/2, e.g. 20H2 for the second feature update of 2020, or 21H1 for the first feature update of 2021.

The company will keep on using friendly names, e.g May 2020 Update, as well in "consumer communications".

Windows 10 version 20H2 is a minor update and as such, is smaller in scope. Microsoft does note that it will be the first version of Windows 10 to come with the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser installed, and that it will "offer a scoped set of features to improve performance and quality".

Support for the consumer Windows 10 versions 1809 and 1903 will run out in late 2020. Enterprise customers get 30 months of support for each Windows 10 feature update that gets released in the second half of the year. The upcoming Windows 10 version 20H2 will be no exception to that.

Closing Words

Microsoft's rapid pace of delivering two feature updates per year in the past has raised criticism both from consumers and Enterprise administrators. While it has been possible to skip a feature update, e.g. only install the second feature update of each year on Enterprise devices, or even less, staying recent has been a strenuous process.

The switch to releasing one full feature update per year and a minor update in the second half makes the whole process more manageable thanks to the quick installation of the second update and the lack of changes that it comes with.

Now You: What is your take on this?

Summary
Windows 10 20H2 update later this year will be minor
Article Name
Windows 10 20H2 update later this year will be minor
Description
Microsoft revealed yesterday that the next feature update for the company's Windows 10 operating system will be called Windows 10 20H2 and that it will be a minor update just like Windows 10 version 1909.
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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on June 17, 2020 at 11:18 pm
    Reply

    I’m fine with that. The less they ruin the better. Hoping settings will deprecated sooner or later.

  2. Paul(us) said on June 17, 2020 at 6:37 pm
    Reply

    Hoi Martin, Do you know of the Windows 10 20H2 update later this year the version name will be 2004, “Manganese or will it have a different name?
    And when your not sure when do you think the final name will be known to you and me?

  3. Corky said on June 17, 2020 at 5:22 pm
    Reply

    Wasn’t 20H1 meant to be minor as well, or have a mixed things up.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on June 17, 2020 at 6:24 pm
      Reply

      The first was supposed to be major, the second minor.

      1. Corky said on June 17, 2020 at 7:12 pm
        Reply

        So what you’re saying is i mixed things up. :)

        Having said that though it seems even Microsoft are getting confused as from what i understand 20H2 is going to come with Edge (Chrome) preinstalled and that doesn’t seem very minor to me.

  4. Deo et Patriae said on June 17, 2020 at 4:31 pm
    Reply

    I think that will be the moment to go from 1909 to 2004.

  5. Anon said on June 17, 2020 at 2:43 pm
    Reply

    If administrators don’t like having 2 feature updates a year, why don’t they just use Windows 10 LTSC

    1. DaveyK said on June 17, 2020 at 9:00 pm
      Reply

      Because Microsoft helpfully blocks Office 365 from running on LTSC these days. Primarily because lots of companies started deploying LTSC on office machines and Microsoft didn’t like that.

      Their testing regime relies on companies being forced to deploy regular feature updates and hence taking part in the testing of Windows 10 (so Microsoft doesn’t have to).

      1. Anonymous said on June 23, 2020 at 3:24 pm
        Reply

        Any proof of this?

      2. Swat said on June 19, 2020 at 12:31 pm
        Reply

        I am using the latest build of Office 365 Pro Plus (version 2005) on LTSC 1809. Not a single issue at all.

  6. Rob.G said on June 17, 2020 at 10:50 am
    Reply

    “Windows 10 20H2 and that it will be a minor update just like Windows 10 version 1909”.

    I’ve ran Windows 7 on my little netbook now for 9 years and have never updated once..and have never encountered a single virus, hijack, glitch or issue with it (touch wood). So I’m bemused by the ongoing Windows 10 updates fiasco, and the fancy update titles such as Windows 10 1909, Windows 10 20H2 etc etc. Not to mention that ‘Windows 10’ is itself an odd title for an OS, since Windows 9 seems to have been bypassed altogether.

    1. R said on June 17, 2020 at 8:57 pm
      Reply

      You can use 7 for older systems but for up to date hardware windows 10 essential.

      They are just numbers nothing important. Windows 8.1 = Windows 9. Also there is no iPhone 9.

      1. Rob.G said on June 18, 2020 at 10:17 am
        Reply

        “They are just numbers nothing important.
        ….Windows 8.1 = Windows 9”.

        Got it! So 9 is the new 8.1. ..and 20H2 is the new 1909.
        ..Jeez! No wonder Microsoft is in such a mess.

        “….for up to date hardware windows 10 essential”.

        Is “essential” the latest version of W10 then?
        ;-)

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