Microsoft says Windows 10 version 21H2 is officially "ready for broad deployment"

Martin Brinkmann
Apr 18, 2022
Windows 10
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21

Later this year, Microsoft plans to release Windows 10 version 22H2. Right now, Windows 10 version 21H2 is the latest available version, and this version has reached broad deployment status.

windows 10 version 21H2 broad deployment

Microsoft confirms this on the official Windows 10 Release Health website:

Current status as of April 15, 2022 (PT)

Windows 10, version 21H2 is designated for broad deployment. As always, we recommend that you update your devices to the latest version of Windows 10 as soon as possible to ensure that you can take advantage of the latest features and advanced protections from the latest security threats.

Up until now, only select devices, that were compatible, were updated automatically to the latest version of Windows 10. Microsoft released Windows 10 version 21H2 in November 2021, as a small update that introduced just a few new features to the operating system.

Updating to Windows 10 version 21H2 is a quick process for devices that run the Windows 10 versions 2004, 20H2 and 21H1. Windows 10 versions 2004 and 20H2 have run out of support already in Home environments. Windows 10 version 21H1 receives its last security update next month before it is no longer supported as well.

Most changes of the Windows 10 version 21H2 update are already included in the monthly cumulative updates that Microsoft released. All it takes is the installation of an Enablement Update, KB5000736, to finalize the upgrade.

Microsoft recommends broad deployment updates to commercial customers, indicating that the updates have matured enough for use in organizations.

Home users who run earlier versions of Windows 10 may have their devices upgraded to Windows 10 version 21H2 automatically. If and when that happens depends on a number of factors, which include the support status of the operating system version and whether devices are compatible. While there are not any hardware requirement changes, compatibility includes having enough free disk space for the processing of the upgrade. Another factor is applications that are installed on a device, as some may be on a blocklist that prevents the installation of updates.

Microsoft lists no known issues for Windows 10 version 21H2 on the Windows 10 Release Information website. The last two known issues listed on the page are both marked as resolved.

Microsoft notes that devices may also be upgraded to Windows 11, provided that they meet the operating system's requirements.

Now You: which version of windows 10 do you run on your devices (if any)? (via Deskmodder, Born)

Summary
Microsoft says Windows 10 version 21H2 is officially
Article Name
Microsoft says Windows 10 version 21H2 is officially "ready for broad deployment"
Description
Microsoft confirmed this week that Windows 10, version 21H2, is ready for broad deployment.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. owl said on April 21, 2022 at 3:38 am
    Reply

    I had blocked “Windows Update” for my system,
    https://www.ghacks.net/2022/04/02/microsoft-update-catalog-downloads-are-now-using-https/#comment-4518672
    but with the 20H2 support deadline looming, I manually performed the upgrade to 21H2 yesterday.
    https://www.ghacks.net/2022/04/10/windows-10-version-20h2-home-and-pro-reach-end-of-support-on-may-10-2022/#comment-4519142
    https://www.ghacks.net/2022/04/14/browsers-are-crashing-with-error-code-0xc0000022-after-installing-the-april-2022-windows-updates/#comment-4519567
    After its completion, Windows settings were re-examined and fine-tuned.
    And I removed CHM (.chm) files that exist in the system,
    https://www.ghacks.net/2022/04/18/workaround-for-security-issue-in-7-zip-until-it-is-fixed/#comment-4519849
    Then cleanup with PrivaZer.

    After updating the OS and applying the latest KB (KB5011651, KB5012117, KB5012599), no noticeable problems are observed in the browser (Firefox) and no abnormalities are observed in the implemented third-party applications when using 20H2.
    Browsers are crashing with error code 0xc0000022 after installation of the April 2022 Windows Updates – gHacks Tech News
    https://www.ghacks.net/2022/04/14/browsers-are-crashing-with-error-code-0xc0000022-after-installing-the-april-2022-windows-updates/

    At any rate, I am relieved to confirm that it behaves normally.

  2. Chuck Riney said on April 19, 2022 at 5:46 pm
    Reply

    With Microsoft again back on this path of either buying our newest or we will brick your machine, the next step is easy. Chromebook or Linux Mint. I have never been impressed with any OS after XP. 7 was ok, but 10 is the pitts.

  3. Richard Allen said on April 19, 2022 at 10:46 am
    Reply

    Thanks Martin!

    Using the group policy editor I just changed the target version for Feature Updates from 21H1 to 21H2. After being on 21H1 for the last 9 months I can tentatively say that the update to 21H2 went well and I haven’t as of yet seen an increase of the process count, which surprised me just a little. Still have a process count in the 120’s after a reboot on my Win10 Pro laptop. ;)

  4. Haakon said on April 18, 2022 at 11:55 pm
    Reply

    My Win10 Pro i9-9900K/Z390 and i3-6100/H110 desktops are at 21H2. Confirmed in Settings > About. It dropped in on both when I did the 11/09/21 update on 12/08/21.

    I have a Win10 Pro E8400/G35 test desktop that started out on the slow ring Insider Program in October 2014. Casually updated since then, I did the 09/14/21 update on 10/07and skipped 10/12 through 01/11/22. It became 21H2 when I ran an update on 02/02.

    (Yes. I keep notes.)

    So, up until now, Win10 21H2 was a not-so-broad deployment?

  5. Marti Martz said on April 18, 2022 at 9:19 pm
    Reply

    Ooh glad this article popped up.

    Worked on a HP 15-ef1082nr laptop (notebook technically) that wouldn’t install Win10 21H2. Yes the BIOS was updated to the latest and was a brand new, out of the box, machine.

    The work around was to install 21H1 first then run Windows Update to make it 21H2. Was quite odd that the ISO mediums used didn’t work on there but it works fine on other machines.

    So not entirely sure if it’s fully ~”ready for prime time” yet. So keep those older ISO medias available if you are a tech.

  6. Joe Greenman said on April 18, 2022 at 7:29 pm
    Reply

    I’m a bit confused (which isn’t soooooooooo unusual).

    Martin wrote, “Later this year, Microsoft plans to release Windows 10 version 22H2”.

    However, a brief web search made it appear that 22H2 is a version of Win 11 rather than 10.

    Am I missing something? Thanks.

    1. Farmers said on April 19, 2022 at 1:33 pm
      Reply

      The current released version of Windows 10 and Windows 11 are both labelled ’21H2′, which simply means it was released in the 2nd hald of 2021. Likewise, the next version of each will be labelled ’22H2′ meaning 2nd half of this year.

    2. Martin Brinkmann said on April 19, 2022 at 6:03 am
      Reply

      Joe, Microsoft will release Windows 10 version 22H2 and Windows 11 22H2 later this year.

    3. John said on April 18, 2022 at 9:25 pm
      Reply

      So, Microsoft was releasing two main feature updates a year of Windows 10 before Windows 11 came out. Eventually, they took on the format of the last two digits of the year, the letter “H” (presumably for “half”), and then either the number “1” or “2” to designate whether it was the feature release that came out in the first half of the year, usually spring, or the second half of the year, usually about 6 months later in the fall.

      Conceivably, this could have carried over to Windows 11. So, if both Windows 10 and Windows 11 were each planning a feature update for the second half of 2022, they might be stylized “Windows 10 22H2” and “Windows 11 22H2”, with potentially the only thing that they would be certain to have in common is being feature updates for each OS due to land in the second half of 2022.

      The article doesn’t mention a Windows 22H1, but that may simply be because Windows 10 is no longer the latest Microsoft OS. It’ll get security updates and bug fixes for several years to come, but the feature updates may be fewer and eventually non-existent. Of course, those of us who are still on Windows 10 are in many cases on it because we aren’t really that impressed by the new features and changes Microsoft is rolling out with Windows 11, and thus aren’t likely to care if Windows 10 doesn’t get many (if any) feature releases going forward, as long as the security patches and bug fixes are there and everything continues to work.

      1. Martin Brinkmann said on April 19, 2022 at 6:02 am
        Reply

        John, Microsoft switched from releasing two feature updates per year to just one. There is no Windows 10 version 22H1 because there will only be a 22H2 for 2022. Similarly, there will only be a Windows 11 version 22H2 for that year as well, and all future years until Microsoft changes the release interval again.

  7. Steve99 said on April 18, 2022 at 2:40 pm
    Reply

    “Which version of windows 10 do you run on your devices?”

    Win 7, Linux, BSD.

    Warning, harsh opinion presented; with humor…
    From where I sit, it seems to me that MS has become a deranged psyczhoid anime character, hyped up on espresso while snorting a combo of meth and ajax cleaner – paranoid while up all night doing nothing of value, frightened and hunched in a corner rubbing the skin on its arms due to night crawlers.

    I just want an OS that works. An OS that when I learn it, I don’t have to re-learn it every few months (and let’s not get started on Window’s newer numbering schemes – a device of immature marketing dolts). How about an OS that offers no bad surprises and just runs without complaint, that doesn’t need to be fixed every three days because it the prior fixes were rushed to market, thanks to meth/ajax enthused half-wits.

    Of course for rock solid OSes, BSD is the most perfect OS ever created, where knowledge gained 20 years ago still applies because they have intelligent project managers who use brains to fuel their direction instead of adolescent, untested impulse. Whereas with MS, and increasingly MS Linux, a user’s hard fought knowledge decays and becomes useless in a matter of months (netplan anyone? yaml vs conf??? sheesh!). So, I no longer spend months learning the intricacies of programming for Windows nor keeping up so much with Linux (which is starting to really MS suck).

    As far as client OS for daily driving, Windows 7 is about the best OS ever created (Windows 2000/XP for the best shells, but underlying OS for 7 is a more stable). So, though I have licenses and disk images for all of my boxes to run Windows 10, nothing runs it; life is too short to be using a faulty product put out by half-wits.

    1. John Simon said on April 28, 2022 at 8:24 pm
      Reply

      Ah. You want the static version of an OS. Use whatever Newt Gingrich is using. On his abacus. That’s a static conservative.

  8. John G. said on April 18, 2022 at 1:58 pm
    Reply

    W10 forever. Thanks for the article! :]

    1. Peter Parker Kent said on April 29, 2022 at 1:42 am
      Reply

      Windows 98 til I die.

    2. w7 said on April 18, 2022 at 7:13 pm
      Reply

      W7 forever !

      1. beemeup5 said on April 19, 2022 at 6:28 am
        Reply

        XP or bust! ;)

  9. John B said on April 18, 2022 at 1:23 pm
    Reply

    I’ll wait a year until most of the public has finished alpha-testing it.

  10. 11n 4eva said on April 18, 2022 at 1:08 pm
    Reply

    Windows 10? People still use Windows 10? I read a report from Microsoft which clearly stated that everybody has installed Windows 11 now. There’s only like 5 or 6 computers still on Windows 8 but that’s all. They also counted mac and linux computers in use, it’s somewhere around 80 computers worldwide.

    1. owl said on April 19, 2022 at 1:34 am
      Reply

      @11n 4eva
      > Windows 10? People still use Windows 10? I read a report from Microsoft which clearly stated that everybody has installed Windows 11 now.

      Do you believe the salesman’s (Microsoft) BS?
      You should sharpen your “social” studies.

      Windows 11 penetration rate, is also below the usage rates of Windows 7 and Windows XP.
      https://www.ghacks.net/2022/03/31/adduplex-windows-11s-usage-share-rise-slowed-down-to-a-crawl-in-march-2022/#comment-4519662

      1. vanp said on April 19, 2022 at 6:15 am
        Reply

        owl, I think we can assume those remarks were sarcastic.

      2. Frankel said on April 19, 2022 at 12:52 pm
        Reply

        His tendency to misread social cues has caused some short-lived friction in other comment sections already. I just laff it off, he is harmless.

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