Windows 10 20H2 could be another minor, cleanup release

Windows 10 19H2, a.k.a. version 1909 a.k.a. the November 2019 update, was a small yet significant one. It was, for the first time since Windows 10 launched in 2015, an update dedicated solely to bug fixing and polish. It wasn't without its own set of showstopping bugs but, admittedly, nothing as nefarious as with other releases. It seems that the strategy has gotten positive feedback, enough for Microsoft to reportedly do the same this year with what will be the Windows 10 20H2 release.

In response to long-held criticism over its snail-paced rollout even of critical security updates, Microsoft swung to the opposite extreme with Windows 10. Updates came as often as they were available and, unfortunately, Microsoft also forced such updates on users. It did reserve its biggest breaking changes twice a year and boy did they break!

Now it seems Microsoft is finally listening without really giving up anything. It still released two major Windows 10 updates last year but the second was less major. Windows 10 19H2 was lean when it comes to new features, reserving the big changes for Windows 10 20H1 version 2004 that's expected to come in March or April. That gives users about two months to back up their computers, just in case.

Windows Latest's insider sources now claim that Microsoft is planning to make 20H2 like 19H2. That means it won't be as feature-filled at 20H1, reserving again the big changes for next year. What that means for Microsoft's plans for Windows 10X and the Surface Neo isn't known yet.

There will probably be no tears shed for this change unless we're talking about tears of joy. Users have been asking, even demanding, that Microsoft slow down its pace and make sure Windows updates don't break the computers they're supposed to fix. It won't really change the pace, as "Windows as a Service" is still the paradigm, but it hopefully means Microsoft can focus on refinement at least once a year before potentially breaking things again.