The next big Windows 10 update could be here sooner than you think

Windows 10 Start menu redesign
(Image credit: Microsoft)

Windows 10’s next big update – the second one for 2020 – is likely to be released fairly soon, according to the latest from the rumor mill.

Windows Latest reports that Microsoft has made the Windows 10 20H2 update available to commercial users and businesses for testing and validation, ahead of general availability.

That means that the release of this next update should happen soon enough – in theory – bar any last-minute problems (which have certainly cropped up in the past).

Mind you, as this is a relatively minor update, the chances of complications should be slimmer – but that said, there are some bigger changes coming with the 20H2 update, including a new look for the Start menu, and improvements to the overall Windows 10 experience for tablet users. But it still isn’t a massive set of changes which is incoming.

Delivery method

Microsoft has already made it clear that 20H2 will be offered as an enablement package to those who are already running the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, mirroring the way in which the software giant implemented the (minor) November 2019 Update last year.

The only requirement for May 2020 Update users will be that they are running the June 2020 monthly quality update.

However, those who still haven’t moved to the May 2020 Update will be offered the 20H2 upgrade as a full feature update (effectively skipping over the May 2020 Update).

The next step for the 20H2 update, which is now being feature-locked, is that it will reach Release Preview, and whereas we were previously expecting the upgrade to be fully available likely in November, October is now perhaps looking more likely – so theoretically, it could be unleashed in a month and a half or so.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).