Windows 10’s next major update could arrive much later than hoped

Windows 10
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Windows 10’s next feature update might arrive later than the first upgrade of the year normally would, at least according to the latest leak.

Windows 10 21H1 could pitch up in June, according to a Chromium code commit from a Microsoft software engineer, which read: “The Windows Release coming out this June 2021 has a new API that can disable KTM exploits.”

This must refer to the 21H1 update, rather than the second update for 2021, as June is (just) in the first half of the year, whereas the following update turns up in H2 (obviously); and indeed usually later in H2 (September, October or November), as well.

Interestingly, since Windows Latest spotted this commit, it has been changed to read “an upcoming Windows Release”, removing the mention of June which was previously let slip.

Later than anticipated

Usually, April or May are the months in which Microsoft would look to push out the first update of the year for Windows 10, so June is certainly later than normal – and indeed it flies in the face of what we’ve heard from the grapevine thus far.

Namely that the 21H1 update is a minor one – even though it’s a ‘major’ feature update, as opposed to a routine monthly cumulative update, it won’t do all that much and is just an enablement package – with that enablement switch already spotted in testing, leading to rumors that the upgrade could come sooner rather than later.

The fact that it’s just a smaller piece of work reinforces that idea, too, but of course it all depends on how long Microsoft holds the update in testing. And according to this latest leak – assuming it’s correct, and we need to exercise plenty of caution around that – the plan is for a pretty thorough testing process (which is no bad thing, to be fair).

While this first update of 2021 will be a smaller one, the following update later in the year is expected to make some big changes to Windows 10, including a total overhaul of the interface (again, if the rumor mill is right).

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).