The year's first feature upgrade for Windows 10 arrived this week with little fanfare, largely because it offers little new functionality because Microsoft has abandoned its major-minor release cadence.
Windows 10 20H2 now in broad deployment, available to everyone
By
Windows 10, version 20H2 has entered the broad deployment phase and will be offered to all devices not configured to defer feature updates or affected by compatibility holds.
Microsoft has recently removed the last remaining Windows 10 upgrade blocks after addressing known issues affecting systems with Conexant or Synaptics devices causing errors and problems when updating to Windows 10 2004 or 20H2. Windows 10, version 20H2 is designated for broad deployment, the company says in a Windows Health dashboard status update. The recommended servicing status is Semi-Annual Channel.
Microsoft officially started rolling out Windows 10 20H2 (aka the October 2020 Update) in October 2020, but for many people, it might not have been being offered when checking via Windows Update until now.
Microsoft fixes WSUS bug blocking May Windows security updates
By
01:52 PM
Microsoft has resolved a known issue preventing managed devices from receiving the May 2021 Patch Tuesday Windows security updates. When checking for updates within Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and managed devices that connect to these servers, this month s security updates might not be available or offered, as Microsoft explained on the Windows Health Dashboard. This might also affect Security Only and Internet Explorer Cumulative Rollups, on platforms that receive these types of updates.
The known issue impacted both client and server platforms, from Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 up to the latest versions, Windows 10 20H2 and Windows Server 20H2.
Reseller News
Join Reseller News
Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.Sign up now
Microsoft and Mozilla plan new upgrade tactics for Edge, Firefox
Edge users in IT-managed environments will continue to get all updates via established IT-directed channels. Meanwhile, Mozilla is rolling out a new background update process for its browser. Credit: Dreamstime
Microsoft and Mozilla have spelled out steps they plan to take to streamline the upgrade process for their browsers, Edge and Firefox, respectively.
In March, Microsoft announced it would change how the company updated Edge, noting that the current method, which relied on a utility best known for keeping Office applications up to date on Macs, would be awarded a browser-specific servicing module.
Getty Images
Microsoft and Mozilla have spelled out steps they plan to take to streamline the upgrade process for their browsers, Edge and Firefox, respectively.
In March, Microsoft announced it would change how the company updatsd Edge, noting that the current method, which relied on a utility best known for keeping Office applications up to date on Macs, would be awarded a browser-specific servicing module. It will solely be responsible for updating Edge-related products and will not be affected (e.g. blocked) by other pending product updates, Olivia Zhang, program manager, wrote in a March 10 post to a company blog. Updates will happen automatically and silently, and no out-of-Edge notifications will be shown.