Windows 10 21H2, obsolete version, appears

If I didn’t know better, I would say that Windows 10 21H2 sucks.

Since it was announced in July, it has been eclipsed by its emerging alternative, Windows 11 21H2. Finally, however, Windows 10 21H2 is out.

That’s not to say I recommend users install it right away. I prefer the measured approach and wanted to wait a bit to make sure my vendors were ready for it. That makes it a good time to take a look at your hardware to make sure you don’t have a machine on mostly unsupported older platforms. So let’s review what’s still supported, how long it will be supported, and what version of Windows you should be planning to switch to.

Of the released and supported versions of Windows 10 currently supported for Home and Professional users, 21H1 is currently officially considered widely deployed (as of November 3) and will be supported until December 13, 2022 for both Windows 10 Home and Professional. Windows 10 20H2 is supported until May 10, 2022. And last but not least, Windows 10 2004 is the version I want you to upgrade to as soon as possible; it ceased support in less than a month: December 14. Windows 10 2004 will receive its final update on that date. To remain protected, you need to make sure that your Windows 10 setup is upgraded to 20H2 or 21H1 after that date. (Microsoft has indicated that it “will continue to support at least one Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel through October 14, 2025.”

Windows 10 Enterprise and Education editions available Slight divergence in support timeframes. Although Windows 10 2004 is compatible with Home and Professional (and lost support on December 14), Windows 10 1909, which is actually older, is still supported until May 10, 2022. Windows 10 20H2 is supported. Support until May 9, 2023, a full year after Home and Professional editions, and Windows 10 21H1 supported until December 13, 2022 – matching Home and Professional editions.

Why are the dates different? Because the Spring releases of Enterprise and Education have a much longer support life than the Home and Professional editions.

If you’re a home user waiting to install 21H1, keep in mind that I’ve seen several PCs that have never been pushed to later feature releases. (This is especially the case if your machine shuts down more often than it does online.) I strongly recommend clicking Start > Settings > System and About and double-checking the version you have installed. . You may find a machine that isn’t in the latest supported feature release even though you think it’s up to date. Or you may see one being offered a feature release that hasn’t been installed. For these PCs, if you don’t see 21H1 specifically offered, use registry key method come set targeted release version. This will ensure Windows Update only offers that specific version (21H1) and not 21H2.

Before implementing any feature release, I always make sure to have a valid backup so that if I need to roll back to a previous version, I can. Then I delayed the installation, realizing that any problems would be found by the time I continued. It is my policy to not be the first to deploy a feature release, nor be the last to deploy a feature release.

For business deployments, you have a variety of options for deploying Windows 10, from Windows Software Update Services, Intune, to a simple script to deploy a feature release. In the early years of deploying Windows 10, I used to get the Windows 10 ISO and extract it on the net. Then I would use a script to silently deploy it to the network and start it up again. This will ensure that the installation will take place in hours and without interruption. What’s more, I can arrange it across the office and do installations at different times and for different regions – rolling out feature releases over time.

For example, you can use the following script to deploy a currently posted feature release:

$dir="C:_Windows_FUpackages"

mkdir $dir

$webClient = New-Object System.Net.WebClient

$url="https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=799445"

$file = "$($dir)Win10Upgrade.exe"

$webClient.DownloadFile($url,$file)

Start-Process -FilePath $file -ArgumentList '/quietinstall /skipeula /auto upgrade /copylogs $dir'

The last line indicates that the installation should be smooth and won’t bother the user with final setup questions.

Recently, the Far West System Management team held an online meeting to discuss how to manage and deploy Windows 11. Basically, you can use the same tools that you use to manage Windows 11. Manage and deploy feature releases for Windows 10 to Windows 11. All four of those sessions are possible watch online, including presentations by Aria Carley, senior product manager, Microsoft; Michael Niehaus, product manager, Tanium; Mike Danoski, product manager, Microsoft; Max Stein, Intune Support Team, Microsoft; and Johan Arwidmark, technical colleague, 2Pint Software. If you are an IT professional, I highly recommend you take the time to review these videos. And remember, Windows 11 will have an annual feature release process, not a bi-annual release process like Windows 10.

Bottom line: 21H2 is out, but don’t install it right away. Instead use it as an indication that you should evaluate which feature release you are using and how many months you have left before it runs out of support. There will be time to get 21H2 later.