2021’s first Feature update not coming until June

Aleak from Microsoft has suggested that the first Windows 10 Feature update of 2021 (version 21H1) won’t be ready until June, a month or two later than has been the case in previous years.

In both 2019 (version 1903) and 2020 (version 2004), the first Feature update was released in May. Before that, they were released in April.

But in an online message posted to software developers, a Microsoft employee referred to June 2021 as the release date for 21H1. The message was later edited to remove the date, but not before screenshots of it had circulated on social media.

It’s thought that version 21H1 will be a minor update, containing mostly fixes and improvements to existing tools. Recent versions for Windows Insiders show small changes including DNS options moving from the

Control Panel to Settings, and notifications when you turn on your computer telling you which programs will launch automatically.

A previous leak indicated that the update will be installed using an ‘enablement switch’, which turns on fixes and improvements already installed in monthly updates.

This is much faster than installing a new update in one go, and in theory it should cause fewer problems. The October 2020 update (20H2) was installed in the same way. It would be the first time Microsoft has released two minor updates for Windows 10 back to back.

If this happens, it’s likely that the second Feature update of 2021 – expected in the autumn – will be a major update, adding new features.

Some experts think the reason Microsoft is waiting until the autumn is that it needs more time to work on a redesign of Windows 10.

It marks a reversal of Microsoft’s previous update schedule, in which major updates would be released in the spring, followed by a smaller update in the autumn.