Windows 10 Update Overview

Feature update

Windows has always been known for its many updates, but not always popular because of them. Besides the many updates that mostly run in the background to keep the system's security up to date, there is a feature update twice a year. This is usually in March and September each year.

Quality update

This brings Windows 10 to a new "version", which is then "maintained" and supplied with so-called quality updates for 18 or 30 months.

Therefore it is advisable not to wait "forever" with the feature updates, but to download and install them via Windows' update function within the 18- or 30-month window. This work is then carried out automatically by Windows 10; the download is offered there.

We ourselves do not apply these feature updates immediately on all devices, in order not to have update-caused problems on all devices in our company at the same time. This keeps problems with updates of this kind manageable.

The feature updates deliver new features, integrated security and, as it is nicely written: new experiences.

The last two feature updates delivered little here, as the Microsoft development teams are increasingly working on other projects such as Windows 11.

These feature updates are documented in versions as a lifecycle: current information from Microsoft on the topic.

Versions for Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise:

21H1 current version from 18.05.2021 with the number (OS build) 19043.1202

Versions for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC:

1809 current version from 13.11.2018 with the number (OS build) 17763.2145

Within version 21H1 work was also done diligently every month, so that one can expect a new OS build every month. We try to deliver the OS build version that we have tested ourselves; since the updates are later also automatically delivered by the system, it is not necessary to take a risk with "fresh" updates; which can be extremely bad and expensive for production systems.