Microsoft to release Windows 10 21H2 feature update

While Windows 11 may seem like the hot thing right now, it’s important to note that Microsoft supports Windows 10 through 2025. This means the company isn’t going to slow down and stop updating it. . In fact, the Windows 10 beta version of 21H2. Here’s a look at what to expect from Windows 10’s next feature release.

Windows 10 version 21H2

Microsoft executive John Cable notes the following in the announcement:

Windows continues to play an important role in the lives of people who continue to work, learn, and play in hybrid and remote environments. Our goal is to deliver new functionality through a fast and reliable update experience to help keep people and organizations protected and productive. Version 21H2 will continue the recent feature update trend of being delivered in an optimized way using servicing technology. Today I’m going to share details about the scope, how we plan to handle the release, and next steps.

There are a few new features to look out for in the new Windows 10 21H2 Features Update:

• Added support for WPA3 H2E standards for improved Wi-Fi security
• Windows Hello for Business supports simplified password-less deployment models to reach a deployment state to run in minutes
• Support for GPU compute in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows Deployments (EFLOW) for machine learning and other compute-intensive workflows

And Windows 10 version 21H2 also includes the following fixes:

• We fixed an issue with searchindexer. After you log out, searchindexer continues to keep the handles for the search by user database in the profile path, “C: Users username AppData Roaming Microsoft Search Data Applications ” . As a result, searchindexer stops working and duplicate profile names are created.
• We fixed an issue that prevented Game Services from opening certain games for desktop users.
• We fixed an issue that prevented you from entering text using the Input Method Editor (IME). This can happen, for example, after startup if you have set the power options to turn off a laptop by closing its cover.
• We have changed the functionality of uploading new activities in the timeline. If you sync your activity history across your devices using your Microsoft account (MSA), you can’t upload new activity to the timeline. You can still use Timeline and see your activity history (app, website, and recent file information) on your local device. This does not affect Azure Active Directory (AAD) accounts. To view web history, Microsoft Edge and other browsers provide the option to view recent web activity. You can also view recently used files using Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft Office.
• We fixed an issue that could cause the File Explorer window to lose focus when mapping a network drive.
• We fixed an issue that prevented File Explorer from working after reaching 99% completion when deleting many files on a mapped network drive.
• We fixed a timing issue in Group Policy registry telemetry that caused Group Policy extension processing to fail.
• We fixed an issue that repeatedly rebuilds Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) filters. This issue occurs when a device is enrolled in a Mobile Device Management (MDM) service and “MDMWinsOverGP” is set.
• We fixed an issue with an MDM service that was not correctly enforcing certain spam rules.
• We fixed an issue that always reports Update Version Revision (UBR) as zero (0) on a device when signing up for an MDM service.
• We fixed an issue that caused the Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) certificate enrollment to fail with the error “0x80090027 NTE_INVALID_PARAMETER”. This problem occurs when the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) provider (the Microsoft Software Key Storage Provider) stores the key.
• We fixed an issue with audit events 4624 and 5142 displaying the wrong event model when Dutch is the display language.
• We fixed an issue that caused a memory leak in the integrity of the system.
• We fixed an issue that played the sound to select something in a game when pressing the trigger button on a game controller.
• We fixed an issue that prevented Power Plans and Game Mode from working as expected. This results in lower frame rates and reduced performance while gaming.
• We fixed an issue in which “Internal Network Access” appears on the network icon in the taskbar on systems that access the Internet from certain domains.
• We fixed an issue in which the Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) failed to detect Internet connectivity after you connected to a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
• We fixed an issue that caused printing to stop or improper output to be printed. This issue occurs when you print using a USB connection after updating to Windows 10, version 2004 or later.
• We fixed a rare issue that could degrade the performance of applications that call Gdiplus.dll! GdipMeasureString in a tight loop with a new font on each call. This issue occurs after you install Windows updates released from February 2021.
• We fixed an issue that incorrectly routed some audio channels when streaming using certain fixed channel layouts.
• We fixed an issue that always displayed devices redirected by RemoteFX USB as “Generic Remote Desktop USB Device” instead of the actual device name.
• We fixed an issue where Set-RDSessionCollectionConfiguration did not set the camerastoredirect: s: value custom property.
• We fixed a local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) domain controller memory leak reported in Privileged Access Management (PAM) deployments.
• We fixed an issue that prevented you from accessing a network drive mapped to a Distributed File System (DFS) root after you disconnect.
• We fixed an issue that prevented you from reconnecting to mapped network drives after signing in and displayed an Access Denied error. This problem occurs if you use the net use / deep option to create multiple drive mappings to different paths on the same encrypted file share.
• We fixed an issue that prevented access to files on a Server Message Block (SMB) share when you enable Access Enabled Enumeration (ABE).
• We fixed an issue that prevented the Windows Server service from starting if SrvComment is longer than 128 characters.
• We fixed an issue in the Windows Network File System (NFS) client that could prevent you from renaming a file after mounting an NFS share. This problem occurs if you rename the file using File Explorer, but does not occur if you rename the file using the command line.
• We fixed an issue with an unhandled critical exception in the Open File dialog box. Therefore, Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) applications may quit unexpectedly.
• We fixed an issue where the Storage Sense page in settings could incorrectly report the size of some storage devices that use the GUID Partition Table (GPT). Affected devices will incorrectly report in Storage Sense that the size is twice as large as the size reported in File Explorer. Note: This issue does not affect storage devices that use Master Boot Record (MBR).

So while you might not yet have the required hardware for Windows 11, since Windows 10 is supported until 2025 and will continue to receive updates, you have time to set up a new machine and to prepare it.