Microsoft’s next major update to Windows 10 focuses on improving remote work

The next major update to Windows 10, version 21H1, will be delivered in the first half of 2021 and focuses on improving remote work scenarios. Microsoft traditionally offers two major Windows updates per year, with most major features being released in the spring and a minor update in the fall. Although IT administrators are used to this approach, Microsoft appears to be reversing that cadence by 2021.

“Windows 10, version 21H1 will have a set of features that increase security, remote access and quality,” explains John Cable, head of Windows Service and Delivery at Microsoft. “The features we are rolling out in this update are focused on the core experiences that customers have told us they are now trusting.” These improvements will include:

• Support for multiple Windows Hello cameras to set the default as the external camera when Windows Hello external and internal cameras are present.
• Performance improvements in Windows Defender Application Guard, including optimizing times for the document opening scenario.
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) updating the performance improvement to support remote work scenarios.

Image: Logitech

The changes to the Windows camera mean that you will soon be able to connect an external Windows Hello camera and get the benefits of facial detection on a laptop that already has an integrated Windows Hello camera. Currently, Windows doesn’t support this scenario well, and that means cameras like Logitech’s Brio don’t work properly with devices like Microsoft’s Surface line, which also has Windows Hello cameras.

Microsoft’s other improvements for this version 21H1 are clearly designed for IT administrators to improve support for remote work. This includes improving document opening times for Microsoft’s integrated antivirus software and performance improvements for managing and configuring Windows.

This 21H1 update will also be installed very quickly, as will the cumulative Windows monthly updates. Microsoft started testing this 21H1 update with beta testers today and is planning to make it available to all Windows 10 users “at the end of the first half of this year”.

Microsoft is also due to deliver a major update to Windows 10 in late 2021. The company is planning a “comprehensive visual rejuvenation of Windows”, codenamed Sun Valley. Microsoft is planning to detail its next major changes to Windows at a special event in the coming months.