Windows 10 21H1, also known as the ‘Spring Update’, is scheduled to launch in the next two months, and while it doesn’t contain many new and interesting features, it does prepare us for a more exciting feature update in the fall.
Microsoft has announced that Spring Update will be released using an activation package that simply activates the inactive features already found in Windows 10 2004 and Windows 10 20H2.
For users running these versions of Windows 10, this means that Windows 10 21H1 will be installed extremely quickly, as you only need to change some settings to enable the features.
For users running older versions of Windows, you will need to install a much more significant update, probably larger than 2 GB, which will take a little longer to download and install.
Unfortunately, many of the features that Windows users have been looking forward to, such as DoH, the new battery settings and the modern Disk Management settings page, are not coming to Windows 10 21H1. For these features, users will have to wait for the ‘Windows 10 21H2 Sun Valley update’ to arrive later this year.
Instead, Windows 10 21H1 is bringing support for multiple Windows Hello cameras, Windows Defender Application Guard performance improvements, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) improvements.
For standalone features such as the Windows 10 Start menu, WSL and Notepad, Microsoft will likely improve them using ‘Windows Feature Experience Packs’, which is a new way to update and improve the operating system outside of feature updates .
As you can see, it’s not a very exciting launch.
Users should still upgrade to Windows 10 21H1 as there may be underlying improvements that increase Windows security and performance.
Windows 10 Spring Update can be tested now
Although the Windows 10 Spring Update is not expected to be released to the public until April or May 2021, users who want to test it can use two methods.
Method 1: add Windows 10 within the Insider program
The first method is to switch to the Windows 10 Insider program on an existing Windows 10 device and select the ‘Beta’ channel.
After joining this channel, you will be asked to download the latest version of Windows 10 21H1 the next time you run Windows Update.
To join the Windows Insider program, you can perform the following steps on Windows 10:
- Open Windows 10 settings.
- Navigate to Update and security > Windows Insider Program or simply search for ‘Windows Insider program settings’ to skip the navigation steps.
- Click Start on the Windows Insider page.
- Link your Microsoft account (the email should be the one you used earlier to sign up for the Insider program).
- When asked which channel you would like to join, select ‘Beta. ‘
Method 2: Install Windows 10 21H1 using an ISO
This week, Microsoft released the first Windows 10 21H1 ISO for Insiders that can be downloaded from the Windows Insider website.
Insiders can only download the ISO, but once downloaded, it can be used to perform a clean install on any device, as long as you have a Windows 10 product key.
If you don’t have a Windows 10 product key, you can also use ISO to perform an in-place upgrade of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
When performing an in-place upgrade from an older version, Microsoft will issue a free Windows 10 digital license linked to your Microsoft account.
If you decide to upgrade, review the checklist below and before continuing.
- Install the latest hardware drivers for your computer, including chipset, audio, network, USB and graphics drivers. The use of older drivers may prevent the update from being allowed.
- Disconnect USB devices, such as flash drives, external storage, and printers. These devices were known to prevent updates from being installed correctly in the past.
- Microsoft sometimes blocks updates due to older antivirus software. Before performing the update, uninstall the antivirus software so that it does not conflict with the update.
When the update is complete, you can reinstall the antivirus software and connect any USB device.
Windows 10 21H1, Spring Update, will now be installed and ready to use.