Newsletter Archives

• The next-next version of Windows 10, code named 20H1, known colloquially as 2003, may arrive in December 2019

  Posted on October 29, 2019 at 07:49 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Just when you thought the pace of unnecessary changes in Windows was receding….

  Now comes word from Zac Bowden at Windows Central that the version of Win10 following 1909 (widely expected next month) will arrive in December. Of this year.

  Microsoft’s upcoming 20H1 release of Windows 10 will be the company’s first version of the OS to be finalized in December, three months earlier than usual, as a result of Windows moving under Azure and adopting the “semester” based development cycle that Azure is already using. Mary-Jo Foley was first to reveal that the Windows dev cycle was being changed up earlier this year, but here’s what this all means for Insiders.

  You should take that pronouncement with a very large heap of salt, but it sounds plausible. Bowden  frequently has scoops that reflect the current thinking at Microsoft. Notably, though, none of the other major players in the Microsoft Tea Leaf game have independently confirmed the rumor. Mary Jo hasn’t published anything on the topic in the past 24 hours. Paul Thurrot hasn’t commented.

  So either Zac broke something that’s being played very close to the chest – or he got tossed a wild herring. Time will tell.

  There’s very little of interest in 20H1, er, 2003, uh 1912, ahem Vibranium, based on my very brief look-around. Chris Hoffman at How-To Geek has a detailed look at the new features in beta versions of 20H1, all of which put me to sleep.

  Bowden’s next prognostication, though, sends chills down my spine:

  This also means that work on the next Windows 10 feature update after 20H1, known as 20H2 or “Manganese” has already started development internally, and Insiders should begin receiving 20H2 builds in the next couple of weeks. On this new development cycle, 20H2 will RTM in June 2020. This is important, as this release will play a vital role in the availability of Windows 10X on new foldable PCs expected to start shipping in fall 2020.

  So it looks like the tic-toc theory of Windows rollouts — big feature changes followed by little feature changes, as exemplified by the Win10 1903-to-1909 sequence — may turn into a tic-toc-toc. Would that it would segue into a tic-hum-hum-hum instead of burp-burp-burp.

  Change for change’s sake. To get us more aligned with Azure. Oh boy.

  Windows 10 Releases Vibranium, Win10 2003, Win10 20H1

• Even more evidence that there will never be a “real” Win10 version 1909

  Posted on May 8, 2019 at 11:09 CDT by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I’ve been speculating (spreading rumors?) about this for months, but it seems highly unlikely we’ll ever see anything resembling a “real” Win10 version 1909.

  Yeah, MS will release something called 1909. But it’ll just be the cumulative update we should’ve been getting all along. That’s my guess, anyway:

  https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1126111303339089920

  “Vibranium” is the codename for 20H1 – the version that’s in the Insider Fast Ring right now. I really, really hope they don’t call it Win10 version 2003.

  Windows News Vibranium, Win10 1909, Win10 2003

• Mary Jo Foley: There’s a reason why MS is starting to test Win10 20H1 so early… and, no, it isn’t because they’re switching to annual releases

  Posted on February 28, 2019 at 10:27 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Crestfallen.

  Yesterday, Mary Jo Foley published a report relying on her sources inside Microsoft about the surprising “Skip ahead” testing of Win10 20H1 — the version that isn’t due out until a year from now.

  I had speculated that, maybe, somebody inside Microsoft had come to their senses, and they were using this as a way to move to once-a-year versions of Win10. Nope. At least, according to Foley’s sources:

  Some people wondered if this was a sign Microsoft might be moving to one Windows 10 feature update per year (nope).

  Crestfallen, I tell you. She has a plausible reason:

  The Windows team is close to finalizing Windows 10 19H1. If schedules had all aligned, the core OS team would already be well on its way to finishing the new core platform release (codenamed “Vanadium”), targeted for internal delivery by June 2019, which would be the base of the next Windows 10 release [version 19H2 or 1909]. But the timing just doesn’t work out. As a result, my contacts say, the new plan is for the core OS team to skip its internal June platform release and just focus on the December 2019 internal release (codenamed “Vibranium”) — which will be the basis for the Windows 10 20H1 release.

  Which makes me want to curl up and suck on my thumb.

  It seems that the Azure tail is now wagging the Win10 dog.

  Windows News 19H1, 19H2, 20H1, 20H2, Vanadium, Vibranium