14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just released new Windows 10 cumulative updates as part of the November 2020 Patch Tuesday cycle, and naturally, the October 2020 Update, or version 20H2, is getting its own pack of improvements as well.
Windows 10 October 2020 Update is the most recent version of the operating system, and its rollout is currently in the early stages. In other words, not a lot of computers are currently running it, though Microsoft is also shipping the cumulative update to devices that are part of the Insider program.
Devices running Beta and Release Preview builds are getting the same cumulative update.
For Windows 10 October 2020 Update devices, be they part of the Insider program or running preview builds, the cumulative update that went live today is KB4586781.
Since it’s a Patch Tuesday release, the focus is obviously on security improvements, so today’s cumulative update comes with security updates to the Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows Input and Composition, Microsoft Graphics Component, the Windows Wallet Service, Windows Fundamentals, and the Windows Kernel.
In addition, it also includes updates to the 2020 DST start date for the Fiji Islands to December 20, 2020.
Worth knowing is that the same cumulative update is also available for Windows 10 version 2004, or May 2020 Update, as the two share the same base code.
“Windows 10, versions 20H2 and 2004 share a common core operating system and an identical set of system files. As a result, the release notes for Windows 10, version 20H2 and Windows 10, version 2004 will share an update history page. Each release page will contain a list of addressed issues for both 20H2 and 2004 versions. Note that the 20H2 version will always contain the fixes for 2004; however, 2004 will not contain the fixes for 20H2. The update history page will provide you with the build numbers for both 20H2 and 2004 versions so that it will be easier for support to assist you if you encounter issues,” Microsoft explains.
As far as the known issues are concerned, there’s just one of them in cumulative update KB4586781, and it concerns certain Japanese characters.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has confirmed that there’s no workaround available right now, and while the work on a fix continues as we speak, an ETA as to when it could go live hasn’t been provided just yet.
“Certain Japanese half-width Katakana and full-width Katakana characters that have a consonant mark aren’t interpreted as the same character. When you use the CompareStringEx() function with the NORM_IGNOREWIDTH flag to compare them, these characters are evaluated as different because of an issue in the sorting rule. This issue affects all the updates starting on October 29, 2020 for Windows 10, version 20H2,” Microsoft explains.
After installing Windows 10 cumulative update KB4586781, the OS build number should increase to 19042.630 – the easiest way to check the OS build number on your device is to just click the Start menu and type winver. You should then see the OS build in the window that shows up on the screen and thus figure out the latest cumulative update that is installed on your device.
At the time of writing this article, the latest cumulative update seems to install just fine, and this is without a doubt good news for everybody. On the other hand, worth emphasizing is that the rollout of the October 2020 Update is still in its early stages, so not a lot of devices have received it. We’ll continue to keep an eye on everything related to potential issues with this update.