Version 2004 is the new Semi-Annual channel release

Feb 5, 2021 18:57 GMT  ·  By

Windows 10 version 2004 has finally reached the broad deployment phase, so right now, it has become the new recommended release in the Semi-Annual Channel.

Windows 10 version 2004, or May 2020 Update, was launched in the spring of 2020, and while Microsoft has already published a newer version of the operating system in the meantime, this is the update that guarantees the most stable and reliable experience.

New feature update coming this spring

In the meantime, Microsoft has also been hard at work on finalizing another Windows 10 feature update, and this time the release is also projected to happen in the spring.

But as compared to the May 2020 Update, the upcoming Windows 10 feature update will be just a service pack-like release, coming with the focus on under the hood improvements and less on new features.

I know what you’re thinking: wasn’t the fall release the one that typically embraced this approach? That’s right, Microsoft typically shipped bigger improvements in the spring of the year, using the fall update as a way to refine the overall performance of the operating system.

But this time the company is using a different approach, all because it’s also expected to introduce Windows 10X in the spring. Windows 10X is the new OS version supposed to power the dual-screen strategy, though it’ll first land on single-screen devices.

With Windows 10X coming in the spring, Microsoft wants to give it more exclusive time on the market, so Windows 10 would be getting just a small pack of improvements in the first half of the year. The fall update has thus become the update everybody is waiting for, with major refinements expected to go live as part of this new release in the second half of 2021.