Microsoft finally details its plans for Windows 10 19H2

Windows Update
Windows Update (Image credit: Windows Central)

After being delayed. Microsoft has finally announced its plans for its next Windows 10 feature update, codenamed 19H2. As was suggested by recent rumors, Microsoft's 19H2 release is going to be a much smaller one than usual, being released as a cumulative update that sits on top of 19H1 instead of a full blown new OS release.

This means that 19H2 builds flighted to Insiders will be a variation of the 19H1 RTM in the form of a 18362.xxxxxx build. Microsoft has already released the first 19H2 build to Insiders in the Slow ring with build 18362.10000. Microsoft does not intend for this release to have any blockbuster new features or changes.

Microsoft's head of Insider Program, Dona Sarkar, details the following:

19H2 will include a scoped set of features for select performance improvements, enterprise features, and quality enhancements and will be delivered to customers running the May 2019 Update using servicing technology (like the monthly Cumulative Update process).

Microsoft's Director of Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery, also published a second blog post detailing its plans for 19H2 in more detail.

The next feature update for Windows 10 (known in the Windows Insider Program as 19H2) will be a scoped set of features for select performance improvements, enterprise features and quality enhancements. To deliver these updates in a less disruptive fashion, we will deliver this feature update in a new way, using servicing technology (like the monthly update process) for customers running the May 2019 Update who choose to update to the new release. In other words, anyone running the May 2019 Update and updating to the new release will have a far faster update experience because the update will install like a monthly update.

Microsoft has also announced that 19H2 is expected to launch in September, slightly earlier than usual. This isn't much of a surprise considering how small 19H2 is as an update. It's much more like a monthly cumulative update, and not a full blown twice a year OS release.

19H2 can easily be described as a Service Pack for 19H1, as that's pretty much what it is. It's a rolled up set of fixes and improvements that sits on top of an already existing version of Windows, known as 19H1.

Microsoft's 20H1 release, scheduled for spring 2020, will bring us back to the usual larger feature updates. But until then, are you planning to test 19H2? Let us know in the comments.

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Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads