Windows 10’s big November update is a lot smaller than we’re used to

PC users are all in a tizzy about the shiny new Windows 11 that just dropped earlier this month. But don’t forget, Microsoft is still supporting and updating the long-in-the-tooth Windows 10 until at least 2025. As if to prove its point, Microsoft just detailed a new update to Windows 10 coming in November, with Windows Insiders getting an early preview right now. 

Assuming no major problems in the next few weeks of testing, build 21H2 should drop for millions of regular users via Windows Update next month. No specific date has been announced, but that hardly matters. A staggered rollout means it might be a week or two after the initial deployment before you actually see the alert. 

What’s new? Not a whole lot, now that Microsoft’s technical and marketing powers are focused on the future. Windows Hello for business users will be updated to support passwordless deployments for faster multi-machine setup, the Windows Subsystem for Linux and Azure IoT Edge for Linux systems are getting GPU compute support (which has been in the works for a while), and Wi-Fi connections will be compatible with the new WPA3 H2E standard. 

Those are some welcome changes for very specific users, but won’t result in any visible new options for the vast majority of Windows 10’s consumer base. In the meantime Microsoft will continue to push Windows 10 users to take advantage of a free update to Windows 11, at least if their hardware is new enough to take advantage of it. But those who aren’t impressed with the fresh coat of paint have several years of full support left on the older operating system.