Microsoft Still Isn’t Testing Windows 10’s Next October Update

Microsoft just released a new Windows Insider build… of version 20H1, scheduled for release in 2020. Four months from its presumptive release, Microsoft still isn’t publicly testing 19H2, which will be Windows 10’s next October Update. What could go wrong?

These big Windows updates are generally finalized the month before release, which means Windows 10’s October 2019 Update should be finalized in September 2019. Microsoft has less than four months to go before the latest build is stabilized and we haven’t heard anything about it yet.

Windows 10’s October 2018 Update saw a standard testing process and was still packed with various bugs—even deleting people’s files. These updates need testing and it’s unclear how much public testing the next Windows 10 update will get before Microsoft unleashes it on Windows 10 PCs.

Really, this is super strange—Microsoft has never handled a Windows 10 update like this before.

Prominent Windows journalist Mary Jo Foley believes that 19H2 will likely be a smaller update for Windows 10 and that any new features will be disabled by default. That’s what her sources say, anyway.

i think it really will be mostly like a service pack for 19H1. and rumor is if there are any new features they might be turned off by default

— Mary Jo Foley (@maryjofoley) June 5, 2019

However, Microsoft still hasn’t commented publicly on what to expect from 19H2. Back in February, a Microsoft blog post said “We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring”—but summer begins in two and a half weeks.

Microsoft talked about a lot of changes to Windows 10’s development process after the October 2018 Update mess. Despite promising “transparency,” however, Microsoft still isn’t talking. Some more official communication from Microsoft would go a long way.