Microsoft today released optional preview updates for the latest Windows 10 versions as part of its C/D releases. Fixes and improvements made as part of these preview updates are eventually bundled into the Patch Tuesday updates, which are not optional releases. This week, the fixes being made to versions 2004, 20H2, and 21H1 include the enhancements made to version 21H2 in the Release Preview channel last week. The update is also being offered to Insiders in the Release Preview channel running Windows 10 version 21H2.
The three most recent publicly available Windows 10 versions are built off of the same codebase, which is why the update packages released to these versions are all identical. Version 21H2, just like 21H1, is another enablement package, which is why these updates are all served together - especially with version 21H2 closer to release than ever. Today"s update is KB5006738 and bumps up the build numbers to 19041.1320, 19042.1320, 19043.1320, and 19044.1320 for versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, and 21H2, respectively.
As for the fixes, the update addresses printing problems that were caused by the October Patch Tuesday updates. Unsurprisingly, the packages also include the fixes made for addressing memory leaks and other enhancements that were introduced in the Release Preview build for 21H2. However, those that installed last week"s build will only be offered the additional fixes. These are accompanied by a ton of other fixes, all of which will be included in the next Patch Tuesday update for those who choose to avoid installing this optional update.
Here are the highlights of KB5006738 :
Updates an issue an issue that might prevent subtitles from displaying for certain video apps and streaming video sites.
Updates an issue that prevents Kana input mode users from inserting a question mark (?) using the Shift-0 key combination.
Updates an issue that sometimes causes your lock screen background to appear black if you have set up a slideshow of pictures as your lock screen background.
And here is the complete list of fixes that apply to all the aforementioned versions:
Addresses an issue that prevents you from accessing the pre-provisioning page during the out-of-box experience (OOBE). This issue occurs when the credentials page for signing in to Azure Active Directory appears, and you press the Windows key five times.
Adds a feature that facilitates certain cross-browser data transfers.
Addresses an issue with Assigned Access kiosks that are configured with Microsoft Edge as a kiosk application. These kiosks might sometimes fail to restart Microsoft Edge if users close the browser window.
Addresses an issue in which the use of App-V intermittently causes black screens to appear when signing in on the credentials page.
Addresses an issue that might prevent subtitles from displaying for certain video apps and streaming video sites.
Addresses an issue that prevents Windows 10 virtual private network (VPN) users from connecting to Windows Server 2019 Routing and Remote Access service (RRAS) servers.
Addresses an issue that prevents Software-Defined Networking (SDN) virtual machines from working when you configure the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) VPN bandwidth limitation.
Addresses a Primary Refresh Token (PRT) update issue that occurs when VPN users sign in using Windows Hello for Business when the VPN connection is offline. Users receive unexpected authentication prompts for online resources that are configured for user sign-in frequency (SIF) in Azure Active Directory-Conditional Access.
Addresses an issue that causes Windows to go into BitLocker recovery after a servicing update.
Addresses an issue that might cause Kerberos.dll to stop working within the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). This occurs when LSASS processes simultaneous Service for User (S4U) user-to-user (U2U) requests for the same client user.
Addresses an issue in Code Integrity that might cause a memory leak.
Enhances Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s ability to identify and intercept ransomware and advanced attacks.
Addresses an issue in the OOBE that might cause Windows AutoPilot provisioning to fail.
Addresses an issue that prevents Kana input mode users from inserting a question mark (?) using the Shift-0 key combination.
Addresses an issue that sometimes causes the lock screen to appear black if you set up slideshow.
Addresses a reliability issue with LogonUI.exe, which affects the rendering of the network status text on the credentials screen.
Addresses an issue that causes Server Message Block (SMB) Query Directory Requests to fail when the buffer size is large.
Addresses a memory leak issue in lsass.exe on domain controllers in the forest root domain that occurs when you have multiple forests and multiple domains in each forest. The SID-Name mapping functions leak memory when a request comes from another domain in the forest and crosses forest boundaries.
Addresses an issue with the virtual machine (VM) Load Balancing feature, which ignores a site’s fault domain.
Addresses a known issue that might prevent the successful installation of printers using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP).
As mentioned earlier, users running production builds will be offered the update as an optional download via Windows Update. The bits can also be installed manually by heading over to the Update Catalog and downloading relevant packages.