In addition to releasing Windows 10 vNext build 20201 today to the Dev channel, Microsoft is also releasing 20H2 build 19042.487 to the Beta Channel. The firm also reminded enterprise customers that it is making 20H2 available to commercial devices for pre-release testing in the Beta and Release Preview Channels, something that the firm announced last week. Today’s build, unsurprisingly, brings a bunch of fixes and quality improvements. There are no new major features.
Windows 10 version 20H2, which is how the company now names releases, is a minor enablement package that will be rolled out to Windows 10 version 2004 (20H1) users sometime later this year. Both the versions share the same core, with some features that will be enabled in 20H2 already hidden in the May 2020 Update. The release for commercial testing also signals that the version is almost ready for prime time.
Here is the list of fixes for this this build:
- We fixed an issue with pinned Add-ins that cause Microsoft Outlook to become unresponsive.
- We now provide the ability to sync the Microsoft Edge IE Mode unidirectional session cookie when an administrator configures the session cookie.
- We fixed an issue with rendering PeerDist-encoded content in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.
- We fixed an issue that might prevent ActiveX content from loading.
- We fixed an issue that displays a black screen to Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) users when they attempt to sign in.
- We fixed an issue that might cause apps that use the custom text wrapping function to stop working in certain scenarios.
- We fixed an issue with Start menu apps and tiles in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. The issue occurs after you sign in to the VDI environment a second time and use a Remote Desktop User Profile Disk in a non-persistent virtual desktop pool.
- We fixed an issue that generates an error when printing to a document repository.
- We fixed an issue that prevents Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) applications from using ListView in OCXafter upgrading to Windows 10, version 1903 and later.
- We fixed a runtime error that causes VB6 to stop working when duplicate windows messages are sent to WindowProc().
- We fixed an issue that causes a stop error when the initialization of the graphics adapter fails.
- We fixed an issue to reduce the likelihood of missing fonts.
- We fixed an issue that prevents users from reducing the size of a window in some cases.
- We fixed an issue that causes the touch keyboard to close when you touch any key.
- We fixed an issue that adds an unwanted keyboard layout as the default after an upgrade or migration even if you have already removed the layout.
- We fixed an issue the prevents applications from closing even though programming code directs them to close.
- We fixed an issue that causes attempts to take a screenshot of a window using the PrintWindow API to fail.
- We fixed an issue with a memory leak in exe that occurs when you refresh an application that has an editable box.
- We fixed an issue that truncates a potential list of characters (candidates) when you type characters in the Simplified Chinese (Pinyin) input method editor (IME). When this happens, Chinese characters do not appear.
- We fixed an issue that prevents the first key stroke from being recognized correctly in the DataGridView
- We fixed an issue that causes an application that uses dll to stop working, and the 0xc0000005 (Access violation) exception appears.
- We fixed an issue with Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) that causes a memory leak when multiple clients connect to the same server.
- We fixed an issue that prevents Cortana Smart lighting from working as expected if you shut down the machine while Fast Shutdown is enabled.
- We now provide the ability for Dolby Atmos for Headphones and DTS Headphone: X to be used in 24-bit mode on devices that support 24-bit audio.
- We fixed an issue that prevents the IME user dictionary from being used when leveraging folder redirection with user profiles.
- We fixed an issue that causes Microsoft Office applications to close unexpectedly when using a Korean IME.
- We fixed an issue that displays incorrect folder properties in File Explorer when the path is longer than MAX_PATH.
- We fixed an issue with a blurry sign in screen.
- We fixed an issue with Windows Update becoming unresponsive when checking for updates.
- We fixed an issue that prevents the correct lock screen from appearing when the following policies are set:
- Policy “Interactive Logon: Do not require Ctrl+Alt+Del” set to “Disabled”
- HKLM\SOFRWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
- DisableLockScreenAppNotifications = 1
- DisableLogonBackgroundImage = 1
- We fixed an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you browse directories of raw images and other file types.
- We have improved the tablet experience for convertible or hybrid devices in docked scenarios.
- We have improved the user experience of the Windows Hello enrollment pages for face and fingerprint setup.
- We prevent accounts from a different tenant from signing in to a Surface Hub device.
- We have updated the time zone information for the Yukon, Canada.
- We fixed a stop error 0xC2 in sys.
- We have fixed an issue that causes the Event Viewer Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to stop working when the secondary monitor is above the primary monitor. An out of bounds exception appears.
- We have fixed an issue that prevents the migration of the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service startup type.
- We have fixed an issue with object performance counters.
- We have fixed an issue that prevents Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) settings from roaming to enable the signature files that are used for new messages, forwarded messages, and replies.
- We have fixed an issue that prevents users from setting the REG_EXPAND_SZkeys in some automated scenarios.
- We have fixed an issue with the EnhancedAppLayerSecurity node in modern device management (MDM) that prevents its setting from being applied correctly to client devices.
- We have fixed an issue that causes a memory leak in the exeprocess when the server is under a heavy authentication load and Credential Guard is enabled.
- We have fixed an issue that might cause a delay of up to two minutes when signing in or unlocking a session on Hybrid Azure Active Directory-joined machines.
- We have fixed an issue that prevents hash signing from working correctly when using the Microsoft Platform Crypto Provider for Trusted Platform Modules (TPM). This issue might also affect networking software, such as virtual private network (VPN) applications.
- We have fixed an issue that continues to display the previous username hint in the smart card sign in box after a different user has used the machine with domain credentials.
- We have fixed an issue that causes communication with the TPM to time out and fail.
- We have fixed an issue that sometimes prevents AppLocker from running an application whose publisher rule allows it to run.
- We have fixed an issue in which AppLocker publisher rules might sometimes prevent applications from loading software modules; this can cause partial application failure.
- We have fixed an issue that causes the promotion of a server to a domain controller to fail. This occurs when the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process is set as Protected Process Light (PPL).
- We have fixed an issue that prevents you from unlocking a device if you typed a space before the username when you first signed in to the device.
- We have fixed an issue that causes a system to stop working and generates a 7E stop code.
- We have fixed an issue that causes applications to take a long time to open.
- We have fixed classification failures caused by the wrong User Principal Name (UPN).
- We have fixed an issue in cluster scenarios that causes handles to .vmcx and .vmrs files to become invalid after storage failover. As a result, live migration and other virtual machine (VM) maintenance activities fail with STATUS_UNEXPECTED_NETWORK_ERROR.
- We have fixed an issue with interrupt targeting that might cause an interrupt to arrive at an incorrect processor.
- We have fixed an issue that causes delays during shutdown when running the Microsoft Keyboard Filter Service.
- We have fixed an issue that causes a machine to request a new IP address after authentication.
- We fixed an issue that causes the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to download data while a device is in cellular mode without explicit user permission.
- We fixed an issue that prevents Always On VPN (AOVPN) from automatically reconnecting when resuming from Sleep or Hibernate.
- We fixed an issue that causes AOVPN user tunnels to use an incorrect certificate.
- We fixed an issue with AOVPN that occurs when user and device tunnels are configured to connect to the same endpoint.
- We fixed an issue that causes VPN apps to stop working in some cases when they attempt to enumerate VPN profiles.
- We fixed an issue that causes the Optimize Drives dialog to incorrectly report that previously optimized drives need to be optimized again.
- We fixed an issue that fails to turn off the host memory buffer (HMB) when you force the shutdown of a device. As a result, solid-state drives (SSDs) do not delete HMB contents.
- We fixed an issue that prevents apps from downloading an update or opening in certain scenarios.
- We fixed an issue that might cause a stop error (0xC00002E3) at startup. This issue occurs after installing certain Windows Updates that were released on or after April 21, 2020.
- We fixed an issue that might cause stop error 7E in syson servers running the Network File System (NFS) service.
- We fixed an issue with Server Message Block (SMB). This issue incorrectly logs the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient 31013 event in the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Security event log of an SMB client when an SMB server returns STATUS_USER_SESSION_DELETED. This issue occurs when SMB client users or applications open multiple SMB sessions using the same set of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections on the same SMB Server. This issue most likely occurs on Remote Desktop Servers.
- We fixed an issue that causes SMB to incorrectly use the original, cached non-Continuous Available handle to a file. This handle becomes invalid after a network error or storage failover. As a result, applications fail with errors such as STATUS_UNEXPECTED_NETWORK_ERROR.
- We fixed an issue that causes the loss of written data when an application opens a file and writes to the end of the file in a share folder.
- We fixed an issue with some apps, such as Microsoft Excel, that occurs when using the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Chinese and Japanese languages. You might receive an error, or the app might stop responding or close when you attempt to drag using the mouse.
Considering that 20H2 and version 2004 are the same versions of Windows 10, these fixes should also be made available to the latter. Since these are not security updates, the fixes might also be released as an optional update soon and then be rolled into next month"s Patch Tuesday updates.
With the release now heading to commercial users as well, the Redmond firm has also made availabe 20H2 ISOs for users to download and perform a clean install. The company did mention in the blog post for commercial customers that the ISOs will be available soon from the Insider Preview Downloads page.