It's pretty clear that Microsoft is laser-focused on Windows 11, with Windows 10 primarily being supported as an option for people who are ineligible for the latest OS. Recent indications of this have been Microsoft stopping the selling of Windows 10 licenses through its website by the end of this month, along with the firm releasing a lackluster feature update to its OS last year. Now, it is de-prioritizing older versions of Windows 10 even further.
Alongside releasing cumulative preview update KB5019275 for Windows 10 to fix some existing issues and sport new storage alerts, Microsoft also placed an important advisory in the changelog. It reads as follows:
After March 2023, there are no more optional, non-security preview releases for the supported editions of Windows 10, version 20H2 and Windows 10, version 21H2. Only cumulative monthly security updates (known as the "B" or Update Tuesday release) will continue for these versions. Windows 10, version 22H2 will continue to receive security and optional releases.
It is important to note that Windows 10 version 20H2 is out of support already for most editions, but it is supported for Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise customers until May 9, 2023. On the other hand, Windows 10 version 21H2 is supported for Home, Pro, Pro Education and Pro for Workstations SKUs until June 13, 2023, and up until June 11, 2024 for Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise customers.
These are the two versions of Windows 10 impacted by this announcement, and they will not be receiving Microsoft's optional preview updates from March of this year. They will still receive cumulative security updates until the end of their lifecycle though.
This means that moving forward, version 22H2 is the only supported version of Windows 10 which will continue to receive optional preview updates. It remains to be seen how long Microsoft sticks with this cadence considering support for Windows 10 ends altogether in a couple of years.
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