While Windows 11 may be making all the headlines lately, it is important to note that Windows 10 version 21H2 is on the horizon as well. Although Microsoft doesn't have a firm release date as of yet, the near-final build made its way to the Release Preview channel for consumers and businesses recently. Version 21H2 is supposed to be a relatively minor upgrade but it is important to note that it is one of the two paths forward for PCs that do not meet Microsoft's requirements for Windows 11. While users may be able to force install Windows 11 after signing a waiver on unsupported hardware, it's possible that they won't receive security updates. As such, it's a relatively safer bet to update to Windows 10 version 21H2 if your PC does not support Windows 11.
Windows 10 version 21H2 is an enablement package, just like version 21H1 was for version 20H2 before it. What this essentially means is that the "new" features available with this update are also present in version 21H1 before it, but in a dormant state. You won't get any actual new features downloaded to your computer. This update will simply light up certain features that are already there. Coming over to what features are being lit up, there's not a whole lot. When Microsoft
shared details about the feature update back in July, it outlined a grand total of three "scoped" features that will be enabled with Windows 10 version 21H2:
- Adding WPA3 H2E standards support for enhanced Wi-Fi security
- Windows Hello for Business supports simplified password-less deployment models for achieving a deploy-to-run state within a few minutes
- GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute intensive workflows.