Following a routine period of beta testing with Window Insiders, Microsoft is getting ready to release the next big version of Windows 10, code-named the 19H2 update. It was already known that the update will officially be named the November 2019 Update, but now there is extra reason to believe it could be available for download on November 12.
Before reaching the general public, Microsoft typically seeds the final versions of major Windows 10 releases — like the November 2019 Update — with developers first. These developers usually have a Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscription and are typically able to download Windows 10 ISO files to test it out on their machines. As the blog Windows Latest points out, Microsoft has now officially made the November 2019 Update available for these developers. Both the consumer and business versions of the November 2019 Update are available for developers to download.
Seeing as how Microsoft just moved the final 19H2 test build though the final ring (release preview) of the Windows Insider Program, this all suggests that a public non-beta release could be coming on November 12. Like we’ve noted before, the November 2019 Update is minor and will be delivered through Windows Update in a similar matter to routine security patches. These patches typically come on the second Tuesday of every month, which November 12 just so happens to be.
Either way, whenever it does release, the Windows 10 November 2019 Update will be a bit light on new features. It’s nowhere near as major as the previous May 2019 Update and doesn’t come with any big overhauls. Microsoft instead designed the November 2019 Update as a way to patch up the bugs and other issues in the operating system. It comes after the company faced heavy criticism for the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, which plagued many consumer’s PCs with bugs, data deletion issues, and lots of headaches.
You will find some new features like third-party assistants on the lock screen, and a new ability to enter calendar events from the taskbar clock, but the emphasis with the November 2019 Update is on quality and bug fixes. The Windows 10 20H1 update for the first half of 2020 is likely to be a bigger release.