Windows 10
| Version of Microsoft Windows | |
 | |
 | |
| Initial release | Windows 10 (29 July 2015) |
|---|---|
| Latest release | Windows 10 2022 Update (18 October 2022) |
| Supported platforms | x86, AMD64, ARM64[a] |
| Preceded by | Windows 8.1 |
| Succeeded by | Windows 11 |
Windows 10 is a series of Microsoft Windows operating systems, first introduced in July 2015 after being announced in September 2014. It is the tenth overall major release in the Windows NT operating system line. It succeeded Windows 8.1 and was ultimately superseded by Windows 11 in October 2021. As of February 2023, operating systems from the series run on 73.25% of Windows devices.[1] Windows 10 is the last version to support upgrade paths from Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
A new release model called Windows as a service was introduced with smaller and regular feature updates, as opposed to releasing a major version of Windows every few years. Usually, these updates are a new build of the operating system, although in a few cases Microsoft released feature updates consisting of a limited set of new functionality using the regular cumulative update infrastructure. From 2017 till 2021, feature updates were released twice in a year, with the first feature update being released in April-May and the other in October-November. The schedule was realigned in 2021 in that feature updates for Windows 10 would be released annually in order to be consistent with Windows 11's new release cadence.[2]
The Windows Insider Program was also introduced with Windows 10, which boosted the company's engagement with beta testers as well as distributed new pre-release builds more frequently than the prior beta testing initiatives. This also greatly cut down the number of leaks from within the company, which in the past bothered the company due to legal complications of contracted features becoming available earlier than anticipated. However, while early Insider builds often contained some clearly unfinished features and did not attempt to hide them, the Windows team has gradually moved towards locking such features down using systems such as Velocity and only unlocking them in an almost finished state.
The Windows 10 series is the last to run on 32-bit x86 systems, as support for these has been ultimately removed with the original release of Windows 11. It is also the last to support the legacy PC/AT BIOS firmware even on 64-bit systems as Windows 11 now requires UEFI firmware with Secure Boot support, which has been a part of Microsoft requirements for newly designed devices since Windows 8.
List of feature updates[edit | edit source]
| Name | Version | Based on | Build no. | Release date | Support end date | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer | Enterprise | Long-term | IoT | ||||||
| Windows 10 | 1507 | Threshold | 10240 | 2015-07-29 | 2017-05-09 | 2025-10-14 | Only numbered as version 1507 retroactively in documentation. | ||
| Windows 10 November Update | 1511 | Threshold 2 | 10586 | 2015-11-10 | 2017-10-10 | — | — | — | |
| Windows 10 Anniversary Update | 1607 | Redstone 1 | 14393 | 2016-08-02 | 2018-04-10 | 2019-04-09 | 2026-10-13 | — | |
| Windows 10 Creators Update | 1703 | Redstone 2 | 15063 | 2017-04-11 | 2018-10-09 | 2019-10-08 | — | — | — |
| Windows 10 Fall Creators Update | 1709 | Redstone 3 | 16299 | 2017-10-17 | 2019-04-09 | 2020-10-13 | — | — | Introduces ARM64 support |
| Windows 10 April 2018 Update | 1803 | Redstone 4 | 17134 | 2018-04-30 | 2019-11-12 | 2021-05-11 | — | — | — |
| Windows 10 October 2018 Update | 1809 | Redstone 5 | 17763 | 2018-11-13 | 2020-11-10 | 2029-01-09 | — | ||
| Windows 10 May 2019 Update | 1903 | Titanium | 18362 | 2019-05-21 | 2020-12-08 | — | — | First release under the Azure development scheme. | |
| Windows 10 November 2019 Update | 1909 | Vanadium[3][b] | 18363 | 2019-11-12 | 2021-05-11 | 2022-05-10 | — | — | Cumulative update based on May 2019 Update codebase |
| Windows 10 May 2020 Update | 2004 | Vibranium[3][4] | 19041 | 2020-05-27 | 2021-12-14 | — | — | — | |
| Windows 10 October 2020 Update | 20H2 | 19042 | 2020-10-20 | 2022-05-10 | 2023-05-09 | — | — | Cumulative updates based on May 2020 Update codebase | |
| Windows 10 May 2021 Update | 21H1 | 19043 | 2021-05-18 | 2022-12-13 | — | — | |||
| Windows 10 November 2021 Update | 21H2 | 19044 | 2021-11-16 | 2023-06-13 | 2024-06-11 | 2027-01-12 | 2032-01-13 | ||
| Windows 10 2022 Update | 22H2 | 19045 | 2022-10-18 | 2024-05-14 | 2025-05-13 | — | — | ||
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Legend:
Old version
Older version, still supported
Current stable version
Latest preview version
Future release
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Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Support for ARM64 was added in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. An ARM32 port is also maintained internally.
- ↑ Vanadium is a cumulative update for version 1903 (Titanium), although it is considered a distinct development semester by Microsoft.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats
- ↑ https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2021/11/16/how-to-get-the-windows-10-november-2021-update/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-comes-after-windows-10-19h1-vanadium/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191214130318/https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1125409514193281024
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