A few months after announcing its work from home strategy for its employees, Microsoft has now come out with an update for one of its most prominent products, Windows 10, that is designed to improve remote working for the better. Unlike in previous years where updates to the OS were made in the Spring and Fall, this year, the tech giant has elected to fast track its release calendar, by allowing its beta testers to have a feel of the new features earlier on in the year. According to sources, the public will have the new version in their hands before the first half of the year elapses.

This new version, named 21H1, is set to provide users with an optimized experience for out-of-office working and learning, while making significant improvements to security-based performance. Although 21H1 will not make any interface changes or advancements, it will include multi-camera support for Microsoft’s user recognition platform Windows Hello. What this means is that users will be able to log in to their Microsoft accounts using external cameras as the default setting for their Windows Hello enabled products. This will come in handy for those who rely on webcams, such as Logitech Brio, who had trouble using Windows Hello previously. Security-wise, Windows Defender Application Guard has been improved to provide seamless documents opening times.

Additional improvements to the OS include: faster installation times for new updates, performance improvements for management and configuration, and bug fixes for the software’s in-built antivirus. Also, Windows Management Instrumentation, (WMI) will be upgraded to better support remote working. But that is not all. According to The Verge, Microsoft is planning to release a newer, more rejuvenated version of their Windows product, dubbed Sun Valley, in the latter part of 2021, details of which will be released at a special event in the coming months.

“As people continue to rely on Windows more than ever to work, learn and have fun, we understand the importance of providing the best possible update experience to help people and organizations stay protected and productive,” said John Cable, Vice President, Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery, in a a blog post announcing the release. “It is a responsibility we do not take lightly and this is why for the first time an H1 (first half of a calendar year) feature update release will be delivered in an optimized way using servicing technology, while continuing our semi-annual feature update cadence.”

According to the blog, users with the latest version of Windows, 20H2, will receive the update as a normal monthly update with fast installation speeds. The rest of the users on the other hand, will have to install the new build as they did their previous Windows updates.

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