It is important to make sure your computer operating system is updating. This will keep you and your computer safe and functioning well. On all modern operating systems the small updates released every week fix security or programming issues that could allow a hacker to access your computer and information. This applies to Windows, Mac, ChromeOS and many Linux flavours.
On Windows PCs we have come to expect weekly updates (affectionately known as ‘patch Tuesday’) These updates generally don’t change anything you see but fix things under the bonnet, often things you didn’t even know were wrong.
We get also get “feature” updates, normally every 6 months. These updates usually bring lots of new features, some useful, some not. Feature updates are named after the year and half year of release. 21H1 was the first half of 2021, 21H2 was November 2021, and up to last month this was the most recent version of Windows 10.
We’ve been waiting for nearly a year for the much anticipated 22H2 update for Windows 10 (and 11) and this was finally released a few weeks ago. I’d love to tell you about all the great new features this brings. But I can’t, because there aren’t any. This feature update just brought all the last 12 months of security updates together and fixed a time zone issue. There are a few more features for Windows 11 users but Windows 10 remains largely unchanged.
Whilst this makes for a very boring feature update, what this does mean is that the service life of Windows 10 has now been extended by a year. Last year’s 21H2 version will stop being supported in June 2023 whereas 22H2 will get long term support until May 2024 and we’re expecting further extensions to at least October 2025.
Windows updates should apply themselves, but it’s good practice to drop into the settings app every month or so and check that’s the case. You can check what version of windows you have by looking for “About your PC” if you are older than 22h2 then get the update soon to keep safe. Sometimes the feature updates stall and prevent future updates applying, if this is the case then you can manually install the lasted feature update and kick it all back into life.
You’ve probably realised by now that I’m not much of an Apple fan, so I don’t talk much about Apple specific subjects, but next month I’ll run through the situation with MacOS security and version updates which is becoming quite troublesome to iMac and MacBook owners.
I hope you find this information useful. If you would like to see a particular subject covered then please feel free to ask at www.alfindlay.com.
Al Findlay | Freelance IT & AV Support Consultant | Website design and Hosting | www.AlFindlay.com | 01395 542500