Windows 10 version 21H1 is officially announced with build 19043.844

Microsoft today officially introduced Windows 10 version 21H1 with the release of Build 19043.844 to the Beta channel. The company noted that Windows 10, version 21H1 will have a scoped set of features improving security, remote access and quality.

Microsoft has officially confirmed that 21H1 is a minor update that will be installed quickly over the existing 2004/20H2 instance, like a monthly cumulative update. The same process could be earlier seen for 1903 -> 1909 update, and again for the 2004 -> 20H2 transition. However, users who come to 21H1 from versions older than 2004 will experience the full feature upgrade procedure.

Microsoft highlights the following key changes in 21H1.

• Windows Hello multicamera support to set the default as the external camera when both external and internal Windows Hello cameras are present.
• Windows Defender Application Guard performance improvements including optimizing document opening scenario times.
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) updating performance improvement to support remote work scenarios.

Also, Microsoft today released Windows 10 build 19043.844 (KB4601382) to the Beta Channel. It comes with the following changes.

What's new in Windows 10 build 19043.844

• Windows Hello multicamera support to set the default as the external camera when both external and internal Windows Hello cameras are present.
• Windows Defender Application Guard performance improvements including optimizing document opening scenario times.
  • We fixed an issue that causes a one minute or more delay when you open a Microsoft Defender Application Guard (WDAG) Office document. This occurs when you try to open a file using a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path or Server Message Block (SMB) share link.
  • We improved Robocopy’s performance when copying files that total over 400 MB in size.
  • We fixed an issue that causes a WDAG container to use almost 1 GB of memory (working set) when the container is idle.
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Group Policy Service (GPSVC) updating performance improvement to support remote work scenarios.
  • We fixed an issue that causes changes that the Active Directory (AD) administrator makes to user or computer group membership to propagate slowly. Although the access token eventually updates, these changes do not appear when the administrator uses gpresult /r or gpresult /h to create a report.

Also, it includes all fixes from a previous release, Windows 10 Build 19042.844 (20H2).

How to get Windows 10 Build 19043.844

Microsoft releases build 19043.844 as an optional update for 'seekers'. In order to get this update installed, your PC should be configured to receive updates from the Beta Channel, and you must go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and choose to download and install 21H1 after clicking on the "Check for Updates" button.

However, keep in mind the following. Once you update your PC to 21H1, you will continue to automatically receive new 21H1 updates. If you avoid installing 21H1, you will continue to receive 20H2 updates until Microsoft moves all of the Beta Channel forward to 21H1. This will happen in the coming weeks.