Microsoft on Tuesday released Windows 10 1909, a feature update that has little in the way of new features.

Also dubbed "Windows 10 November 2019 Update" - the 1909 moniker noted its year and month, even though the release was actually 1911 - the upgrade was immediately available to those who sought it.

(On an unmanaged PC, select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, choose Check for updates and then pick Download and install now.)

On consumer PCs running Windows 10 Home and Windows 10 Pro systems not overseen by IT, 1909 will be installed only when the user chooses "Download and install now." However, as the current edition nears its support expiration, Microsoft will take charge and start an upgrade.

Computerworld has forecast that Microsoft won't begin force-feeding 1909 to users until late January, when it begins upgrading machines running Windows 10 1809. (On Windows 10 Home and Pro, 1809 drops off support May 12, 2020.) Most Windows 10 Home PCs running 1803 were compulsorily upgraded by Microsoft to 1903 in the four months prior to the former's retirement using this mechanism.

Commercial customers on Tuesday were also told to kickstart their testing of 1909. "IT administrators should begin targeted deployments to validate that the apps, devices and infrastructure used by their organizations work as expected with the new release and features," wrote John Cable, director of program management, in a Nov. 12 post to a company blog.

For those keeping score, Windows 10 1909 is notable for what it is not: It is not a feature upgrade as Microsoft has defined the term for Windows 10. Instead, 1909 will be little more than a rerun of May's 1903, including all the fixes Microsoft has made to that version since its debut, and a very small number of new features.

Computerworld