Windows 10 May 2020 Update is now cleared for everyone to download

Well, almost everyone – there may still be a scattering of minor compatibility blocks

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Windows 10May 2020 Update has been cleared for broad deployment, meaning it will now be offered to all users widely.

In other words, the upgrade floodgates have been fully opened, whereas before with theMay 2020 Update, the variousbugs and glitches presentpreventedMicrosoftfrom making it available to allcomers (it was only pushed to certain PCs).

In an upgrade to the status of the May 2020 Update, as spotted byMS Power User, Microsoftsaid: “Windows 10, version 2004 [May 2020 Update] is designated for broad deployment. The recommended servicing status is Semi-Annual Channel.”

As we’ve seen in recent times, Microsoft has been working away to resolve the various issues around the May 2020 Update, but giving it full clearance has taken some time. Remember that the upgrade came out in May 2020 (unsurprisingly), late in the month; so it has taken some nine months to give the big thumbs-up to the update.

Upgrade stats

That said, a good chunk of folks are already using the May 2020 Update, and as we’ve seen from the most recent figures fromAdDuplex, it’s the version of Windows 10 that most people are on. 39.8% of users, in fact, are using it, comfortably ahead of the November 2019 Update on 31.2%, and the most recent October 2020 Update on 16.8%. There are still 6.6% of users on the May 2019 Update, as of the end of January 2021 (although remember this is just going by one set of statistics).

While Microsoft is happy that the May 2020 Update is now fully ready for all users, then are still a couple of known issues that remain around audio drivers, as you’ll see in the status update provided.

So there may still be a few machines with a compatibility block due to that, although Microsoft has provided a workaround for those Conexant audio driver problems, and said that it is “adjusting this safeguard to allow certain devices with the affected driver to update to Windows 10, version 2004 [May 2020 Update] or Windows 10, version 20H2 [October 2020 Update].”

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TheOctober 2020 Updateis only an enablement package, meaning it’s a minor upgrade from the May 2020 Update, so once you’re on the latter, it’s effectively just a short step onwards. And for that matter, the incoming first update of 2021 isexpected to be a similar matter of flicking an enablement switch, as well. In that respect, the May 2020 Update will remain essentially as good as the latest version of Windows 10, but for some minor changes.

ViaWccftech

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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