The march of time is unstoppable, and all things must come to an end. That includes support for Windows 10 version 21H2, which received its last update yesterday as part of this month's Patch Tuesday — at least if you're running Windows 10 Home or Pro editions. The 2021 update for Windows 10 has officially reached its end-of-life stage for consumers, who will soon be forced to upgrade to version 22H2. That should be nothing to worry about, considering this is an extremely small update.
While most users may have to update soon to stay secure, it's worth noting that those running Enterprise or Education editions of Windows 10 won't be forced to upgrade just yet. These users have an extra year of support, so they won't have to upgrade until 2024.
As Windows 11 approaches its two-year anniversary, Microsoft has been winding down support for Windows 10, which makes sense. Recently, the company announced that Windows 10 version 22H2 would be the only one to continue getting optional updates every month, while older versions are limited to the mandatory Patch Tuesday updates. What's more, the company confirmed that Windows 10 version 22H2 is the last version of Windows 10, and it will only get cumulative and security updates going forward. The operating system is still supported until 2025, so you won't be forced to switch to Windows 11 anytime soon, but nothing exciting is going to be happening on Windows 10.
Windows 11, however, is where all the fun stuff is. Yesterday's Patch Tuesday update rolled out features of what's called Moment 3, a smaller feature update that brings a few big changes to the operating system, such as a redesigned Widgets board, new Settings pages for USB4 devices and hubs, and more. What's more, Windows 11 version 23H2 is likely just a few months away, and it will bring some new features of its own, including RGB lighting controls for your peripherals.