The next big update to Windows 10 gets a final round of testing, arrives next month

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You can install the final preview build of the Windows 10 May 2020 update right now if you're antsy.

The first of two major updates to Windows 10 this year is just about ready to be pushed out. It's also now officially called the Windows 10 May 2020 update (formerly known simply as 20H1), as Microsoft has veered away from more creative titles for these feature upgrades in favor of month and year categorizations.

A new preview build landed in the Windows Insider program yesterday, and according to Brandon LeBlanc, the program's senior product manager, it is likely the last one before it releases to the public.

Interestingly, Microsoft has been running into some hiccups with Mixed Reality headsets on the May 2020 update. There's a chance these issues will not be resolved in time for a public launch.

"Windows Mixed Reality may not work correctly for many users on the May 2020 update. If you regularly use Windows Mixed Reality, we recommend holding off taking the May 2020 update via Release Preview for now. We are working on a fix which we hope to release in early May," LeBlanc said.

At this point, it's best to just wait a month for the May 2020 update to arrive. If you're dead set on previewing it beforehand, however, the latest test build is as polished as it will get in the Insider program. You can grab it by navigating to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program and then clicking the 'Get started' button.

The May 2020 update will introduce improvements to Windows Search (it will be better at parsing typos and still finding files); update the Performance tab on the Task Manager to show the drive type (SSD or HDD rather than simple 'Disk 1' and 'Disk 2' labels), and add temperature monitoring for GPUs; and include some tweaks to improve gaming performance and video playback on multi-monitor setups, among other things.

Paul Lilly
Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).