Microsoft begins rolling out the Windows 10 May 2021 Update

In brief: Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 Spring update is finally arriving, bringing with it improvements to security, remote work support, and “quality.” It’s a small update, intentionally scoped to address a handful of specific community needs without going overboard — Microsoft is saving the juicy stuff for its upcoming October update.

That update will launch with overdue improvements to Windows 10’s File Explorer, and significant changes to the look and feel of the OS as a whole. However, as we said, those alterations aren’t coming until the Fall, so patch addicts will have to sate themselves with today’s smaller set of improvements.

So, enough preamble — what exactly can you expect to see in the new May 2021 Update? In short, not much. The official changelog is as follows:

• 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.

Microsoft calls the update “fast and focused,” which seems like a fancy way of saying “barebones.” But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As we’ve all seen in the past, the more ambitious Microsoft is with its patches, the worse the user experience can be. Does anyone remember the infamous file deletion bug of 2020?

Either way, small or not, this little quality-of-life patch should be useful for at least a handful of Windows 10 users. It’s also possible, of course, that Microsoft will sneak in a few additional changes without officially disclosing them, as they’ve done in the past. If anything significant slips through and makes the news, we’ll be sure to let you know.

If you want to snag the May 2021 Update, just navigate to Windows Update and hit “Check for updates.” If nothing shows up for you, just be patient: Microsoft is intentionally limiting the initial update roll-out to ensure download stability for everyone. The numbers will ramp up over the coming week, so check regularly.