Pleeease release me: Patch Tuesday has been and gone, but Windows 10 2004 has yet to emerge

Microsoft treated Windows Insiders to a pair of emissions this week but sadly not the one that many were hoping for as Patch Tuesday came and went.

The next release of Windows 10 has been given the number 2004. 2003, which was expected if the company had followed the convention of previous years; 1903, 1803 and so on, was skipped. One reason suggested was that users might confuse the thing with the long obsolete Windows Server 2003.

Another is that the Windows team got hold of a version of the Regomiser we use for our columns On Call and Who, Me? to pick code names for those that submitted their tales. Certainly, with the end of April approaching, that 2004 sobriquet might have to turn into 2005 as rumours circulate regarding a May release for the next public emission of Windows 10.

Rather than a move to Release Preview, or even General Availability, the Windows Insider team dropped an update into the Slow Ring in the form of build 19041.207 replete with security updates and minor tweaks. The updated included a fix to deal with an issue that stopped the rear camera flash working on those rare Windows 10 devices that have the appropriate hardware.

2000-and-late

Windows 10 2004, or 20H1, has now spent over a year in testing. It appears that fans will have to wait just a little longer before it emerges from the Windows Insider program.

While 20H1 continued its toil, the Fast Ring of the Window Insider program also received an update in the form of build 19608. While the build itself remained a bucketful of meh (except for the lucky 50 per cent of Fast Ring Insiders that get to search for types in the File Association settings screen) the gang did highlight improvements for Insiders to the popular Your Phone app.

Excitedly trumpeting it was "continuing our partnership with Samsung," Microsoft was delighted to preview the innovation of dragging and dropping files from PC to phone and vice versa without having to plug anything in.

Those without a Samsung device compatible with the phone screen functionality of Your Phone will have to make do with the myriad options for file transfer that already exist. Or simply reach for the cable that the majority of smartphone owners have handy.

There are some problems with the preview - Microsoft warned that folders don't work, only 100 files per transfer is allowed and there may only be one transfer at a time. In addition, dragging a file too quickly from the phone "may result in transfer failure." As ever, Apple device fondlers need not apply. ®