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Microsoft has said that Windows 10 users and admins should not expect preview updates this December. The reason for that is probably low staffing levels over the holiday season. December will be a break this time because the standard Microsoft Windows 10 updates are scheduled each month.

The updates include optional previews that come after the mandatory Patch Tuesday security updates in the second week of each month.

In a support note, Microsoft said that because of minimal operations during the holidays and the upcoming New Year, the OS’s users would not get any preview releases for December 2020.

Here’s what happens in a month

The software giant will continue its monthly servicing when their security releases come out in January 2021. The company also releases optional non-security Windows 10 updates to users, so they have time to test the updates against the system.

The first week of each month is called ‘A week’ and usually has fixes for Office. The second week, or the B Week, is called Patch Tuesday for apparent reasons. Week C and D are on the third and fourth weeks of the month.

These last two weeks are when the company releases optional cumulative updates or previews of non-security fixes for IT experts and admins.

Security always remains

It has been a while since the company paused non-security updates. The last time was in Match after Patch Tuesday. They paused it back then to give admins breathing space while the world went into lockdown.

The optional updates resumed in July, but the pandemic did not put a stop to Patch Tuesday.

Over the weekend, Microsoft also said that it is starting to force Windows 10 PCs on version 1903 to move to 1909. The forced upgrades will start soon because the 1903 version will no longer get security updates after December 8th.