Nothing's certain except death and patches – so that 'final' Windows 10 19H2 build isn't really

Having declared 18363.418 the final build for the Windows 10 November 2019 Update, the Windows Insider team has surprised no one at all by issuing patches ahead of release.

Last night the team thundered: "We will continue to improve the overall experience of 19H2 on customers' PCs as part of our normal servicing cadence" (its emphasis, not ours) as Windows Insiders running 19H2 received builds 18363.446 and 18363.448.

Windows 10 is continually updated so seeing new versions should come as no surprise. It does, however, raise the questions: why declare .418 as a "final" version and what will end users actually receive when the OS update finally ships in November?

In the meantime, Microsoft also emitted 19H2 (aka the November 2019 Update) build 18363.418 to Insiders on Build 18362.10024 and in the Release Preview Ring. Those in the Slow Ring on 18362.10024 will have to switch into the Release Preview Ring to get the final build or face the arrival of 20H1 in the coming weeks.

Those not in the Windows Insider programme can continue ploughing through the popcorn while watching the unpaid testers be yanked this way and that in search of the mythical "final build", which is, of course, 18363.418. Maybe. Got it? Good.

The Insider gang attempted to reassure users that "this is normal as part of that process" as it continued to head toward what Insiders will hope is relative normality once the November 2019 Update is finally shipped.

Normality should look like the Release Preview Ring on 19H2, the Slow Ring on stable versions of 20H1, the Fast Ring on bleeding edge 20H1 builds and those brave souls on the Skip Ahead taking a peek at 20H2. Or not – it depends on whether this year's cumulative update approach for the H2 version becomes the new norm.

As for 20H1, a new version of that was also dropped last night for the Fast Ring in the form of build 19008. While light on standout features, the gang included a workaround for Insiders experiencing shutdown and restart problems who didn't manage to get build 19002.1002, as well as some minor fixes around Settings and Windows Hello.

However, anti-cheat software continues to cause the software giant a headache, and Insiders using the BattlEye software have had a compatibility hold slammed on their devices until a solution is found. ®