Windows 10 is approaching its 10th anniversary in a couple of days, and to celebrate this occasion, we have been publishing content that reminisces the decade that we have spent with the operating system. So far, we have talked about 10 features in Windows 10 that just never took off, as well as Windows 10 being the primary reason why we are so conscious about privacy now. Now, we are taking a look at our Windows 10 coverage from the past 10 years, highlighting the 10 stories that were read the most by our audience.
Please note that this list is sorted in ascending order, which means that out of this collection of 10 stories, we will be moving from least views to most views. Also keep in mind that an additional criterion for the stories in this piece was that while they can contain information about other topics too, the core focus should be around Windows 10. Without further ado, let"s begin!
10. Windows 10 May 2021 Update is live - here"s what to expect
This is a rather interesting piece due to the background surrounding it. While Microsoft only releases one feature update for Windows now, it used to roll out two back in the day; H1 and H2. The H1 update was typically a major update with lots of new features, while H2 was a relatively minor release that was mostly an enablement package to light up certain disabled capabilities.
With the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, also know as Windows 10, version 21H1, Microsoft flipped the script a bit, and made this supposed feature update an enablement package too. At that time, this became the operating system"s smallest feature update with only three enhancements revolving around Windows Hello, Windows Defender Application Guard, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Not particularly interesting.
Still, a lot of you read this piece, those were exciting times as Microsoft was reportedly working on Windows 10X too. However, the company ended up canceling the OS within a month within a few weeks following the release of the Windows 10 May 2021 Update.
9. Clean installed Windows 10 22H2 vs Windows 11 23H2 benchmarked for performance
Our readers are typically quite interested in performance benchmarks and while we regularly cover results from third-party testing in our news stream, we decided to conduct our own testing on this particular occasion. We essentially pitted the latest available versions of both Windows 10 and Windows 11 on "clean" systems.
Our findings across various CPU and GPU benchmarking tools revealed that Windows 10 and Windows 11 are pretty close in terms of performance. While one sometimes tops the other in a particular category, the difference is very negligible. This conclusion was important for a couple of reasons. It emphasized that despite Microsoft"s attempts to convince you otherwise, Windows 11 doesn"t sport a major increase in performance. But more importantly, it also served as proof to our readers that Windows 11 isn"t worse off in gaming either, so this shouldn"t be a factor when you are considering upgrading.
8. Microsoft"s app that promises Windows performance improvements has some shady stuff inside
Over a year ago, Microsoft released a PC Manager app in the Microsoft Store as a means to optimize and boost the performance of your Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, an investigation from our readers revealed some rather shady stuff. For one, the Deep Cleaning option in the app was rather aggressive and would end up deleting the Windows Prefetch folder, which is something that even Microsoft doesn"t recommend that you do.
Secondly, the app contained affiliate links with trackers to some Chinese software websites that were offering utilities. It"s rather odd that a first-party official Microsoft app wasn"t polished on release, but it once again cemented the belief that "optimizers" aren"t ideal.
7. Save your computer from Microsoft"s Windows 10 end-of-life planned obsolescence
This is one of our more recent pieces surrounding the upcoming end-of-support deadline for Windows 10. This editorial penned by our News Editor Paul Hill talks about the impact that this deadline will have on the environment as old PCs are eventually dumped in landfills. Although Paul does highlight the ways in which you can officially or unofficially extend support (ESU, 0patch, Flyby), he believes that the best option right now is to switch to a Linux distribution.
Paul lays out several options including GNOME, KDE, Cinnamon, Mint, LXQt, Fedora SilverBlue, Lubuntu, and more. Despite Neowin being a Windows-focused website, this article received a lot of views and fairly positive feedback too.
6. Windows 10 version 20H2 is here - here"s what you need to know
Remember when I said earlier that the H1 package used to be a major feature update for Windows 10, while H2 was mostly an enablement package? Well, at that time, we were talking about Windows 10 21H1, which turned out to be a minor update with only three new features. This piece was about the preceding update, Windows 10 20H2, which should now give you some reference point of how small the next update was.
This roundup piece covered all the new capabilities and enhancements present in the Windows 10 version 20H2 update, including Start menu improvements, theme-aware tiles, All Apps redesign, tablet mode upgrades, the new Chromium-based Edge, and more. At that time, we called this a minor update, because we didn"t know that Microsoft would be ditching its established conventions and making Windows 10, version 21H1 even smaller.
5. Windows 10 reaches 70% market share as Windows 11 keeps declining
Although Windows 11 is just about to overtake Windows 10 in terms of market share according to the latest reports, this wasn"t always the case. In fact, just over a year ago in May 2024, Windows 10 stood strong at 70%, while Windows 11 was limping at 25%. However, with Windows 10"s death approaching fast, Windows 11 has finally turned a corner and both operating systems now occupy roughly 48% each of the Windows market. Things can only improve from here.
4. Microsoft admits it can"t fix Windows 10 KB5034441 "0x80070643 - ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE"
Windows 10 users are often greeted with error 0x80070643 when dealing with the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). Although it can be manually fixed by customers, Microsoft says that it is impossible to resolve it in an automated manner controlled by the company itself. This particular issue has been a major annoyance for Windows customers in the past couple of years and in recent months, Microsoft has been telling customers to just ignore it and is reiterating that it can"t ever be truly fixed. You have to wonder what the complexity of the problem is for Microsoft to issue such statements, but at least it doesn"t impact anything critical.
3. Microsoft finally lifts two-year old block preventing Windows 10 users from upgrading to 11
Although we recently wrote an article about Microsoft finally lifting a long-standing Windows 11, version 24H2 block, the news story we"ll be discussing in this section is slightly older. This piece is from April 2024 when Microsoft finally resolved a two-year-old update block surrounding the Intel Smart Sound Technology Audio Controller driver (Intel SST). It was particularly annoying that a problematic driver version was what was blocking customers from upgrading to Windows 11, and even I can relate since it impacted my daily driver too.
That said, it is important to note that this was an external block since the driver in question was manufactured by Intel. Fortunately, Microsoft was able to work with Intel to release driver updates which finally lifted this block.
2. Windows 10 version 1909 is coming - here"s what you need to know
As you may have observed, our roundup articles do quite well here on Neowin. This particular piece is about the features present in Windows 10 version 1909. This was a rather unfriendly naming scheme that Microsoft dropped later, but just to give you context, it refers to Windows 10, version 19H2, which makes it almost six years old!
Since this is an H2 update, this was an enablement package too, with improvements in tow for notifications, lock screen, desktop environment, battery life, accessibility, and more. Even though Microsoft rolled out two feature updates at that time, it seems like the company really put effort into packing as many capabilities as it could into each release.
1. Windows 10 version 2004 is here - here"s what you need to know about it
The magnum opus of our Windows 10 coverage in the past decade is... another feature roundup! This time, it"s about Windows 10, version 2004 (or 20H1), which is the version immediately succeeding the one that we just talked about previously. Since this was an H1 release, it was a massive, massive upgrade.
Customers were treated to a new Cortana app, Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2), Notepad enhancements, Windows Search upgrades, Windows Sandbox and virtual desktop improvements, and just so much more. It"s almost impossible to recap them all in a way that gives justice to all the capabilities in tow. No wonder our readers flocked to this article, making this our most-viewed Windows 10 story of the past 10 years.
This story is a part of our "10 Years of Windows 10" collection, in celebration of the operating system"s tenth anniversary, falling on July 29, 2025. Over the next few days and weeks, you"ll be able to find more content on this topic in our dedicated section available here.