Yesterday, Microsoft released its monthly cumulative updates for all supported versions of Windows 10, which came with the usual set of fixes and small improvements. However, the company also released a new version of Windows Holographic - the version of Windows 10 designed for the HoloLens 2 - finally bringing it to version 20H2, in line with other versions of Windows 10. This brings the build number to Build 19041.1128, so the HoloLens isn't actually changing the major build number to 19042 like Windows 10 PCs did with version 20H2.
While Windows 10 version 20H2 is a relatively small update, Windows Holographic actually has some nice additions. First off, the HoloLens now supports automatic eye positions, meaning you don't need to manually calibrate the headset for it to adjust to your eye position. The only other change that could be considered more consumer-facing is that mixed reality video recordings are no longer capped at five minutes, and can go on as long as there's disk space available for the recording.
Most of the changes are geared towards business users or developers. These changes include a simpler certificate manager in the Settings app or improvements to provisioning packages, so that having packages on a USB drive automatically prompts the provisioning page. What's more, it's also possible to automatically confirm provisioning packages during OOBE, so it's possible to set up devices without even wearing the headset. You can follow the steps here to do that.
There are plenty of other improvements, such as support for Autopilot over Wi-Fi connections instead of Ethernet, improvements to kiosk mode, new policies for HoloLens devices, and the addition of Research Mode, which has been improved since the first-generation HoloLens, with support for hand and eye tracking and access to sensors like the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer.
Aside from all of that, there are a few smaller improvements and fixes in this update:
- More screens in OOBE are now in dark mode.
- Learn more content should point to the latest Privacy Statement online.
- Addressed an issue where users could not provision VPN profiles through provisioning packages.
- Fixed proxy configuration issue for VPN connection.
- Updated policy to disable enumeration of USB functions through MDM for NCM for AllowUsbConnection.
- Addressed an issue that prevented a HoloLens device from showing up in File Explorer over Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) when the device is set up as a single-app kiosk. Note that MTP (and USB connection in general) can still be disabled using the AllowUSBConnection policy.
- Fixed an issue where icons in the Start menu were scaled correctly in Kiosk mode.
- Fixed an issue due to HTTP caching interfering with kiosk mode targeted to AAD groups.
- Fixed an issue where users were unable to use the Pair button after enabling Developer mode with provisioning packages unless they disabled and re-enabled Developer mode.
If you have a single HoloLens 2, you can update it in the same way as any Windows 10 device - head into the Settings app, choose Update & Security, then Check for Updates. Business users who want to manage updates automatically can use one of these methods.
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