Windows 10 version 1903 reaches end of support, upgrade to successor version

[German]Microsoft's Windows 10 version 1903, released in spring 2019, has now reached the end of support. Systems still running this Windows 10 version will now be migrated to newer Windows 10 versions in unmanaged environments.

Planned end of support on December 8, 2020

On December 8, 2020, security updates for Windows 10 version 1903 were released for the last time. This marks the end of 18 months of support for the operating system. This end of support applies to all Windows 10 version 1903 SKUs, i.e. Home, Pro, Workstation, Enterprise and Education.

Forced upgrade to version 1909

As early as November 9, 2020, Microsoft therefore reminded users of this end of support in the Windows Message Center and at the same time announced that it would begin forced upgrades to Windows 10 version 1909.

Reminder: End of service for Windows 10, version 1903 – December 8, 2020
On December 8, 2020, all editions of Windows 10, version 1903 and Windows 10 Server, version 1903 will reach end of service. After that date, devices running these editions will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates. To keep you protected and productive, we will soon begin updating devices running Windows 10, version 1903 to Windows 10, version 1909. This update will install like a monthly update, resulting in a far faster update experience.

Currently, however, it is unclear to me whether this applies to all machines. In the German blog post Windows 10 Version 1903 wird zwangsweise auf 1909 aktualisiert there was feedback that an upgrade to Windows 10 version 2004 was taking place. German magazine Golem writes here that the upgrade will happen in waves in December 2020. However, Microsoft directly recommends installing the more recent versions 20H1 (v2004) from April 2020 or 20H2 (v2009) from October 2020, but I am ad hoc not aware of any source for such a recommendation.

It should also be noted that this forced upgrade only applies to Windows 10 Home and Pro that are updated via Windows Update. For machines running Windows 10 Enterprise or Education that are updated via managed environments such as WSUS, SCCM or Intune, the administrator controls when the move to a newer Windows 10 version occurs. However, these SKUs are also out of support and no longer receive security updates.