Microsoft sheds light on Windows 11 version 23H2

[harlan4096]

Microsoft plans to release Windows 11 version 23H2 later this year. The update will be a smaller feature update release, which offers advantages and maybe also some disappointments for users of the operating system.

When Microsoft released Windows 11, it let everyone know that it would release one feature update per year for the operating system. While the company is still holding on to the concept, it changed things around with the release of the first feature update for Windows 11, version 22H2.

The main change added smaller feature drops, called Moments Updates internally, to the release schedule. Microsoft released three of these updates so far, see Moments Update 1, Moments Update 2 and Moments Update 3 for information on those, and plans to release at least one additional smaller feature update before the end of the year.

With new features being pushed throughout the year to Windows 11 devices, major feature updates lose one of their main rights to exist.

Windows 11 version 23H2 will be pushed out to user systems as an enablement package therefore. Windows users who ran Windows 10 previously may remember these already, as the last updates for Windows 10 were all enablement packages. Speaking of which, Microsoft's stance on Windows 10 still stands: the operating system won't receive any more feature updates going forward until its death -- end of servicing -- in October 2025.

One of the advantages of these is that the update installs much quicker and that there is less room for error. Windows 11 version 22H2, the current version of Windows 11, and Windows 11 version 23H2, the soon-to-be-released version of Windows 11, share the same servicing branch and code base.

Microsoft employee Jason Leznek reveals that the company plans to release Windows 11 version 23H2 in the fourth quarter of 2023. Administrators may then deploy the new Windows update via Windows Server Update Services, Windows Update for Business, or Windows Autopatch.

Home users will see the update in Windows Update, which they may access via Start > Settings > Windows Update. A click on "check for updates" may be required to get it listed as an update for installation on the device.

Closing Words

With Windows 12 looming on the horizon already, is Windows 11 sharing the fate of Windows 10? While Windows 11 will continue to receive Moments Updates, it is certainly possible that Microsoft plans to keep the codebase and servicing branch throughout the operating system's lifespan, to make the next big jump with the release of Windows 12 next year.

Microsoft has yet to formally announce the next major version of Windows and it probably won't for some time.
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