Windows 11 24H2 isn’t even here yet but Microsoft is already working on its follow-up that could pave the way for Windows 12
Moment updates – or their equivalent – look set to continue going forward
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Microsoftis already working away at what could be the first Moment update to follow the bigWindows 11 24H2 update.
Currently, work is ongoing with finishing the 24H2 update which lands later this year –most likely it’ll roll out from September– but Microsoft is already looking past that upgrade to the first Moment update it’ll deliver for that release, likely early in 2025. (Assuming the Moment name is kept, and we’ll come back to that).
Windows 11 version 24H2’s first “Moment” is already underway, stumbled upon this internal flight earlierBuild 26120.383, it really is just an EKB on top of 26100 pic.twitter.com/zRVseaW2c4April 15, 2024
This is according to a respected Microsoft leaker, Albacore on X (formerly Twitter), who as noted in the above post stumbled upon an internal flight – a preview version just being tested within Microsoft currently – which is the first Moment for 24H2. (Add your own scattering of seasoning here, naturally).
As probably hasn’t escaped your attention if you’re aWindows 11user, Microsoft just released the fifth Moment update forWindows 1123H2,which comes with some handy new features.
Analysis: The bigger update picture – and potential road to Windows 12
As a quick refresher, Moment updates are sizeable feature drops, though not nearly as big as the annual upgrades for Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2 and so on). Essentially, Moments offer a way for Microsoft to continue to drip feed features between the major ‘H2’ annual versions of Windows 11.
With the first Moment update for 24H2 seemingly already under development, this seems a strong indication that Microsoft will continue with this scheme of things for Windows 11 updates going forward.
As Albacore discusses in the thread of the above post on X, it is possible that Microsoft might change the name ‘Moment’ to something else, but the underlying principle of these small-to-medium sized upgrades – outside the cadence of the big annual updates – should remain in place for Windows 11 as we progress down the road with the OS.
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Before too long, though, that road will lead toWindows 12– or whatever next-gen Windows ends up being called, with it quite possibly turning up in 2025, whenWindows 10 exits stage left– and after that, the update delivery philosophy could change again.
Perhaps there’s a heightened chance of this, too, when you consider that Windows is under a new chief – Pavan Davuluri has taken the reins of the OS, as Mikhail Parakhin (who was heading up Windows previously) is off doing other things at Microsoft as of last month.
Traditionally, Microsoft has operated under this kind of scheme of smaller drip-fed updates outside of large feature drops – though not always. BeforeWindows 11arrived, you may recall that Microsoft used a twice-yearly update scheme withWindows 10, so no new features were introduced between those upgrades. That left some pretty sizeable gaps of six months or so where nothing happened with the desktop OS feature-wise (except minor tweaks here and there).
We were never keen on that idea, but we don’t think Microsoft will return to that way of working – we’re taking this as a positive sign that Moments, or their equivalent, will be around for a good time yet, and hopefully withWindows 12going forward, when it eventually rolls into town.
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - ‘I Know What You Did Last Supper’ - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).
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