Microsoft
The Windows 11 24H2 update isn’t expected to be released until fall this year, but testers can get a near-final version of it. There is Microsoft Windows 11 24H2 build 26100.712 has been released In the Windows Insider Release Preview test channel, a sign that the update is nearly complete and the company has entered troubleshooting mode ahead of general availability.
In the Windows 11 era, Microsoft generally stuck to smaller but more frequent feature updates, but the annual fall updates are usually a big deal. You decide whether you’re eligible for security updates, and often (but not always) they bring bigger changes than regular features.
Case in point: Windows 11 24H2 has an updated compiler, kernel, and scheduler, and all low-level system changes, at least partially, to better support Arm-based PCs. Current Windows-on-Arm systems will also see a 10 to 20 percent increase in performance when using x86 applications, thanks to improvements in the translation layer (which Microsoft now calls Prism).
There are also other changes that are visible to the user. 24H2 included sudo for windowsThe ability to create TAR and 7-Zip archives through File Explorer, Wi-Fi 7 support, a new power saving mode and better support for Bluetooth Low Energy audio. Additionally, users can run the Copilot AI chatbot in a regular, resizable window that can be pinned to the taskbar instead of always having its own area on the screen.
Other new Windows features are bundled with the 24H2 update, but will only be available on Copilot+ PCs, which have their own features. Required for the system: 16 GB of memory, 256 GB of storage and a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of at least 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). Currently, the only chips that meet these requirements are Qualcomm’s Snapdragon.Microsoft maintains a separate list of processors that support Copilot+ features.
Copilot+ Computer’s greatest 24-hour feature is the Recall function, which continuously takes snapshots of everything you do with your computer so you can look back on your own activities later. This poses obvious privacy and security risks, although Microsoft says that all recall data is encrypted on disk and processed entirely locally by the NPU rather than using the cloud. Other features of Copilot+ include live captions for subtitling videos or video calls in real time as well as features for creating new images and enhancing existing images.
Taken together, all these changes make 24H2 the most important Windows 11 release since the 22H2 update came out a year and a half ago. 22H2 has since served as the basis for most new Windows features, including the Copilot chatbot, and 23H2 was essentially a build number change to reset the clock on the Microsoft security update timeline.
Despite all these changes and additions, the 24H2 update is still called Windows 11, still looks like Windows 11, and doesn’t change the official minimum system requirements for Windows 11. Unsupported installations will no longer work on older 64-bit CPUs x86 bits have been around for generations, even though these chips are old and slow enough that they don’t run Windows 11 well.
For those looking to start fresh, release-specific ISO files are available on Microsoft’s download page here. You can update your current Windows 11 installation from the Insider section of the Settings app. Microsoft expects a full release “later this calendar year.” Based on previous precedent, it will likely launch in the fall, but for the first wave of Copilot+ arm computers, which will be available in mid-June, it will likely ship a little earlier.
