Windows 11 2024 Update, also known as version 24H2, is now publicly available. Microsoft announced the rollout alongside the new AI-powered features that are coming soon to Windows Insiders with Copilot+ PCs and Copilot upgrades.
Unlike recent Windows 11 updates, version 24H2 is a “full operating system swap,” so updating to it will take more time than usual. What is going as usual is the way the update is being offered to users. Microsoft is gradually rolling out the update to “seekers” with Windows 11 versions 22H2 and 23H2. That means you need to go to the Settings app and manually request the update.
↫ Taras Buria at Neowin
I’ve said it a few times before but I completely lost track of how Windows releases and updates work at this point. I thought this version and its features had been available for ages already, but apparently I was wrong, and it’s only being released now. For now, you can get it by opting in through Windows Update, while the update will be pushed to everyone later on. I really wish Microsoft would move to a simpler, more straightforward release model and cadence, but alas.
Anyway, this version brings all the AI/ML CoPilot stuff, WiFi 7 support, improvements to File Explorer and the system tray, the addition of the sudo command, and more. The changes to Explorer are kind of hilarious to me, as Microsoft seems to have finally figured out labels are a good thing – the weird copy/cut/paste buttons in the context menu have labels now – but this enhanced context menu still has its own context menu. Explorer now also comes with support for more compression formats, which is a welcome change in 2007. To gain access to the new sudo command, go to Settings > System > For developers and enable the option.
For the rest, this isn’t a very impactful release, and will do little to convince the much larger Windows 10 userbase to switch to Windows 11, something that’s going to be a real problem for Microsoft in the coming year.
I’m feeling the burn from this sentence 4500 miles from where you typed it.
And they pulled the plug on the rollout it seems… looks like it bricked devices that had a mildly outdated Intel Sound driver … at least they’re consistent
Already fixed and rolling out, got mine today
That’s the “full operating system swap” thing in its full glory. As I am saying below, Windows OSes aren’t meant to be upgraded this way, and doing so will break pre-installed OS installations, but NuMicrosoft is doing it anyway.
The windows release cycle is fairly easy to understand and not a massive departure of what has always been.
They have a major release every 3 years
Features rolled out are compiled into Service packs (name by date, in this case 24H2, 2nd half of 2024) that they release annually.
They roll out features as they are developed if you can opt in or out of (with multiple channels offering from daily to service pack and security only).
Alongside all this ofc is a regular, documented cadence for security updates.
I think you are reading and reacting to the release channels where new ideas are regularly trailed and thinking that’s actually released in Windows 11.
This model is basically the same as the Redhat model in linux;
Major release – Redhat 9.0
Service pack release – Redhat 9.4
Windows Release Preview Channel – Centos Stream
Windows Beta/Dev Channel – Fedora
Windows Canary Channel – Fedora Rawhide
Thankfully, we can set the network to a metered one, and forget about all these. One less source of problems in this already overly complex life.
You intentionally don’t apply any patches to your systems? That’s and “interesting choice”.
Goddammit no! Just no! No no no no no!
When will NuMicrosoft learn? Windows OSes aren’t meant to be upgraded this way, some drivers and driver settings are always left behind in the old Windows installation, Windows installations aren’t immutable OS installations like MacOS or Android ROMs, and you can’t casually “swap” an installation with another one.
The effortless upgrades of Mac computers and Android phones require a small number of hardware configurations, with the drivers (and driver-specific settings) for every possible hardware configuration pre-baked in, it’s the reason Android OEMs keep separate ROMs per phone model. The Windows PC ecosystem isn’t like that and NuMicrosoft doesn’t want to change it (but want to chase the Mac experience anyway).
What is “Nu”? I don’t get the reference.
It’s a joke that Microsoft is abandoning everything their customers liked about them and is trying to become a “new Microsoft” that has a pathological case of Apple envy and tries to chase everything Apple does, even when the two ecosystems and the needs of the customers in each ecosystem are different. Because all that matters is trying to act like the cool kids, not serving your customers.
Crapping up the Windows UI to chase Apple in the tablet market is a good example of NuMicrosoft-ness (Apple users .
Windows 10 updating itself and ripping out your Nvidia GameReady drivers in the process (and installing the barebones and outdated ones from Windows Update) is another good example of NuMicrosoft-ness (MacOS users rely exclusively on OS-provided drivers for the GPU, therefore so should Windows PCs).
Giving OS upgrades for free and force-obsoleting hardware to sell new hardware is an example of NuMicrosoft-ness (if it worked for Cupertino, why not for us too?)
So is breaking compatibility willy-nilly, for example by removing secdrv (because MacOS users are used to suffering capricious compatibility breakages, so why not Windows users too?).
This thing never ends.
Oh I see. Thanks for the explanation.
There is one major change: they have removed support for windows mixed reality headsets on windows 11 24H2. The Samsung Odyssey+ and HP’s Reverb G2 are still rather popular for VR sim racing, and they are affected by this (that is, they don’t work any more). There is an article about it in uploadvr website, and there are quite a bit of angry users complaining in reddit’s r/virtualreality .
The HP Reverb G2 is from 2020, so it is not that old.
I maintain that the way Microsoft will incentivize the transition to Windows 11 will be less about making Windows 11 attractive and more about making Windows 10 suck. Look for more horrible stuff to come in future Windows 10 releases.
For businesses, making Office 365 require Windows 11 will force a switch as well.
There should be some good older hardware deals a year from now.
Meh. “Complete OS replacement as upgrade” is perfectly fine for enterprise users, especially in hot-desk environment where everything is stored on cloud and workstations are all (at least theoretically) fully interchangeable. For home users, not so much. Eh, it’s been YEARS now since MS gave a single crap about home users except as crash-test dummies for enterprise anyway.
Microsoft also noted that this update brings Rust to the Windows Kernel: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-11-version-24h2-what-s-new-for-it-pros/ba-p/4259108
Rust is everywhere these days.
Given that I still can’t roll out Win 11 on i7 based systems that have 16GB and 500GB SSDs this news might as well be “Diamonds available for free on mars”. (Yes, I understand there are ways, if I’m willing!)
btw., How long before the Youtube Vids start rolling out about broken hacks?
Microsoft uses a bunch of misleading “preview” updates to get you to install things early and beta test their features for them. Welcome to cloud serfdom.