Way back in 2015 when Microsoft unveiled Windows 10 and the
concept of ‘Windows as a Service’, the company confirmed plans
to provide feature updates at least two times a year. It was
still too many updates for many businesses and even consumers,
so they made these feature updates ‘optional’.
It was still challenging for Microsoft to ship new features as
part of these ‘feature’ updates and Microsoft decided to focus
on improvements with the second update of the year. With
Windows 11, Microsoft is moving to a single annual update per
year.
This means the company will release only one big update for the
OS per year and the first major Windows 11 update is now
scheduled to launch in the fall, possibly between late August
and October.
According to sources familiar with the development,
Windows 11 22H2 (codenamed ‘Sun Valley 2’ or SV2) will hit
its RTM (release to manufacturing) build in a few weeks. We’re
expecting the company to finalize an RTM candidate by the end
of this month at the earliest.
For those unaware, the term RTM (release to manufacturing)
refers to builds that are essentially the final version of the
major Windows release. These builds are sent out to OEMs and
Microsoft partners to help the companies test their drivers and
devices and pre-install the updated OS on new devices.
Regarding the ‘exact’ release month, it is important to
understand that the company could still hold back the update
until October, which is usually when the feature updates are
released for Windows. However, the possibility of early release
in September cannot be ruled out.
Worth the wait?
Current preview builds suggest that Microsoft won’t be
overhauling the look of Windows again in the Sun Valley 2
update.
While the company will be redesigning some of its major
features, including the Task Manager and native apps, Windows
11’s anniversary update won’t introduce dramatic overhauls.
Sun Valley 2 doesn’t appear to be an exciting update if you
just want to try out new features. However, by focusing on the
quality improvements and holding it back for a few months, it’s
likely that Windows 11 will become more stable and get released
without the annoying problems the original release has shipped
with.
If you can’t wait to try the new Task Manager or drag and drop
support for the taskbar, you can sign up for the Windows
Insider Program and join the beta channel.
