Windows 11 22H2 released: rundown after 20 days

Posted on 10/10/2022 Updated on 31/10/2022

UPDATE d.d. October 31, 2022: the Windows HDR Calibration app mentioned below has been introduced with the 2022 Update, but is not tied to it.

Below I also talked about FEPs. For completeness, I should have mentioned there are actually 3 types of these packs, with FEPs only one of them. So here they are:

• Feature experience Pack (FEP): updated through classic updates
• Online Service Experience Pack: updated through classic updates
• Web Experience Pack: updated through the Microsoft Store (so these can actually be categorized under the Microsoft Store update path mentioned below as well)

To conclude yet one last thing to mention: below I’ve spoken of how new feature were already introduced in Moment-style earlier, for example, like in February 2022. For clarity I would like to say I didn’t mean these updates were officially and/or technically Moments. Part of the published new features related to the aforementioned update is even technically not a component of the update, but technically comes from a Web Experience Pack, updated through the Microsoft Store.

Beware this post is from October 10, 2022, so everything mentioned herein should be seen in the light of what was known then.

Microsoft has released the first feature update for Windows 11 on September 20, 2022. Dubbed 2022 Update, the update sets Windows 11 on version 22H2, coming from 21H2, the RTM version of Windows 11. The release date is no surprise, as it has been rumored as the General Availability (GA) date before. Relax before you read on: the system requirements are the same as for Windows 11 RTM (21H2)! On the other hand, this post is not for the faint of heart, so be prepared for a large bunch of very technical information, a lot of reasonings, attention for nuances and hues and a lot of headaches. Please consider this post as some sort of comprehensive white paper and not as a typical, small blog post to announce or deal with something specific. Take a break from time to time and provide a lot of strong, ristretto-style coffee, but this time in big mugs! Now, let’s move on!

Read the rest of this entry »

Rumor: 10.0.22621.382 is the Windows 11 22H2 GA build, to be released on September 20, 2022; 22H2 to be called “2022 Update”

Posted on 31/08/2022 Updated on 31/08/2022

A few months ago there were rumors that the RTM/GA of Windows 11’s next feature update (22H2, codenamed Sun Valley 2 (SV2)) would be from build 22621 (which was then already published with 10.0.22621.1, released on May 11, 2022) and even a Microsoft Senior Program Manager, Brandon LeBlanc himself, hasn’t denied this in a response to one of these rumors (i.e. the one from Zac Bowden from Windows Central). Also, the Insider watermark was already removed since build 22610 (3 Insiders builds prior to 22621), which adds up to the credence of the rumor. The fact that ISOs were released with build 10.0.22621.1 increases the chance the rumor is trueful as well. To continue, on May 11, 2022 Microsoft has released build 10.0.25115.1000 in the Dev Channel, jumping to a much higher version number and closing the window to switch over to another channel from the Dev Channel: these things typically mean the start of another “target release context” (23H2, “Windows 12” or some kind of post-“22H2 General Availability”-for-the-first-Moment-in-the-pipeline, read on for further explanation) and so implying a high chance build 22621 is the one to be used for shipping 22H2. BTW, the Windows SDK is 10.0.22621, so that lines up with all the rest as well.

Read the rest of this entry »