Windows 11 2024 Update: What

Windows 11 is one of the best iterations of Microsoft’s operating system, and it keeps getting better through feature updates like version 22H2 in 2022 and version 23H2 in 2023. For 2024, Microsoft is keeping up with tradition by launching Windows 11 version 24H2 (or the 2024 Update), but this might be the biggest update to Windows 11 yet. In fact, many expected this to become Windows 12, but it turns out we’re getting Windows 11 version 24H2, or the 2024 Update, instead.

That doesn’t take away from how big of an update this is, however. Windows 11 version 24H2 is poised to bring some big innovations, with all-new AI capabilities and big improvements for Arm devices, which will play a big role in the launch of PCs with the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chipset.

When will the Windows 11 2024 Update be released?

There are two primary ways to get Windows 11 version 24H2. The first, and arguably the most useful, is to get a new Qualcomm Snapdragon X PC, such as the Surface Pro 10 or HP OmniBook X. These will be the first laptops to ship with this updates, and for now, they’re also the only ones that can make full use of it due to the focus on AI features. Windows 11 version 24H2 comes with Copilot+, a new set of featres designed to take advantage of the powerful NPU in the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processors, like the Snapdragon X Elite. In the future, devices with Intel’s Lunar Lake or AMD’s Strix Point processors will also be available to take advantage of those AI features.

For existing computers, though, the Windows 11 2024 Update is expected to ship around the September time frame. For threse laptops, the Copilot+ feaqtures won’t be available, as no PC currently on the market has a powerful enough NPU to use all of these features.

Will the Windows 11 2024 Update be a free upgrade?

Microsoft has been delivering free software updates for Windows for the past few years, and of course, that’s not changing with Windows 11 version 24H2. You can expect this update to be available for free if you’re already running Windows 11, and the system requirements shouldn’t change.

However, certain new features in this update may require specific hardware, particularly those around AI. For example, we’ve seen evidence of an automatic “super resolution” feature that would use an NPU to automatically upscale video game graphics to a higher resolution. If your PC doesn’t have an NPU, you won’t be able to take advantage of that unless you buy a PC that does have an NPU.

Will I be forced to upgrade to Windows 11 version 24H2?

Unlike the monthly cumulative updates that are mandatory, feature updates like Windows 11 version 24H2 are usually completely optional for users, as long as their current version of Windows is supported. Essentially, if you’re already on the latest version of Windows 11, you won’t have to upgrade to version 24H2 right away.

However, the way Windows 11 works is that each feature update is supported for two years (three, for Enterprise and Education editions). When you’re nearing the end of the support period for your current version, you’ll be forced to upgrade to a newer one. The original Windows 11 release is already supported for Home and Pro editions, and if you’re running Windows 11 version 22H2, that version will reach the end of its life later this year. In the months leading up to it, users will likely have to upgrade to either version 23H2 or 24H2, if it’s already available.

What’s new in the Windows 11 2024 Update?

The Windows 11 2024 Update is still in development and we may not know about every feature being included just yet. However, we have a pretty good idea of what’s comingand the big focus is all on AI with the introduction of Copilot+. Let’s take a look.

Copilot+ and all the AI features

AI has been a core focus of Windows for the past year or so, but Windows 11 version 24H2 is truly taking it to the next level. So much so that Microsoft decided to introduce a new brand for the AI features in this update, Copilot+. This is an umbrella term for a wide range of AI features that can run locally on your PC thanks to the power of a neural processing unit, or NPU. These features require an NPU with at least 40TOPS of performance, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series being the first to achieve that.

The highlight of these features is arguably Recall, which had been referred to as “AI Explorer” prior to the official announcement. Recall is sort of a successor to Timeline, a Windows 10 feature that allowed you to view a hiustory of your activity and easily get back to what you were doing before. The problem with Timeline is that it was all manual, so you could end up scrolling for a long time and not finding what you want. Recall can find things you were working on by searching for them with natural language. So, if you were writing an essay about computers, you can say “show me that document about computers I worked on last week”, and Windows 11 can find it for you.

There are a lot more AI features in tow, though. Auto Super Resolution is a notable one, especially if you’re into gaming. This is similar in nature to Nvidia’s DLSS, but not it’s built into Windows, so all of your games looks sharper without taking a significant hit to performance. In fact, they can run at a higher framerate because this takes some load off of the GPU. Other AI features part of Copilot+ include live captions with the ability to translate captions from any of 44 languages in real time into English, and the Cocreator feature, which generates mages based on a text prompt, can now run locally on your device using the NPU.

Microsoft is also expanding Windows Studio Effects, which has all-new capabilities thanks tot he added power of new NPUs. Now, in addition to background blur, auto framing, and eye contact, Studio Effects can fix up lighting and add different kinds of filters in real time.

AI is a big deal for the Windows 11 2024 Update and no existing PCs are capable of supporting these features. Qualcomm Snapdragon X devices will be the first to do so.

File Explorer improvements

The Windows 11 File Explorer isn’t getting another redesign this time, but it is getting some notable upgrades with this update. For starters, after version 23H2 added support for opening 7Z and TAR files (among other archive types), you’ll now be able to create them. Microsoft has added a new dialog that lets you compress files into one of these archives, and you can even choose the compression method and settings you want to use if you need the extra degree of control.

Additionally, Microsoft will now be labeling the row of buttons in the File Explorer context menu that were previously only icons, making it easier to quickly find the most common options you’d want to use.

Sudo for Windows

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If you’re used to the Linux terminal, you may be overjoyed to learn that support for the sudo command is finally coming to Windows 11 with the 2024 Update. Sudo is a simple instructions that allows you to elevate permissions for a command, which is to say, run the command as an administrator. With this command, even if you open a Command prompt as a regular user, you can now run prompts that require administrator privileges within the same window. All you need to do is type sudo before the command you want to run as an administrator.

Windows 11 will include options for how sudo works, such as running the command in a new window or inline, so you can tailor the experience to your preferences.

New energy features

Microsoft is also doubling down on power-saving features with this update, introducing an Energy Saver mode that can reduce power consumption on both laptops and desktops that don’t have batteries. This is an extension of battery saver, which, as the name suggests, was only available on laptops with batteries.

With this change, you can reduce the power consumption of your PC at the expense of overall performance, potentially lowering your electricity bill and carbon emissions, which has been a big focus for Microsoft.

On the topic of power, this new update will also bring power settings related to the lid and power button directly into the Settings app, removing the need for the Control Panel page that houses these capabilities.

Use your phone as a webcam

While it’s not available for testing, one feature that’s been spotted by some keen-eyed fans is the ability to use certain phones as a webcam for your laptop. This will rely on a new mobile device linking feature that’s independent from the Phone Link app.

No more support for 32-bit Arm apps and better Arm optimization

While it’s not a new feature, it’s been confirmed that the next version of Windows will not support 32-bit Arm apps, following in the footsteps of other Arm-centric platforms like Android and iOS.

This release will also include notable improvements for Arm devices, which is a big reason why new devices with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite are launching in the summer. It’s not completely clear what these improvements are, but improved performance and efficiency on these kinds of devices would certainly be welcome.

Quick settings improvements

Windows 11 version 24H2 could also introduce some improvements for the Quick Settings panel. Currently in testing with Insiders, the list of quick actions can now be scrolled, so if you add more than six, you won’t see the panel get bigger, and the additional actions will be stored in additional pages.

There are also improvements for the VPN quick action interface, and the Wi-Fi list shown in this panel now includes a refresh button.

Miscellaneous changes

In addition to some of the bigger changes above, Windows 11 version 24H2 also includes some smaller refinements and new capabilities. One of them is the ability to install drivers during setup, such as Wi-Fi, for users setting up a custom-built PC with a completely fresh install. Speaking of drivers, this update also includes a “Windows protected print mode”, which removes support for printers that aren’t Mopria certified. Mopria-certified printers don’t need drivers to work, and they’re the future of printing on Windows.

Additionally, this version of Windows will be the first to officially support USB4 version 2.0, or USB4 80Gbps. This new standard promises bi-directional bandwidth up to 80Gbps, or up to 120Gbps in a single direction, and it will be supported by laptops like the 2024 Razer Blade 18.

Smaller changes include the ability to diagnose issues with your internet by right-clicking the internet icon on your taskbar, which is now animated when connecting to a new network.

This update also leaves some old stuff behind, starting with the removal of support for Windows Mixed Reality, with existing headsets being rendered completely useless with this update. Some apps, like Cortana, Mail & Calendar, People, and Maps, will also no longer be included by default, but you can still install them.

What happened to Windows 12?

It’s not coming anytime soon

You might have noticed that the features mentioned here were previously expected to come to Windows 12. In fact, at one point, Microsoft was planning to re lease Windows 12 in 2024, which would have been this update. However, in late 2023, Panos Panay, who was leading Windows and Surface development, left Microsoft due to a significant strategic shift for the company.

Without Panay, the new Windows direction now feels that a whole new version of Windows would be more of a problem than a benefit. The company is afraid of fragmentation the userbase, which was a major problem for the company prior to Windows 10. When that operating system came out in 2015, complete with a free upgrade program for Windows 7 and 8.1, it was meant to bring all Windows users under one roof, making it easier to support and maintain the operating system for all active users. Windows 10 lived far longer than other Windows versions, and it was supposed to be the last version of Windows. But under Panay’s leadership, Microsoft then released Windows 11 in 2021 in an attempt to revitalize the computing market and capitalize on the work-from-home boom.

Reportedly, the plan was to go back to a three-year release cycle, so Windows 12 would have been released in 2024. Presumably, this was to help make these releases feel more significant in the eyes of consumers and hardware partners, and in fact, we even saw many such partners over the last year talk about a big Windows release in 2024.

However, releasing Windows 12 now means that the company would be supporting Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows 12 simultaneously for the next year, and the new leadership at Microsoft reportedly feels that it would be preferable to support only a single operating system if possible. This means support agents can rest assured users all have the same feature set, making it easier to find and provide support for users, while also ensuring everyone is always using the latest features available. Feature updates for Windows 11 are installed automatically after a while, so Microsoft never has to worry that some users will be using an ancient version of the OS.

Windows 11 version 24H2 is the new Windows 12

With all that being said, Windows 11 version 24H2 is essentially still Windows 12. This is the update we would have gotten regardless of what it’s called, so the changes aren’t that significant. If anything, maybe Windows 12 would have changed the system requirements, which is less likely to happen now. Microsoft may just restrict certain features to devices with specific hardware, but that’s nothing new.

As we get closer to the release date of Windows 11 version 24H2, details of what it will include should become clearer. For now, this is what we’re expecting, but since it’s still in active development, it’s likely there will be a lot more added over time.