In addition to the Windows 11 2022 update released today, the company has confirmed that its current operating system will continue to receive a major update once a year. Releases will be focused on the second half of each year, with each update providing 24 months of support for both Home and Professional editions.
Smaller updates will still go live at a faster pace and may include additional refinements to the overall experience in the first half of each year.
“Our delivery approach leverages the proven feature and monthly security update systems and processes we’ve used for 1.4 billion Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices over the past six years.” Microsoft said today, “Windows 11 will continue to have an annual feature update cycle, released in the second half of the calendar year that marks the beginning of the support lifecycle, with a 24-month support period for Home and Professional editions and a 36-month support period for Enterprise and Education editions.”
Microsoft said it will rely on updates to the Microsoft Store to further improve the Windows 11 experience, although this is clearly focused on improvements specifically for first-party apps.
“We are committed to delivering continuous innovation by releasing new features to Windows 11 at a higher frequency through our service technologies, such as monthly updates, and Microsoft Store updates, as well as our annual update process. our goal is to deliver the best experience for you year-round through our familiar processes when new features are readily based on quality and reliability,” the company said.
The Windows 11 2022 update is available today for qualified devices that trigger a manual check for updates, although users can of course also choose to go to the official website to complete the upgrade by downloading an image, using the installation assistant and the installation media creation tool.
