The two new releases of Windows 11 will likely overlap, according to tweets from a well-known Microsoft leaker.
Microsoft is currently scheduling Windows 11 22H2, the next major feature release, for this or next month – September 20, according to Windows Central. But the first “Moment” of Windows 11 22H2 could drop soon after, in October, according to a tweet by “Albacore,” revealed details of Microsoft’s roadmap before.
“Moments” could be new, incremental additions by Microsoft to Windows, and they will happen much more frequently and with no (public) schedule. They are part of Microsoft’s revised roadmap, which will see major feature releases scheduled every three years, implying that Windows 12 will launch in 2024. Windows Central, which has been reveal the changes, noting that “Moments” will be added to the schedule to help fill in the gaps. Microsoft has yet to confirm any of this, including whether Moments will replace the standard biennial (fall and winter) feature releases.
However, we do know that Microsoft has confirmed the “experience pack” it announced in February, which adds fast, lightweight code to Windows 11. The experience pack was used to add a “weather widget” as a front door for the Widgets panel, for example. Moments is expected to be Microsoft’s trademark for the feature.
How to test Windows 11 Moments
Microsoft now allows users to test code from three Windows 11 preview channels: Dev Channel, for experimental code that may or may not see the light of day; The release preview, which is near final code; and the Beta Channel, somewhere in between. This is this Beta Channel where users can try out the code found in Upcoming Moments, with builds including 228xx versions.
Albacore believes that moments will be tested in the Beta Channel and then added to the Stable Channel (available on your PC) through these incremental code additions. There is really no difference between the code in the Stable Channel and the code in the Beta Channel – Stable has these new Moment experiences set to “off” while they are “on” in the Beta Channel, the account writes.
However, what Albacore’s tweet implies is that First Moment will at least be used to “catch up” on 22H2 features that are not expected to ship with the release that will be shipped to customers. this September. The release preview of Windows 11 22H2, which we used as the basis for our Windows 11 22H2 review, noted that one particular feature—tabs in File Explorer—was expected but not appear. This is the feature that will appear in Moment 1, Albacore tweeted. Windows 11 22H2 Moment 2 will launch sometime in 2023.
“The build of the Beta channel ‘22622’ is no different from the 22621 inside.” Albacore tweeted. “The build number bump is purely visual (configured with updates through the registry) to make it simpler to distinguish between ring registry. The real difference lies in the extra feature ID support.”
That might be too inside baseball for some people. Really, this adds two new details: an expected date (and features) for Microsoft’s first Windows 11 Moments, and a way for you to check them out for yourself. Hopefully we’ll get some more clarity from Microsoft on what all of this means at some point.
