UPDATED: I originally wrote this a bit more definitively than I should have. Microsoft will almost certainly update WIndows 11 before next October’s Feature Update. But it is not guaranteed. –Paul
Microsoft has explicitly confirmed that it will probably not wait for the next major version of Windows 11 to fix the many problems with this OS.
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I know. I feel like this was well understood, even though many details—like how and when—were unclear. But I can’t find an instance where Microsoft said this publicly.
Now I can.
“New features and OS improvements from [Windows Insider] builds could show up in future Windows releases when they’re ready, and we may deliver them as full OS updates or servicing releases,” Microsoft’s post about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22509 notes.
So there you go.
The next “full OS update” is expected in October 2022, given that Microsoft has promised annual feature updates.
But “servicing releases” could happen at any time, literally. They’re what Microsoft usually calls cumulative updates or quality updates. So it’s reasonable to expect that at least some of the new features and changes that Microsoft is now testing in the Dev channel of the Windows Insider Program could be rolled out as soon as early 2022.
As for the exact timing and cadence, who can say? I could see Microsoft releasing quarterly Windows 11 servicing updates next year that deliver new features and changes, but that’s just a guess. It’s reasonable to assume we’ll need at least a few next year, given how much is missing and/or broken today, and that these updates could slow down in subsequent years. But we’ll see.
blue77star
<p>Microsoft had no reasons to release Windows 11 this early and they had no reason to push any major UI change for Windows 10. They should keep updating Windows 10 and work on a good Windows 11 release until Spring of 2023.</p>