We’ve Having Another Moment (Premium)

Heading into Windows 11 version 22H2, which Microsoft first delivered to customers in September 2022, we knew that the update rollout was speeding up, and that this version would get periodic sets of feature updates, called “Moments” internally, between each annual Feature Update (version upgrade). But with the rise of Controlled Feature Releases (CFRs), by which Microsoft can now deliver one or more new features every month, I was wondering if these Moments would give way to what I think of as “mini moments.” After all, they are very clearly making this up as they go along.

Well, Moments are not going away. Microsoft still doesn’t use this term publicly, though I think it’s a reasonable enough term to warrant it. But they do still use it internally. And based on some recent leaks, I think we can finally see through the mist of Microsoft’s public silence on the topic and understand the real Windows 11 feature update schedule. You know, until they change it yet again.

Windows used to be supported by a logical and lengthy life cycle. A major release was what I call a licensable moment, meaning that customers typically needed to pay to receive it, either with a new PC or at retail, and that release was serviced for 10 years. During the first five years, called mainstream support, Microsoft could (but didn’t always) ship new features, and during the entire life cycle, Microsoft would ship security and quality updates. And because servicing Windows was difficult for so long, the software giant would occasionally release Service Packs (SPs) that acted as cumulative updates that combined all of the previously released updates into a single installable. (There was also briefly the concept for a Feature Pack, but that came and went with little notice.)

In the wake of Windows 8, which was a regrettable response to the rise of mobile computing, Microsoft gutted the team responsible for that disaster and shifted into a mobile-like “rapid release” cycle in which Windows was informally updated each year, and for free. This led to releases like Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update 1 which dramatically improved the quality of that product. And to Windows 10, which officially dropped the notion of paid upgrades and Microsoft formalized its new updating policy: Windows 10 would be updated twice yearly with so-called Feature Updates, a new name for version upgrades. The 10-year support life cycle disappeared with Windows 10: in an early indication that the Windows team was starting to just make things up as they went, Windows 10 would now be supported “for the lifetime of the device” on which it was installed, a time period that was never formalized. Microsoft adjusted the support lifecycle for each Windows 10 version as it went along as well, but to simplify things, let’s call it roughly 18 months.

And then everything changed again with Windows 11, which is really just a Windows 10 Feature Update with the user interface from the doomed Windows 10X tacked on. With Windows 11, Microsoft moved from a bi-annual Feature Update release schedule to an annual release schedule in which a new Windows 11 version would ship in the second half of each year. This move was widely celebrated, but Windows 11 (21H2, the first version) shipped in such an incomplete state in October 2021 that it was rather shocking how slowly the company moved to address all the obvious complaints. It only released one semi-major set of new features to Windows 11 in early 2022 before moving on to Windows 11 version 22H2 later that year, which addressed more issues and got us closer to the place where most would feel that Windows 11 should have been to start with.

But Windows 11 version 22H2 is also where things started getting interesting.

This is when Microsoft started screwing around with Moments, CFRs, and Week D preview updates, or what it publicly calls continuous innovation. That once-per-year thing was a lie, in other words, and Microsoft could instead release new features to Windows 11 in any month in which it chose. And since September 2022, it’s done just that: there has only been one month, this past January, in which Windows 11 didn’t get any new features, and that only happened because Microsoft takes the second half of December off. Where Windows 11 (21H2) sat still for far too long, Windows 11 22H2 has evolved as a steady clip.

We’ve already debated whether this is good or bad, and that remains an open question, but here I’m focusing on the logistics of the schedule. And with the recent news that a new Windows Insider Program Release Channel build will usher in the release of Moment 3—first in preview form on Tuesday, May 23 or 30, and then in final form on Tuesday, June 13—I think we’ve finally arrived at that new schedule.

It goes like this, ordered by disruption level.

Feature Updates. Windows 11 will receive a new version upgrade in the second half of the year that includes new features. These features will be a combination of previously released features that were blocked by business customers and new features. A Feature Update represents a version upgrade and thus a reset of the support lifecycle clock.

Moments. Windows 11 will receive a set of new features once every quarter that can be blocked by businesses until the next Feature Update but must be taken by individuals. The first Moment shipped in December (after a November preview), followed by Moment 2 in March (after a February preview). And now Moment 3 is coming in June.

CFRs. Windows 11 will receive one or a few new features via Microsoft’s CFR technology almost every month. These will initially roll out in a randomized staged way so not all users will see all new features at once (as happened with the Search “pill” in late 2022; that might have been the first CFR). If you do want to see new features as quickly as possible, you can enable the “Get updates as soon as they’re available” option in Windows Update. As with Moments, CFR releases can be blocked by businesses. This makes sense since Moments are CFRs are almost certainly the same thing at a technical level. The only difference appears to be the number of new features.

Preview updates. Microsoft adjusted its preview update release schedule mid-stream so that preview versions of Moment and CFR releases are now available as optional installs on the Tuesday of Week D every month. That way, enthusiasts can get their hands on a production-quality version of next month’s feature update two weeks early. (And this will presumably help Microsoft find any issues that need to be fixed before the release goes to the mainstream audience).

I’m going to take a closer look at what we can expect from Moment 3 soon and then evaluate what this release means for updating the Windows 11 Field Guide.