Microsoft Promises Business a Frictionless Upgrade to Windows 11 22H2

Microsoft is promoting today’s release of Windows 11 version 22H2 to businesses with a simple promise: it’s a friction-free upgrade that installs as easily as taking an update, and it runs seamlessly side by side with Windows 10.

“The Windows 11 2022 Update is now generally available through Windows Update for Business,” Microsoft general manager Wangui McKelvey announced. “Rather than updating your eligible PCs to Windows 10 version 22H2 (available later this year), why not upgrade directly to Windows 11 2022 and start getting the best returns on your technology investment today?”

To help make this sales pitch, Microsoft claims that migrating to Windows 11 brings with it “meaningful, quantifiable returns,” in particular for those organizations that use Windows 11 Enterprise and Microsoft Intune together in a broader Microsoft 365 rollout. And to prove that point, it is carting out a commissioned Forrester Research study that contends, among other things, that Windows 11 makes the average end user 5 to 15 percent more productive than Windows 10. It also provides 90 percent fewer OS-related help desk calls after one year, and “requires no significant training.”

Of course, most of the new enterprise-specific functionality in Windows 11 version 22H2 is related to security and data protection. And in addition to the new security features that I mentioned in Windows 11 Version 22H2 Delivers Improved Security, Microsoft Says, Windows 11 Enterprise version 22H2 also enables several other new features by default. Key among them is Windows Credential Guard, which Microsoft says “uses virtualization-based security to isolate secrets so that only privileged system software can access them, making it harder for attackers to compromise your network.”

Users on Azure Active Directory or Active Directory can also take advantage of enhanced phishing protection with Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. This feature helps protect employees by identifying malicious applications or hacked websites and alerting them when they try to sign in. Enterprise customers can also centrally manage the malicious code protection features of Smart App Control using Windows Defender Application Control.

And while this isn’t a feature of Windows 11 version 22H2 per se, Microsoft notes that it is working to integrate the Microsoft Store app catalog with Intune so that organizations can easily assign or uninstall apps to users or PCs. Microsoft says that it will share the latest information about how the solution is evolving at Ignite in mid-October.