Microsoft Quietly Delayed 23H2 on MCT Until Mid-November and Didn’t Tell Customers

Microsoft—actually, one Microsoft employee on Twitter—quietly confirmed that its Media Creation Tool (MCT) has not yet been updated for Windows 11 version 23H2, and won’t be until it has finished optimizing Windows Setup.

“There’s a package size optimization underway for 23H2 with MCT,” Microsoft’s Gabe Frost confirmed on Twitter after a series of questions about the MCT still being stuck on 22H2. “Rough ETA is a couple weeks ~11/15.”

This information could have saved me days of work if the company had simply communicated it last Tuesday, when it released 23H2 and claimed that the MCT was updated. Instead, I’ve been re-downloading the MCT every day only to discover each time that it had not been updated.

And while this at least confirms what I have seen with my own eyes, I wish Microsoft would officially address this issue. And would have done it on Tuesday. And people think my complaints about communications issues there are an exaggeration.’

Anyway, if you visit the Download Windows 11 page on Microsoft.com, you will find three ways to directly install or upgrade to Windows 11 version 23H2—the Windows 11 Installation Assistant, Create Windows 11 Installation Media (using the Media Creation Tool, or MCT), and the downloadable ISO disk image—but only two of three actually work: The MCT still creates 22H2-based installation media. This despite the note at the top of the page that reads, “Current release: Windows 11 2023 Update l Version 23H2.”

So that’s great, I guess.

As for what the frick Microsoft is doing messing around with “package size optimization,” one can only speculate. But you can easily create installation media yourself now using that downloadable ISO and a tool like Rufus. Which is exactly what I did this past week because I need to move forward here, not wait on a company that can’t be bothered to tell customers what’s going on. What a shame.