Windows 11 2022 Update: First feature drop on “22H2” now officially available for download

After a preview in the Release Preview Channel and several Insider Preview Builds, Microsoft has now officially released the Windows 11 2022 Update (“22H2”). Windows 11, even in its latest version, aims to appeal to creatives, gamers and people who want to connect. However, tabs in Explorer will only be available later.

The Windows 11 2022 update is now official

Panos Panay, Executive Vice President & Chief Product Officer, Windows and Devices at Microsoft, has announced the global release of the Windows 11 2022 Update – formerly Windows 11 22H2 (“Sun Valley 2″) – in more than 190 countries, while also stating Microsoft's claim to make the operating system the ” best place to connect, play and work”.

The Windows 11 2022 Update (“22H2”) has officially been released (Image: Microsoft)

As the first major product update of Windows 11, the update is intended to deliver functions that were already announced for the initial release of the operating system in October 2021, but did not make it into publication.

The start menu is in focus

In addition to the extended start menu with customizable folders and a configurable recommendation area, the Windows 11 settings have been revised and the folders on the desktop and in Explorer have been given a preview image again.

Tabs in file explorer will be filed later

As previously reported, the file explorer is getting tabs for the first time, which Microsoft will only provide with another update in October, and a new start page, where OneDrive can also serve as “Home”. There are also some new themes.

Customizable folders in the start menu (Image: Microsoft)

The new preview of folder contents (Image: Microsoft)

Optimized taskbar for tablets and 2in1 systems

The new taskbar, or the new taskbar status, as Microsoft calls the feature, should be activated automatically whenever the operating system is running on a tablet or the keyboard of a 2-in-1 device is removed. According to Microsoft, however, this optimized taskbar cannot be activated or otherwise forced on a desktop PC or notebook.

< figure class="thumbs__figure thumbs__figure--has-caption"> The new tablet-optimized Windows 11 taskbar (Image: Microsoft)

< figure class="thumbs__figure thumbs__figure--has-caption"> The new dynamic feeds in Windows 11 (Image: Microsoft)

Microsoft is also improving the view for grouped windows that still cannot be ungrouped, and brings back the drag'n'drop function for the taskbar, already known from Windows 10. The task manager has also been revised and now supports, among other things, the dark mode of the operating system.

The task manager gets a customized UI with dark mode (image: Microsoft)

The new task manager is based on the user interface of Windows 11 and therefore no longer looks like a foreign body. Microsoft is clearly trying to ensure the consistency of the operating system and has already revised Paint and the editor accordingly.

New touch gestures for better navigation

For even better navigation via touch operation Microsoft introduces new touch gestures. The aim is to make it easier to access the start menu, the notification center and the separate system tray.

In the course of the next developer preview versions in the Dev Channel, Microsoft wants to introduce more touch gestures and expand this area even further in the future.

Improved snap Layouts for more order

Microsoft has also significantly revised the snap layouts for arranging open windows and applications and introduced a new form of “snapping” that is faster for should ensure more order.

To bring up the snap layouts, an open window must be dragged to the top of the screen by the user, then the window can simply be dropped onto one of the designated zones.

Live subtitles for videos in browser

The new Live Captions help everyone, including the deaf and hard of hearing, better understand audio content by displaying closed captions on spoken content. The subtitles are automatically generated on request from any content with audio played in the in-house Chromium-based browser.

Live subtitles in the browser (Image: Microsoft)

Live subtitles are currently limited to the Edge browser and are currently only available in the USA. However, the feature is to be further expanded in the future and appear in additional regions.

Further improvements

Microsoft has also improved the energy settings and the recommendations based on them for more efficient operation. In addition, a small icon in the taskbar now shows which application windows are shared with other users via the “Share” function.

The taskbar shows which windows are shared (Image: Microsoft)

Feature Drop per Windows Update

The Windows 11 2022 update, which Microsoft itself still refers to in many places as Windows 11 Version 22H2 and follows the new release cycle as the first feature drop (“Moment 1”), can now be obtained via the following official channels.

The basis for the Windows 11 2022 update is build 22621, on which existing installations are upgraded with the cumulative update KB5018863 and a so-called enablement package.

*) will be submitted with an update in October.

Microsoft has summarized more information about the release and the course of the rollout in an article by John Cable, Vice President and Head of Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery, on the official Windows Blog.

As always, the Microsoft Flight Hub provides information about the current development status and the latest insider preview builds on the way to the Windows 11 2023 update.

First notebooks with Windows 11 2022

While there are already some devices on the market that have been updated to Windows 11 2022 before the official release, Microsoft itself gives the Acer TravelMate Spin P6, Asus ExpertBook B9, Dell Latitude 7330, HP Dragonfly Folio G3, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 and the Surface Laptop Studio are the first models to ship with the latest feature update n.

ComputerBase received information about this article from Microsoft under NDA. The only requirement was the earliest possible publication date.