Microsoft
The update to Windows 11 22H2 is making its way through Microsoft’s Windows Insider testing channels, and we expect it to begin spreading to Windows 11 computers at some point in the next few weeks or months. But Microsoft had little to say about the next major update to Windows 10 other than the fact that the operating system will continue to receive annual updates for the foreseeable future.
And the Windows 10 22H2 update is actually already for those who know how to install it. Neowin publishes a list of commands that can be entered on the Windows command line or terminal to turn a fully updated installation of Windows 10 21H2 into a 22H2 installation. The commands use the Microsoft Deployment Image Management and Management Tool (DISM) to make changes to your Windows installation and require that the optional update KB5014666 for Windows 10 be installed first.
The trick is that activating Windows 10 22H2 doesn’t actually seem to do much beyond increasing the version number on the Windows screen.
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The Windows 10 21H2 update was released shortly after the release of Windows 11 late last year, and although it included several visible improvements, it updated the Windows subsystem for Linux and added some Wi-Fi networking capabilities using WPA3 encryption. These kinds of low-level enhancements and reversing features can be hidden beneath the quiet surface of Windows 10 22H2, but if they are, Microsoft still says nothing about them.
It may seem strange that simply switching the switch can “upgrade” Windows 10 21H2 to version 22H2, but this is not unprecedented. The Windows 10 1909 update was released through a similar “activation package” that increased the version number and activated several new features and settings that were dormant in Windows 10 1903.
New features or not, at some point you will need to install Windows 10 22H2 to continue receiving software updates, as Microsoft service end dates are reset with each annual version of Windows. Version 21H2 will be updated by mid-2023 or mid-2024, depending on whether you are using the Home / Pro versions or the Enterprise version, while Microsoft plans to update at least one version of Windows 10 by October 2025.
These updates will be important to your computer’s hardware over the years, which may run on Windows 10 but do not meet the security requirements of Windows 11. Windows 11 may run unofficially on these systems, although Microsoft has threatened to suspend updates on Windows 10. protection for unsupported computers at some point in the future.
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