- This year’s annual update has arrived for Windows 11
- The 25h2 update barely makes changes
- In addition to some safety and rationalization adjustments, 24h2 users will obtain the same characteristics, and possibly even before 25h2
The annual Windows 11 update for 2025 is now officially available, but not get too excited, since the update for this year is a very minor matter.
Microsoft announced the availability of 25h2 update in a blog post, explaining that it is a “authorization package.”
What this means is that Microsoft has already put the content for the 25H2 update in place with the PCs that execute the current version of Windows 11 Windows 11H2, and all that users must do is give an effective change to enable the new functions.
In other words, this is a very light installation; You will not expect any great download or installation procedure, and it will be a very fast issue, a simple restart, basically.
So what do you get with the 25h2 update, exactly? Well, there is the trap: not much, frankly.
There are new incoming features for Windows 11 users here, and among the additions there is an important renewal of the start menu (which significantly modifies the design, including the allowing Microsoft recommendations being deactivated, good news).
However, as I have outlined before, these changes are not exclusive to version 25h2, they are also reaching 24h2. You may not even get the new starting menu first if you are in 25h2, you have the same chances of receiving it before in 24h2 (it is very likely that everything is a roll of update dice, according to the configuration of your PC).
So is 25h2 completely useless then? Well no; As expected, there are some differences between 24h2 and 25h2, since otherwise Microsoft simply would not bother. That said, there is not much to talk about here, but Microsoft points out a couple of work in its blog post for 25h2.
First, there are security improvements, since John Cable, the Vice President of Microsoft for the administration of products, the service and delivery of Windows, makes it clear: “Windows continues to herage and improve its safety and posture characteristics to help protect customers from security threats in our software and services. Version 25h2 Includes significant advances in the detection of construction vulnerabilities Execution, coupled with safe coding of assisted AI “.
The cable also highlights the rationalization measures and the elimination of some “inherited characteristics” with 25h2, namely, Powershell 2.0 and the Windows administration instrumentation command line. Those are not characteristics that Windows 11 Windows users will ever need, and they will not miss them; And the operating system is a bit lighter without them is something good, but it is not exciting news.
And that is about his fate, although I hope Microsoft has also applied some adjustment under the hood in 25h2, perhaps to improve performance a little in some aspects, although there was something important in that department, it would surely have been mentioned.
The only other benefit to update to 25h2 is that it will be good for an additional year of support.
ANALYSIS: Jump in front of the tail (if you want)
As always, Windows 11 25h2 will be in a stage deployment, gradually available for more PC as time passes. However, with some significant changes, it is not likely that any computer either in 24h2 will meet compatibility problems or other wrinkles, in theory, anyway, but of course you never know.
If you want to obtain 25h2 as soon as possible, as Microsoft explains through its Health launch status dashboard: “As of today, the 25H2 version is available on eligible Windows 11 devices, version 24h2 for users who have lit the configuration ‘obtain the latest updates as soon as they are available.’
So, to support the best opportunity, you must enable that option: you will find it under Configuration> Windows update. With ‘Obtain the latest updates as soon as they are available‘Light, you will be the first in the row to offer you the 25H2 version, but that does not mean that you will necessarily get the update immediately. If Microsoft judges that your PC is in danger of a compatibility clash of some kind, you will still have to wait; This is the way in which all the update deployments work.
I would not recommend trying to jump the tail to obtain the 25h2 update outside Windows Update, which is possible for more experienced Windows 11 users). There is a reason why Microsoft is blocking any PC given 25h2, and it is better not to take risks than the side block.
Said this, as we have seen, there is no very convincing reason to obtain the 25H2 version anyway, so I cannot imagine that many people will seek to clarify additional obstacles to download it, or obtain the update at all.
