Microsoft preps this year's Windows 11 feature tweaks: 26H2 hits Release Preview

OS PLATFORMS

Same servicing branch as 24H2 and 25H2… and the same buggy updates

Microsoft has dropped Windows 11 26H2 into the Windows Insider Release Preview Channel and released August’s preview update.

Windows 11 26H2 shares the same servicing branch as Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, and many of the tweaks and updates that users are looking forward to have already appeared in the monthly Windows updates. The latest, the August Preview Update, includes such modifications as the long-awaited movable taskbar, more Start Menu customization, and the ability to drop web and Microsoft Store suggestions from local results in Windows Search.

The update will turn up via an enablement package – a relatively small piece of code that switches on functionality already downloaded, but currently dormant. “Think of it as a switch rather than a full operating system replacement,” Microsoft wrote.

It’s considerably more compact than a multi-gigabyte full download and reinstall of an operating system.

Resetting the support clock

The shared codebase and shared updates – Windows 11 26H2 will share the same release note KB identifiers as 25H2 and 24H2 – might have some users wondering about the point. One answer is support. For example, support for the Home and Pro editions of Windows 11 24H2 ends on October 13, 2026. Windows 11 26H2 resets this clock, with 24 months of support for Home and Pro versions, and 36 months for Enterprise and Education editions.

Enterprises will still need to validate the new release. The servicing branch is the same, and if something works with Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2, it should work with Windows 11 26H2. However, Microsoft still recommends “testing with devices running recent versions of Windows 11 to confirm compatibility with your apps, policies, and infrastructure.” Some organizations will have already done this, while others will have waited until the Release Preview milestone was reached.

Microsoft took careful aim at its foot when it skipped the Release Preview stage and released the infamous document-destroying Windows 10 October 2018 update. It has been considerably more cautious in the years since.

The move to Release Preview was accompanied by the August Preview Update, which included a raft of improvements, but was also greeted with dismay by some users complaining of problems with cursors and black desktop backgrounds following the installation. As far as Microsoft is concerned, it is not currently aware of any issues with the update. ®