The latest version of Windows 11, known as “version 22H2,” officially is released.
Microsoft is planning to release Windows 10 version 22H2 “next month,” according to John Cable, vice president of program management for Windows servicing and delivery,
Microsoft issues new Windows 11 releases once per year, in the second half of each year. These “feature update” operating system releases trigger support clocks for organizations. OS support varies with the edition used:
- Windows 11 Enterprise and Education editions are supported for 36 months.
- Windows 11 Pro and Home editions are supported for 24 months.
More Frequent Windows 11 Feature Updates
Microsoft plans to issue new Windows 11 features more frequently than just once per year.
. The OS will get new features through the Windows Update service and the Windows Store.
Some of the new features described in Microsoft’s various announcements will come in October and thereafter like a monthly quality update.
The support document explains that a Windows Update is used to deliver quality and security patches each month, and Microsoft will now use it to also deliver new Windows 11 features via a “phased and measured approach” using the “Controlled Feature Rollout (CFR) technology” that’s used with the Microsoft Edge browser and Windows Insider Program releases,
Windows 11 enterprise and educational users, and those using domain-joined Pro editions, will get these new Windows 11 features turned “off by default.” After November, these organizations also will have policy options to turn the features on, which “will be done as a set, and not for individual features or individual releases,”.
Windows 11 2022 Update Highlights
The new Windows 11 version 22H2 operating system is to be released in more than 190 countries,
Windows 11 should be easier and safer for end users, while supporting organizational security and management needs. There is a “new Microsoft Defender SmartScreen” feature, to alert people when they are “entering their Microsoft credentials into a malicious application or hacked website.”
Windows Hello, Microsoft’s biometric authentication scheme, has an optional “presence sensing” capability that will lock a PC when a user leaves the area.
One other notable security feature in version 22H2 is Smart App Control, which “blocks untrusted or unsigned applications, script files and malicious macros from running on Windows 11.” It uses artificial intelligence and Microsoft’s security “signals” information to “predict if an app is safe“. “Smart App Control is built on the same OS core capabilities used in Windows Defender Application Control.” To use Smart App Control, a clean installation of Windows 11 version 22H2 needs to be performed, Microsoft indicated.
Other notable security perks in Windows 11 version 22H2 include:
- Hypervisor-protected code integrity to protect against kernel modifications by drivers.
- A Microsoft vulnerable driver block list for known vulnerabilities.
- Windows Defender Credential Guard (with the Windows 11 Enterprise edition) to address credential theft techniques.
- Local Security Authority turned on by default to “load only trusted, signed code, making it significantly more difficult for attackers to steal credentials.”
Secured-core PCs specifically will get the Config Lock feature, which “helps prevent the configuration drift that occurs when users with local admin rights change settings and put devices out-of-sync with IT security policies,” .
