Windows Version 23H2: Will It Be, Ah
Jeez...
Or, Gee Whiz, This is Really Cool
Tuesday, September 26 2023, Windows Version 23H2 will begin rolling out to all Windows 11 users. The suffix, 23H2, means the version of Windows 11 released in The Second Half of the year 2023. A date that is the same all over the world.
Win11 23H2 is not a just a feature update. But the update does install many new features.
Win11 23H2 is not a just a security update. But the update does give Consumers improved Windows security.
This not your Grandfather's Windows Update. Win11 23H2 is a new version of Windows 11. And, as such, installation might be more of a challenge than the regular monthly updates. If you have a regular tech you rely on, although self-serving, I do admit, it might be best to have help to install the update. If your system, for whatever reason, chokes on the update, a good tech should be able to undo the whole mess. Although the update will not likely push itself at users immediately, eventually it will install itself. It is also likely that future Windows Updates will require Win 23H2 is installed. So installation of the update sooner rather than later is advised.
Needless to say, it is an absolute imperative that you backup your files before proceeding to install.
What follows is what they call in academia "a review of the literature." September 21, 2023, Microsoft published in-depth authoritative discussions of the update. Up until then, much of what was written seemed speculative. What follows are summaries of what I think Consumers most likely will want to know about the update.
The single one feature that will change users interaction with Windows 11 is the tight integration of Microsoft's AI technology into both Windows 11 and Microsoft 365/Office.
A new security feature included in the upgrade is protection against attackers changing Windows configurations settings to avoid detection. A new security feature called, "Config Refresh," protects against these changes. As explained in New Microsoft security tools to protect families and businesses, September 21, 2023:
Config Refresh enables settings in the Policy Configuration Service Provider (CSP) on a Windows 11 device to be reset every 90 minutes by default, or every 30 minutes if desired. This protects against configuration settings being unexpectedly changed through either malicious software or registry edits and ensures that your settings are retained in the way IT configured them.
Microsoft's most complete summary of the coming changes are discussed in Copilot, Your everyday AI companion, September 21, 2023. The one feature that will have the most impact on Consumers, who have not yet at least exposed themselves to Artificial Intelligence, is the incorporation of the Microsoft Copilot artificial intelligence into Windows apps and Office apps. In announcing the new features, Copilot, Your everyday AI companion, September 21, 2023, Microsoft explains how it has spent considerable time, money, and energy into "transforming productivity at work with Microsoft 365, redefining search with Bing and Edge and delivering contextual value that works across your apps and PC with Windows." That is followed with the declarative statement that all users of Windows 11 and Office should pay attention to:
Today we take the next step to unify these capabilities into a single experience we call Microsoft Copilot, your everyday AI companion. Copilot will uniquely incorporate the context and intelligence of the web, your work data and what you are doing in the moment on your PC to provide better assistance – with your privacy and security at the forefront. It will be a simple and seamless experience, available in Windows 11, Microsoft 365, and in our web browser with Edge and Bing... With over 150 new features, the next Windows 11 update is one of our most ambitious yet, bringing the power of Copilot and new AI powered experiences to apps like Paint, Photos, Clipchamp and more right to your Windows PC.
One Windows application that many people, including me, use regularly is MS Paint. Paint is enhanced with a background removal feature, as well as the abilities to work in layers. For those not familiar with these common graphics function found in most stand alone image editors, let me offer one scenario where these two new features would work together. You have a photo of a person standing anywhere. You also have an image of a forest. You would like to put the picture of the person in the picture of the forest. The new paint will allow you to remove the images in the background of the picture of the person. Then you can copy and paste that altered image onto the picture of the forest. And your person is now in the forest.
The integration of the Bing AI will be most pronounced when you use MS Edge to surf and search the web.
For those who have been waiting or dreading the coming integration of Copilot into MS Office apps will have to wait until November 2023.
What I have outlined here is a short summary that I think will be most valuable for my clients to know. A very complete lists of all the features included in Windows 11 23H2 was been published by PCWorld, September 21, 2023. It is a long read.
Gerald Reiff