Windows 11 Version 23H2, (Ahem, My Bad.
I mean 22H2): Postscript — Post Installation
The Whole Enchilada Is
Still Two Tacos Short of a Combo Plate
I was not alone in the confusion over what the heck was installed
during last
week's Update-O-Rama. A few quotes from a few noted authoritative
sources.
Windows Central, September 27, 2023:
Update September 26: Updated to reflect the confirmed release date and
clarify that this is not the 23H2 update as previously anticipated.
Gearrice.com, September 27, 2023: Microsoft
has just rolled out a major update for Windows 11. But contrary to what
the company suggested during its Surface event, it is not the 23H2
update, but the moments update 4 of Windows 11 22H2 integrating new
features in advance.
Laptopmag.com went even farther out on a limb, and declared,
Microsoft’s new 2023 update is Windows 12 in all but name.
Clearly, Microsoft has a communication problem.
I believe that a large part of the communication problem here is the whole "Moment" nonsense. For some time, Microsoft has been working on making updating Windows less like a root canal, and more like a routine cleaning. A large part of that effort is what Microsoft calls "continuous innovation." As much as Microsoft wants to make the Update-O-Rama Merry-Go-Round feel more warm and fuzzy, and less cold, technical, and fear-inducing, updating is, in fact, a highly technical process, even if Microsoft has made it easier than in days gone by. Critical to the success of any technical endeavor is that a thing is called exactly what the thing is. Bad naming crashes code and ruins programming. The same holds true across the board in IT.
Consumers do not follow the IT press. The label Moment 4 is, therefore, meaningless to Consumers. Consumers have never installed a Moment, as far they know. Nor can they know if they ever had. In Consumers' list of installed updates at Windows Settings — Update History, there are no update installations of "Moment # anything." What is in this list of installed updates are several "Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems." If you open Update History, you will see all the Cumulative Update Previews you have installed over time. Included in this list, by now, should be 2023-09 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5030310), AKA Windows 22H2 "Moment 4." Had all of the prelease hoopla emanating from Microsoft and its minions among the Digerati, simply noted that what was released on September 26, 2023, was the final "Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems," — and it comes with over 150 new features, including AI on the Taskbar — the ensuing confusion would have been avoided. Of course, a lot less fatuous hype over the update would have been generated. Maybe that was the point.
Compounding Microsoft's disinformation campaign is that I assume most professional reviewers and industry pundits are enrolled in the Windows Insider Preview program, as am I. When enrolled in the Windows Insider Preview program, the timing of updates and the updates themselves are not exactly the same as what is pushed through the usual Windows Update process. What I installed September 24, 2023, was 2023-09 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5030310).
First
thing I do after a Windows update is to check the Windows Version using the
Winver command from the Searchbox. Type
winver
into that Searchbox, and you will see what is your current installed version of
Windows. I, and I assume all those enrolled in the Windows Insider
Preview, received the actual Windows 11 23H2 update, Tuesday, September
26, 2023. Most consumers, as of this writing, will still be on Windows 11 22H2.
Beginning the last weekend in September, after performing the Win 11 22H2 update on various Consumer PCs, and after rebooting, a new Windows Update was available. This is called a Stack Update. According to Microsoft:
Servicing stack updates improve the reliability of the update process to mitigate potential issues while installing the latest quality updates and feature updates. If you don't install the latest servicing stack update, there's a risk that your device can't be updated with the latest Microsoft security fixes.
To push this along, go to Settings → Windows Update, click Check For Updates. If you are prompted to "Get the latest Updates...", turn that feature on. This current stack update is to prepare your machine for the actual Windows 11 23H2 upgrade. No one can answer when that upgrade will appear on any one PC. Windows 11 23H2 is scheduled to begin rolling out sometime in October 2023. At this time, however, there appears to be little to no difference between Win 11 22H2 and Win 11 23H2. It is my belief that Win 11 23H2 will simply appear on Consumers' machines throughout the month of October 2023.
The next feature update is scheduled to be released sometime in November 2023. That is when the image generating AI will be available from within Paint, and other more advanced features. Here, as we began, the reporting on this is also very bad. There is no newer version of Paint yet available from the Microsoft Store, as has been widely reported.
In conclusion, Microsoft, your customers are not children, nor are they stupid. Most want to keep their machines up to date. But they don't want to have their intelligence insulted and be lied to. And that is what you Gnomes Of Redmond, and your minions among the Digerati, have done. Go back to calling the updates what they are. So Consumers and pros alike can know what they are doing before, during, and after, they have done it. That is not just good science and technology. It is also common sense.
Gerald Reiff