Microsoft may have let slip the final name for its big Windows 11 22H2 feature update

What you need to know

• The name of Microsoft's big Windows 11 feature update might have been revealed.
• An update to the Get Started app now refers to it as the Windows 11 2022 Update.
• This release will still ship as version 22H2, likely next month.

We might finally have a name for Microsoft's upcoming big OS update for Windows 11 thanks to a recent update of the Get Started app, which now refers to the version 22H2 release as the "Windows 11 2022 Update." Not very creative, but it gets the message across and is slightly different from the previous update naming scheme for Windows 10, which had settled on a "Month + Year Update" naming format.

Of course, now that Microsoft has decided to only ship one major feature update for Windows 11, there's no need to include the month in the name of the update. What's more, we understand that the 2022 Update will be the first and last major OS client upgrade for Windows 11, with the company now moving to a new "Moments" engineering effort that will allow the company to ship new features outside of big platform releases.

Microsoft is yet to formally announce the big Windows 11 OS update for this year. Insiders have been testing it in the Insider Dev and Beta Channels since last year, but the company is yet to announce its name or release date. I understand that Microsoft is planning to begin shipping this release in September, likely on September 20 if plans don't change.

With the move to its new "Moments" development cycle, Microsoft is no longer planning to ship another major platform release for Windows 11 in 2023. Instead, it plans to ship a new version of the Windows client in 2024, internally referred to as "Next Valley" which will include significant platform improvements, new features, and more.

Throughout 2023, the company plans "feature drops" every so often to keep Windows 11 feeling fresh. These feature drops will ship on top of the 2022 Update, also known as version 22H2.