Windows 11 2022 Update: Subtle upgrades in weird places

Microsoft's new rollout schedule means these problems can be fixed.

- MARK HACHMAN

Rating Windows 11’s latest feature update, officially known as the Windows 11 2022 Update (22H2), means acknowledging that many of its most useful features are somewhat hidden. Dig in and you’ll be rewarded, but most of the 2022 update’s more obvious new features won’t blow you away initially.

Windows 11 2022 Update is not a return to the glory days of Windows 10. Then, splashy product launches heralded new, important additions to the operating system, like Disney teasing new Marvel characters into its cinematic universe.

Windows 11 22H2 takes a subtler approach, updating the File Explorer, and adding a new Snap Layouts bar, Start menu folders, Live Captions, Voice Access, and more. There are now thousands of Android apps from Amazon, as well as something called Smart App Control (fave. co/3D6sYrJ). Microsoft is also now saying that it intends to keep users secure out of the box, and it will turn on a performance stealing core isolation security feature (fave. co/3yPwIv9) by default.

Part of this has to do with how Microsoft is rolling out updates to Windows. Remember, there was really no Windows 11 22H1 (fave. co/3yLZvkw), which Microsoft debuted alongside a pledge to provide “continuous innovation” (fave.co/3JLI9Y1)—new features now aren’t necessarily tied to any one release. One of the 2022 Update’s friendliest additions, Windows Spotlight, actually launched as a 22H2 preview feature in December 2021, then was added to the Windows 11 stable channel earlier this year. (Yes, you should have it.) Microsoft’s new video editor, Clipchamp, is moving from a Store app to a native Windows app, and it’s excellent (fave.co/3Qe7Dkl).