Windows 11 version 26H1 is coming this "Spring"

When Microsoft released Windows 11 in October 2021, it moved from bi-annual feature updates to a single release in the second half of each year. As such, Windows 11 only has "H2" releases, such as 25H2, 24H2, etc. However, 2026 is changing that, and Windows 11 is about to receive its first "H1" update.

Microsoft has already confirmed its plans to release Windows 11 version 26H1 (first reports appeared in October 2025). It is currently available for testing in the Canary Channel of the Insider Program, but so far, it does not offer any new features. Microsoft said that 26H1 would only be available for "certain platforms," such as the newly announced Snapdragon X2 series or NVIDIA's rumored ARM processors for Windows.

At CES 2026, manufacturers unveiled multiple laptops with Snapdragon X2 processors, and some of them, namely ASUS, confirmed that those devices will ship with Windows 11 version 26H1 in the first quarter of 2026. Existing PCs will not get Windows 11 version 26H1, but all of its improvements and features that are not tied to specific hardware should make it to the general public in the second half of 2026 with the release of Windows 11 version 26H2.

This repeats what we had in 2024, when Microsoft initially released Windows 11 version 24H2 for Copilot+ PCs only. However, a few months later, the update arrived for all existing computers as the next annual Windows 11 update.

As for the new features, Microsoft has already made it clear that 25H2 nd 26H1 will be identical feature-wise. The sole goal of 26H1 is to provide the necessary platform updates and "under-the-hood" changes to support the new chips. Unlike Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, which share the same platform or branch, Windows 11 versions 26H1 and 26H2 will be based on a new release, so expect a full system update later this year.

Via Windows Central

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Posted Thursday 8 January 2026 at 5:01 am AEST (my time).

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