What's New in Windows 11's 22H2 Update: Top 10 New Features
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Loading... - Ervin Sera
- 01 Jul 2022
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Windows 11 is getting its first big update with 22H2, which was codenamed “Sun Valley 2” during development. With Windows 11, Microsoft has moved to a yearly release cycle for major updates, leaving behind Windows 10’s frantic twice-per-year schedule.
What You Need to Know
This update is named 22H2 as it’s being released in the second half of 2022. Specifically, it hit Microsoft’s Release Preview channel on June 7, 2022. This implies the update may roll out sometime in the summer of 2022.
However, as Microsoft is only a yearly release cycle for major updates and Windows 11 was released on October 4, 2022, it’s very possible that the update may not become stable until fall 2022. Microsoft hasn’t given a solid release date yet. We don’t really know for sure, but if you pressed us, we’d say you should expect it in the fall.
When it is available, the free update will be offered via Windows Update. You’ll see it as an option at the top of the window at Settings > Windows Update.
If you want the update early, you can always join the Windows Insider Program’s Release Preview channel on your PC. However, if you install the update before it’s all ready to go, you are increasing the odds you will run into bugs.
Windows 11 now features an updated, modernized Task Manager with some new features. As always, you can press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open it, right-click the Start button and select “Task Manager,” launch “Task Manager” from the Start menu, or press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then click “Task Manager” to open it.
The Task Manager’s interface now looks much more at home on Windows 11. It’s similar to how Microsoft handled the Notepad update: All the standard functionality is still here. However, the interface is modernized—it now even has support for dark mode, and the shading for the resource usage columns on the Processes tab uses your chosen accent color.
Under the Processes tab, you’ll also find an “Efficiency Mode” option. You can manually enable this for certain processes to reduce their power usage. Certain processes—like some Microsoft Edge processes—automatically use similar techniques and will show a leaf icon in their Status column.
Taskbar Drag and Drop
One huge missing feature is back: You can now drag and drop files, images, and other things to taskbar icons. This was a big feature beloved by many Windows users in Windows 10 and earlier versions of Windows.
Now, it’s back and works mostly like you would expect it to. However, when you drag something to a taskbar icon, you will still see a circle with a line through it, implying you can’t drag and drop. However, when you drag to the application icon, Windows 11 will switch to the relevant window and you can drag and drop directly onto that window, as usual. Read More...
