Microsoft might have just accidentally leaked the name of the next big Windows 11 update

Get ready, because the upcoming major update to Windows 11 is almost here, with funky new features like an improved taskbar, app folders, and the resurrection of Windows Media Player. We’re really looking forward to - wait, what’s this? What does this say? ‘Windows 11 2022 Update’? Well, that’s a rubbish name.

Yes, the name for this update - previously referred to as version 22H2, codename ‘Sun Valley 2’ - appears to have been accidentally revealed by Microsoft itself, with the ‘Get Started’ app on systems running Windows 11 informing users ‘You’re now running the Windows 11 2022 Update’. 

This was spotted by eagle-eyed Twitter user @XenoPanther, who noted less than 24 hours later that the Get Started app had hastily reverted to its original message.

The name makes sense; previous Windows 10 updates used a month + year format, and Microsoft’s decision to only launch a single major update to Windows 11 this year would explain the lack of a month (though we already know that 22H2 is scheduled to launch on September 20).

It’s so dull, though! Older updates occasionally featured cool names like ‘the Creators Update’ - if Microsoft is moving away from regular large updates, why not make a bigger deal about the ones it is launching? The ‘Windows 11 2022 Update’ does nothing to drive excitement. Call it ‘Windows 11 Neo’ or ‘the Power User Update’ or something! Come on, Microsoft, you’re better than this.

Analysis: Microsoft is definitely changing how it approaches updates to Windows

In all seriousness, though, Microsoft really does need to do something about Windows 11. Adoption has been slowly increasing, but it’s still far behind Windows 10, and many users aren’t feeling the compulsion to upgrade. Bugs with the Start menu, coupled with security issues, do little to inspire confidence.

Microsoft’s move away from multiple yearly feature updates for Windows is an interesting one, with 2023’s big ‘Sun Valley 3’ update reportedly being scrapped in favor of smaller, bite-sized updates called ‘Moments’ (that’s a better name, Microsoft). 

The Windows Insider Program has also been more heavily utilized to test new features, which will hopefully allow Microsoft to fire out these smaller updates more frequently.

Following on from this stream of ‘Moments’, the current schedule has predictions placing a Windows 12 launch in 2024, which feels awfully soon given how many people are still using Windows 10 – or even older versions of the OS. Unless the Windows 11 2022 Update (ugh) does some heavy lifting to draw in more users, Microsoft may want to rethink its plans.