Microsoft forces Windows 11 update on to computers

Microsoft has started to force computers running version 21H1 of Windows 11 to upgrade to 22H2.

Since the 22H2 update was released on 20 September, Microsoft had been gradually making it available on computers it deemed were powerful enough to run it.

But it has now decided to update computers automatically, starting with “those devices that have been using version 21H2 for the longest period of time”.

Build 21H2 was the first version of Windows 11, launched on 5 October 2021. Microsoft will keep supporting this version until 10 October this year (see www.snipca. com/44974), so you should aim to update to 22H2 by then.

On its ‘Release health’ page (www.snipca.com/44975), Microsoft wrote that since the launch of Windows 10 in 2015 it has been helping users “stay up to date and secure with supported versions of

Windows through automatic updates” and is using the same approach for Windows 11 “to help you stay protected and productive”.

It added that you have the ability to “choose a convenient time for your device to restart and complete the update”.

You can attempt to trigger the 22H2 update yourself by pressing Windows key+i to open Settings, then clicking Windows Update on the left ( 1 in our screenshot), followed by ‘Check for updates’ 2.

The update added several tools to Windows 11, including folders in the Start menu, dragging and dropping to the taskbar and live captions for •You videos. can read our verdict on the new tools in Issue 640, available on our 2022 Back Issue CD

(www.snipca. com/44660).