After speculation about whether the next version of Windows would be Windows 12, Microsoft on Friday finally confirmed that the next version of Windows 11, coming later this year, will be version 25H2. The company has also rolled out the first Insider Preview build, meaning Insiders can already test the first 25H2 builds.
“Today, Windows 11 version 25H2 became available to the Windows Insider community, in advance of broader availability planned for the second half of 2025,” Microsoft’s Jason Leznek wrote in an announcement post.
Windows 11 version 25H2 is not a major upgrade from a technical standpoint, as it shares the same platform release and servicing stack as version 24H2. This means that upgrading from version 24H2 to 25H2 will be “as easy as a quick restart,” and should take no longer than a typical cumulative update. This makes the transition much faster compared to the “OS swap” experience of moving from version 23H2 to 24H2, which involved replacing all your install files with newer versions.
