Windows 11 23H2 (nope – 22H2) to be released September 26th, with “Copilot” -Updated

Update: This is the problem when Microsoft allows all the news to filter out through journalists without any official blog posts or live casting – during the event, The Verge announced that the Windows 11 update featuring Copilot etc was a “23H2” update (see below), but instead, as noted in the official Microsoft blog post, which came out after the event was over, it’s not, it’s for 22H2. We still don’t have a release date for 23H2, which is expected soon:

These experiences, including Copilot in Windows and more will start to become available on Sept. 26 as part of our latest update to Windows 11, version 22H2.

Mary Jo Foley is now saying that the 23H2 release will come as a “week D preview release” and that the real 23H2 release won’t come until October:

An update to this: It now seems the 23H2 rollout won't kick off on Sept. 26. That'll still be just a preview release (Week D) and the *real* 23H2 rollout won't start until October #MicrosoftEvent

— Mary Jo Foley (@maryjofoley) September 21, 2023

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Microsoft is in the middle of its “Surface” event in New York City, and as expected is spending a lot of time talking about AI. Yusuf Mehdi just announced that the company will be releasing Windows 11 23H2 22H2 on September 26th, and it will include a new slightly rebranded “Copilot.” Microsoft is apparently moving away from the various flavors of Copilot (Windows Copilot, PowerPoint Copilot, etc.) to now use a single Copilot across all its products.

According to the folks at The Verge (Microsoft is releasing a recorded version of the event at 10am PDT, and still at this writing hasn’t issued a press release), Windows 11 23H2 will be cock full of AI:

New Windows 11 update coming on September 26th. Known as 23H2, this update is full of changes like new AI-powered photos tools, updates to Microsoft Paint with layers, passkey support, a new Outlook, and much more. …

We’re watching a video of all the new Windows 11 features. Microsoft seems to be fast-tracking some that were in testing into this release. …

Ink Anywhere is a new feature in this Windows 11 update. You can use your Surface Pen to write anywhere. …

Copilot also works across devices. “Copilot in Windows has context from your phone”. …

You can even use Copilot to write a text to someone. It will pull out data from your calendar and flights to allow you to send a message.

We’ll have more on Windows 11, Copilot, and all the announcements from NYC, stay tuned to OnMSFT.com

(image via Arif Bacchus of XDA)