Microsoft recently announced Windows 11 26H2, which brings many new features that truly improve Windows.
With the Windows 11 release, Microsoft announced that the Operating System will receive 1 feature update per year; it is now time for the 2026 release. Microsoft has announced Windows 11 version 26H2, the annual release for Windows 11.
Windows 11 Version 26H2 is an enablement update
Similar to Windows 11 25H2, this update is also a minor enablement update, which means the codebase of 25H2 and 26H2 will be the same, except that the enablement package will just flip the version numbers.
What is an enablement package?
Windows 11 26H2 is not a completely separate operating system from Windows 11 25H2. Both versions share the same core operating system and system files, which means many of the 23H2 features are already installed on devices running 22H2 through monthly quality updates. However, these features remain disabled until Microsoft releases a small enablement package. Installing this package simply activates the hidden features and upgrades your PC from Windows 11 25H2 to 26H2 with a single restart, making the update much faster than a traditional feature upgrade.
New features in Windows 11 version 26H2
If you are running Windows 11 25H2, you will get most of the features as before, since 26H2 just flips the version number. We discussed some of these improvements in our other article, but there is a lot more 🙂
More Taskbar customization
With the Windows K2 efforts, Microsoft has now enabled customization of the Taskbar. Improvements include:
- Movable Taskbar
- Smaller Taskbar
New redesigned start menu
- Microsoft has redesigned the Start menu in the latest version. The newest release makes better use of available space while giving users more flexibility in how the menu looks and functions. First, the ability to make the icons smaller and larger is being provided. The layout is also updated.
- The recommended section is now called Recent.
- A new option to hide your name and profile picture on the start menu is being added.
- Disabling recent and suggested files will no longer turn off File Explorer’s recent history.
Web Search can now be disabled in the Start Menu search
The latest update now also includes the ability to disable Web search in the Start Menu, which is rolling out now. We covered it here:
More control over Windows update
With Windows 11 26H2, you can now pause updates for as many days as you want. We covered it here:
Miscleaneous
Miscellaneous updates include a modern Run dialog box, Administrator Protection in Windows Security, and an Ask Copilot menu.
Are you excited for Windows 11 26H2?
