- Microsoft has kicked off a new set of Windows 11 preview builds in testing
- These will have “behind-the-scenes platform changes” for the OS
- Rumor has it that Microsoft will be tinkering with the current Germanium platform – rather than switching to an all-new base for Windows 11 – and that should mean fewer bugs
Microsoft is likely switching to work on the next big update for Windows 11, which would be 25H2, based on rumors and what’s going on with the latest preview build.
Microsoft itself has told us that the new builds in the 26200 range, which are now in the Dev channel for testing, are still based on 24H2 – the current version of Windows 11 – but that it’ll be “making behind-the-scenes platform changes in these builds” which might mean they have different issues to the 24H2 builds in the Beta channel (a later branch of testing).
According to Windows Central’s Zac Bowden, who regularly shares rumors relating to what’s going on at Microsoft, those Dev builds are “likely” to be about laying the “early groundwork for version 25H2” which is, of course, due to land later in 2025.
So, in other words, the Beta channel will continue to get builds based purely on 24H2, whereas the Dev channel is now going to get changes under the hood to set the stage for 25H2 (most probably).
Bowden further notes that the changes to the underlying platform Windows 11 is built on – the sprawling mass of code you never see, but is the glue that holds together all the bits that you do interact with – will incorporate the changes needed for Qualcomm’s incoming Snapdragon X2 chip.
Those changes have already been put in place in the Canary channel, apparently – which is the earliest test channel, before Dev – and now they’re coming to the Dev channel, this indicates that Microsoft is progressing towards making the finished version of Windows 11 compatible with devices powered by the Snapdragon X2 CPU.
Those devices, which are expected to usher in a new Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 processor, should arrive later in 2025, alongside this new version of Windows 11, in theory.
Analysis: Sticking with Germanium?
You may recall that Windows 11 24H2 was built on an all-new underlying platform, dubbed Germanium by Microsoft. That major switch with the very foundations of Windows 11 was made to ensure compatibility with Arm chips (and to improve the performance and overall security of the OS), and the first generation of Snapdragon X processors.
However, that was a huge move, whereas the work now rumored to be underway is seemingly about fine-tuning Germanium for Snapdragon X2 – that isn’t a total change of platform, but a refinement of what was put in place last year. Or at least this is what Bowden feels is the most probable scenario, although it’s still possible Microsoft could switch to a different platform with 25H2, the leaker acknowledges.
If it’s true Microsoft is sticking with Germanium, this is important, because one of the reasons why Windows 11 24H2 has been so buggy is due to that migration to the all-new (at the time) Germanium, which I believe caused quite a commotion in the inner workings of Microsoft’s OS. And that’s the reason why some of the many glitches we’ve seen with the 24H2 update have been so odd (again, in my opinion – take it with caution, of course).
Because Windows 11 25H2 isn’t going to be such a big move, it should be much more smoothly implemented and less buggy overall – at least in theory, and that’s a hope I reckon a lot of folks will be holding onto for now.
At the same time, we have to face the fear that the bad run of bugs might continue, either because there are just that many to stamp out, this firefighting won’t have run its course – or that Microsoft will be switching away from Germanium, which again could mean more than the usual share of bugs winging our way.
Given how 24H2 has panned out – pretty terribly for bugs – hopefully Microsoft will be in a risk-averse frame of mind here.
