Windows 11 24H2 has apparently been withdrawn from testing for the time being, with Microsoft hitting the pause button, presumably due to issues with the major update due later this year.
If you remember, the 24H2 update was sent to the Release Preview channel on May 22, but… Windows Latest noticed that on a PC in that test channel the update was no longer offered.
After further investigating the reason for this, the tech site came across an update (from late last week) to the original blog post introducing the preview build, which Microsoft states: “We are temporarily pausing the rollout of Windows 11, version 24H2 to the Release Preview Channel. We will resume the rollout in the coming weeks.”
That’s all Microsoft has said on the matter, leaving open the question of why the update was brought into question. Well, we say that, but there’s a fairly obvious reason that you can tell from the posts in Microsoft’s Feedback Hub about the 24H2 update, and it’s apparently had quite a few issues.
Windows Latest notes that there is a notable bug with a ‘RunDLL’ error message that keeps popping up annoying testers, and much more in terms of general stability issues, with apps and games freezing, stuttering or crashing. Annoying.
Analysis: Time to Worry About Delay? We don’t think so
This all sounds a bit worrying, and you might be wondering if the Windows 11 24H2 update will even be delayed – if there are any gremlins crawling around that are serious enough to take the upgrade out of testing for the time being. Microsoft’s timetable for the return of 24H2’s final test version (Release Preview) in the “coming weeks” doesn’t sound too reassuring either – perhaps indicating a longer hiatus.
On the other hand, we shouldn’t read too much into that statement; it is standard language often used in these types of situations. Also keep in mind that the 24H2 update is still far away. The release isn’t expected to happen until September 2024 or October or thereabouts, so there’s still a lot of time to iron out any issues.
Rather than expecting things to be delayed, it’s more likely that Microsoft was a little early in deploying Windows 11 24H2 to release Preview. After all, we were a bit surprised when it came out last month, and Microsoft did initially note that it was a very limited rollout (in an update to the late May blog post). In other words, the company was cautious here, and we now understand why.
Granted, there’s some concern as the issues present here sound pretty bad, but for now this feels like a misstep with an early release, rather than setting off alarm bells about Windows 11 24H2 not being ready for the roughly rumored launch timeframe later this year .