Windows 11 version 26H1 will launch exclusively on Snapdragon X2 devices this spring

Microsoft is gearing up to ship a new version of Windows 11 exclusively for PCs powered by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 platform. This next release, dubbed version 26H1, is the first version of Windows 11 to be released only for one particular platform architecture.

I theorised this would be the case when Microsoft first announced version 26H1, and now it's confirmed. ASUS tells me its upcoming ZenBook A14 and A16 powered by Snapdragon X2 will ship with version 26H1 pre-installed, whereas their new ZenBook S14 and S16 with Intel and AMD chips will ship around the same time with version 25H2 instead.

Version 26H1 is more than just a version number bump, too. Unlike version 25H2, which was based on the same platform release as version 24H2 before it, version 26H1 is built on a new version of the Windows platform, codenamed Bromine. This should bring with it under the hood performance and stability improvements that version 25H2 doesn't have.

Luckily, at least for now, both version 25H2 and version 26H1 should remain at feature parity for the foreseeable future. Microsoft says that feature development will continue to take place on version 25H2, so that's where Insiders can test new features first, but everything will be brought forward and shipped on version 26H1 too.

I understand that the reason version 26H1 will remain exclusive to PCs powered by new Arm chips is because of underlying platform changes and scheduling. Simply put, Qualcomm's release schedule is misaligned with the Windows release schedule, meaning Microsoft needed to deliver a platform release outside of its usual H2 cycle that included necessary platform changes that enable the X2 platform to function.

Because version 25H2 just launched a handful of months back, it's too soon to begin pushing out another major version of Windows 11 to the general population. Microsoft's release cycle for version updates is annually in the second half of the year, and it doesn't want to deviate from that. Version 26H1 is an outlier just so that new Arm-based PCs can begin shipping as soon as possible.

Microsoft did a similar thing with version 24H2 in 2024. That version released first exclusively on Snapdragon X PCs, which began shipping in June, much earlier than the usual release cycle for new versions of Windows 11. Version 24H2 would launch later in the year for everyone else, but for a number of months it was exclusive to Snapdragon PCs.

With that said, I think it's unlikely we're going to see version 26H1 ship to everyone later this year. I believe version 26H1 will remain exclusive to new PCs that ship with Qualcomm's (or NVIDIA's) upcoming Arm-based chips, with a version 26H2 shipping in the fall as usual for everyone else instead.

While version 26H1 will only officially launch on Snapdragon X2 devices, that doesn't mean you can't run 26H1 on your own PC if you want to. It's already available to test in the Windows Insider Program, and you can install it on any Intel, AMD, or Snapdragon PC running Windows 11 today if you want to try it, though you won't find much to be different as all the changes are underlying.

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