I just found out that Microsoft rolled out an Out-of-Band update to address WinRE issues from the October cumulative updates. These updates are cumulative, but they don't appear in the Windows Update channel, meaning we have to apply them in other ways. I noticed that the patches for both Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 are exactly the same size. Curiously, when I downloaded them both and checked their file hashes using PowerShell, they matched completely with the same SHA256: C1C6B61BC04E1B25E222958DC3456C39E04AEBD82FFA18E2345E26C3225D546B.
I even applied the 24H2 patch to a test system running 25H2, and it worked without any issues. Has anyone else noticed this? Why wouldn't Microsoft just state that the patch is for both versions? Or is this just more marketing that changes the build number to 26200.xxxx?
4 Answers
Yep, 25H2 is just a 167kb enablement package! In comparison, 24H2 had a massive patch back in September.
Did you catch that they share the same KBs too? This isn’t exactly a groundbreaking find; Microsoft has stated this is how things are. Windows 10 had similar situations with 21H2 and 22H2 being enablement packages over 20H2, sharing the same updates.
I’ve seen shared KBs before as well, but I doubt everyone has noticed the implications. Not saying it’s miraculous, just curious!
Honestly, the real difference between 24H2 and 25H2 seems to be a few tweaks in the Registry. If you upgrade from 24H2 to 25H2 through Windows Update, the process feels similar to a standard update and doesn’t require starting over like 24H2 did.
It wouldn't surprise me if that’s the case. 25H2 really acts more like an enablement package for 24H2, almost like a support lifecycle reset.
Totally agree! I had 25H2 installed faster than 23H2, which was also just an enablement package. But the 24H2 install took so long, I felt like I could have just reimaged the whole system.
Not exactly! The features from 25H2 actually came from earlier Windows Updates but are just grouped together and activated by the 25H2 update. It's a newer approach compared to the 24H2 experience.
Right? That raises some questions about whether we should rush to upgrade systems on 23H2.