Microsoft is releasing a Windows 11 upgrade in the first half of the year as part of a shift in their release strategy for 2026. Only devices with “new silicon” will be supported by the recently released Windows 11 26H1 update, according to a blog post from the trillion-dollar software behemoth, Windows IT Pro. Currently, 26H1 is only supported by devices running Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X2 ARM SoCs.
Microsoft also disclosed that Windows 11 26H1 is not your typical update, since it is based on a different (newer) codebase than Windows 11 25H2, called Bromine. Devices running 26H1 will be unable to upgrade to Windows 11 26H2, which will be released later this year, due to this code discrepancy, and will be trapped on that version for the foreseeable future. Microsoft did, however, clarify that 26H1 devices will have “a path to update in a future Windows release,” meaning that by next year, the current Germanium editions of Windows (24H2/25H2) will probably be updated to Bromine. For 26H2, Microsoft has already ruled out switching to Bromine.
Since both Windows 11 and 24H2 were and are released to support cutting-edge ARM devices before the mainstream Windows codebase could catch up, the releases of 26H1 and 24H2 are quite similar.When Windows 11 24H2 was first published in June 2024, it was limited to ARM-only Copilot+ PCs until October, when Microsoft eventually made the update available for all platforms. However, 26H1 differs from 25H2 in that it seems to be only focused on supporting next-generation hardware and offers no features that stand out.
Additionally, since Windows 10 21H1 in 2021, Microsoft has not published a “major” Windows upgrade till now. The fact that 21H1 was a modest update that only provided a few updates to Windows 10 is another similarity between 26H1 and 21H1.
In order to maintain hardware support in the future, it will be fascinating to observe if Microsoft will continue to divide its development branches. It appears that Microsoft has been compelled to offer specialized Windows 11 builds for particular hardware for the second time. The only SoC that supports (and needs) 26H1 at the moment is the Snapdragon X2, however Microsoft’s language indicates that further hardware will soon require 26H1’s codebase to function. According to speculations, informed guesses, and leaks, Nvidia’s next N1X processor will likewise have rigorous support through 26H1.
That being said, you won’t need to worry about updating to Windows 11 26H1 just yet because it is a device-specific upgrade. The gadget will come with 26H1 if you already have one that requires it. If you already have a device that needs 26H1, it will have 26H1 out of the box. If you’re on Windows 11 25H2, 24H2, or any older update, you can skip 26H1 and focus on 26H2, which will be Microsoft’s “actual” feature update geared towards all mainstream Windows devices coming out in the second half of this year.
