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New Windows 11 update now available for everyone
Windows 11’s Moment 5 update, containing several new tools, is now available for all users after Microsoft released it as an optional update.
It first released Moment 5 at the end of February, though this was a gradual rollout, available only if you turned on the option ‘Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available’ in Windows Settings.
The latest release, on 26 March, is a ‘non-security’ update. Installing these is simpler: open Settings (Windows key+I), then click Windows Update followed by ‘Check for updates’.
The Moment 5 update is listed as ‘2024-03 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 23H2’ with the number KB5035942 ( 1in screenshot). If you see this, click ‘Download & install all’ 2 .
If it’s not there, you can instead install it from Microsoft’s Update Catalog (www.snipca.com/49872), where you’ll see four versions of KB5035942 listed.
To find the one you need, first check which Windows 11 build you’re running: 22H2 or 23H2. Do this by searching for about in Windows, pressing Enter, then looking next to ‘Version’ under ‘Windows specifications’.
Now look at ‘System type’ under ‘Device specifications’ and check whether your processor is x64 or ARM.
Once you know both pieces of information, look for the corresponding update and click the Download button at the far right.
Microsoft normally includes the contents of non-security updates in the following month’s Patch Tuesday updates, which are automatically installed on computers.
If this happens in April, it means Moment 5 will be installed on all PCs on Tuesday 9 April.
Microsoft lists all the new features in Moment 5 at
www.snipca.com/49871. They include using voice commands over multiple monitors, new Copilot commands for performing tasks on your PC, and suggestions when using Snap Layouts.
The update also adds new features to some Windows apps, including Clipchamp – see page 46.
WHAT WE THINK
We’ve been saying it for years, but Microsoft really should simplify its update policy. Its current process makes little sense. Updates come first to users who want them ‘as soon as they’re available’, but this is only a few weeks before they’re offered to everyone ‘optionally’. Yet surely the first release is also optional? If Microsoft can’t find better ways to describe these updates, it should just release
