On October 1, 2024, Microsoft began rolling out Windows 11 2024 Update (also designated as 24H2), which is the third significant upgrade to Windows 11 for Intel and AMD processors. This release includes a series of refinements to the Windows 11 interface, along with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth LE.

At the time of release, Information Systems & Computing (ISC) strongly recommended that all University users adopt a “wait and see” approach and continue using earlier Windows versions for at least two weeks and perhaps longer following the release. This period allows for any initial bugs and compatibility issues in Windows 11 2024 Update to be identified and usually either fixed or avoided. For Windows 24H2, the evaluation period was far more extended than usual, as various bugs and compatibility issues caused Microsoft to remove update availability for many systems.

Windows 11 2024 Update is now cleared for general use by University constituents. This clearance supports Penn users with new systems that ship with Windows 11 24H2 pre-installed. Windows 11 23H2 remains Penn’s supported and recommended Windows version and will likely remain so until the end of FY2025. Please refer to the Operating System Life Cycles charts for ISC's current support of and long-term guidance on operating systems.

Challenges Regarding Microsoft Recall

Microsoft Recall is a tool designed to assist with finding items from past use and is available only for Copilot+ PCs. Recall introduces substantial and unacceptable security, legality, and privacy considerations.

ISC will continue to prevent the use of Microsoft Recall via an enforced Group Policy Object (GPO) on compatible managed systems affiliated with KITE, and strongly suggests that administrators of other Windows environments at Penn disable Recall as well. Microsoft’s instructions for disabling Recall in a managed environment are here.

University constituents with unmanaged or individually-owned systems should not use Microsoft Recall. Windows Central has published instructions on disabling or removing Recall on these systems.

Additional Details

Windows 11 24H2 has had a non-standard release schedule. The first release was in June 2024, but only for systems with ARM processors from Qualcomm. Four months later, Microsoft released Windows 11 24H2 for systems with Intel and AMD processors. This release schedule and other factors have made the support matrix for Windows 11 complex.

Previous versions of Windows for ARM-based systems have not been supportable for general use at the University. When last comprehensively tested, most remaining blockers to adoption were related to essential middleware such as BigFix and CrowdStrike. ISC believes that this new Windows version is substantially improved for ARM-based systems, but careful and Penn-centric testing is required. In the meantime, ISC recommends holding off on purchasing these newly released devices. When this version of Windows for ARM is judged supportable—likely in calendar Q1/2025—configuration advice for these Snapdragon-based systems will be added to the Notebook Purchasing Guide.