Microsoft is hard at work on the next version of Windows 11, but this time things might be a little bit different. Instead of waiting until the second half of the year like most new version updates, Microsoft looks to be planning to ship a new version of Windows 11 much earlier, specifically for upcoming next-gen silicon.
The upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon X2-based SoC and NVIDIA N1X platform requires platform changes that aren't currently available in version 25H2, and the work required to light up Snapdragon X2 and N1X devices appears to be part of the next Windows platform release, codenamed Bromine.
Unlike 25H2, which is based on the same platform release as version 24H2 (codenamed Germanium,) the next version of Windows 11 looks to be based on the newer Bromine platform release. This means it's a full OS upgrade, but it will likely only be available on Snapdragon X2 devices at launch.
Microsoft has now confirmed that this version of Windows 11 will be denoted as version 26H1, but that it won't be released as a feature update for existing Windows 11 PCs. It exists specifically to support next-gen silicon that won't be available until the first half of 2026.
Here's everything you need to know about version 26H1.
Release date
The next version of Windows 11 isn't expected to ship on Snapdragon X2 devices until the first half of 2026. It's based on the Bromine platform release, which is expected to be signed off internally sometime in November 2025. Once that's done, Microsoft will continue to fine tune and polish the base RTM build until the first devices are ready to ship with it.
Microsoft has confirmed that version 26H1 won't ship as a feature update for version 25H2 users, meaning it won't reach general availability. It's possible, and likely, that version 26H1 will only be available on PCs powered by this next-gen Arm silicon from Qualcomm and NVIDIA.
Microsoft is expected to sign-off on Bromine with an RTM build number of 28000. Microsoft doesn't always sign off a final build with a round number, and the last time it was done to this extent was with the original release of Windows 11 with build 22000.
New features
Thanks to Microsoft's current development strategy for Windows, most in-support versions of Windows 11 are often at feature parity with each other, even when based on different platform releases. This is expected to remain the case between Germanium and Bromine.
Platform updates
Where things differ between platform releases is what's happening under the hood. Bromine is a much newer release of the Windows platform, and as such is likely more performant and efficient compared to the current version of Windows 11. We also know that it includes necessary changes that allow Snapdragon X2 devices to function.
This isn't the first time Qualcomm's next gen chips have required Microsoft to push forward a new version of the Windows platform. In 2024, Microsoft launched version 24H2 on the Germanium platform release, months before it was ready to roll out to all Windows 11 PCs. This is because Snapdragon X was launching in June, and required Germanium to function.
It seems like the same thing may be happening here. Bromine is launching early for Snapdragon X2, with general availability for everyone else happening sometime after.
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