- Microsoft has revealed its new Windows Roadmap portal
- The roadmap aims to clarify exactly what features are inbound for Windows 11 and when they’ll arrive
- The idea is to cut through any confusion in terms of future functionality, although it’s early days yet for the portal
Ever get confused about what’s happening with incoming changes for Windows 11? I wouldn’t blame you – I end up scratching my head some of the time regarding features that are in the works, and I write about Microsoft’s OS for a living (among a good many other tech topics, that is).
Microsoft itself acknowledges a lack of clarity around features progressing through testing for Windows 11, and wishes to improve the situation with a fresh innovation in the form of a roadmap.
As Windows Central reports, Microsoft’s new Windows Roadmap portal is now live, with the company describing the reasoning behind the new website in a blog post.
Microsoft states that: “The Windows roadmap provides estimated release dates and descriptions for features being released. All information is subject to change. As a feature or product is canceled or postponed, information will be removed from this website.”
So, just because a feature is mentioned on the roadmap doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed for inclusion in Windows 11 eventually. That’s always been true of functionality in testing, though – if it isn’t working, or testers are giving lots of negative feedback, there’s always a chance Microsoft will dump a feature, and you’ll never see it again. (Or it’ll emerge in the future, in a somewhat different guise, perhaps).
Analysis: Early days for a useful portal
An initiative like this is, of course, a laudable one from Microsoft. However, if you clicked through and perused the above blog post, you surely noticed that it’s targeted at IT professionals – those who manage computers for organizations. That’s because when you’ve got to take care of a fleet of PCs running Windows 11, there’s a lot of complexity involved, and you really need to stay fully abreast of what changes might be upcoming for the operating system.
But still, the average consumer – like me, or you – will likely also find the new Windows Roadmap useful to browse, just to see what new features are on the horizon. Or, if there’s a capability that you’re really keen on and haven’t yet got, you could use the portal to clarify whether it’s actually being rolled out to Windows 11 PCs yet, and what the expected general availability date is.
It should also help to clear up confusion when certain features seem to skip testing channels. There are four of these Microsoft uses, from the earliest (Canary channel) to just before release (Release Preview channel), and sometimes features will just appear in later channels, without even being presented to the early testers.
In short, this invention should allow you to more easily track the progress of everything that’s in the works for Windows 11, though looking at the roadmap now, I’m still encountering some minor points of confusion.
Let’s take an example of the PC spec cards, which were spotted hidden in the background of test builds early this year, before suddenly going into testing, and then pretty much straight into Windows 11’s latest preview update this week (prior to release next month). Blink and you missed the progress of that particular feature in testing, and its rapid shift through the gears was rather strange to witness.
So, what does the Windows Roadmap say about these spec cards? Firstly, that the rollout start date is March 2025, and what that means is the feature is only rolling out now – meaning a gradual deployment, so even if you’ve installed the March preview update, you may not see it (yet). Expected availability is then listed as the “April 2025 non-security monthly update,” meaning the preview update coming at the end of April.
What I don’t quite understand here is that surely the broad availability will be the full May 2025 patch (which is what the April 2025 preview update will become) – as far from everybody downloads the preview, or optional (non-security) updates. Most folks only get the full release, so really, that following update in May would surely represent the full availability of the feature. Wouldn’t it?
Okay, so maybe I’m nitpicking here, and I get that the gist is that for the full (non-preview) update in April, the PC spec cards will still just be rolling out – and not provided to everyone – but I think Microsoft could put this across in a better way.
Anyway, even if there are a few wrinkles to iron out, this is, of course, still early days for the roadmap, and it should prove a useful tool in terms of keeping an eye on what’s imminent for Windows 11.