The great Windows 11 24H2 roll-out started this week, the major annual feature update for Microsoft’s ubiquitous operating system. Yet the company seems more concerned about compatibility with existing applications than with driving developers to build applications that take advantage of new capabilities.

At the time of writing there is no mention of the latest Windows iteration on Microsoft’s devblogs site. There is a post on Windows 11 24H2 – what’s new for IT Pros and it is telling that the main reference to applications is in an FAQ about compatibility. “Windows 11 is the most compatible Windows operating system ever. If you do encounter an application compatibility issue, however, our App Assure team is here to help.”

Windows 11 24H2 is nevertheless described as “a full operating system (OS) swap that contains new foundational elements.” The most comprehensive list of what is new is here; and while there are items that are of interest to developers, such as Rust in the Windows kernel, there is little in the way of fresh features that will impact custom applications.

At the Build event in May, Microsoft focused on the Copilot Runtime as the major next big thing for developers, a new API with the ability to use AI features including natural language processing, studio effects, text recognition, live caption translations, and the infamous Windows Recall for searching past activities. The status of the Copilot runtime is unclear though, with the documentation stating that “not all features are available at this time,” and some features (in particular Phi Silica for on-device language models) being reserved for Copilot+ PCs that run on Arm processors.

Incidentally, over four months after Build, many developers are still waiting for the promised Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, though some have managed to snag one. “There will be an official update coming this week” said a Qualcomm employee a month ago; but we have not seen it.

Apple has delivered more for its desktop developers than Microsoft has managed. At this year’s WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) there was Apple Intelligence (loosely equivalent perhaps to the Copilot Runtime, from a developer perspective), App Intents to enable Siri to use features in applications, Reality Kit for spatial apps, enhanced widgets and live activities, and more.

At one time Microsoft did its best to get developers excited about new versions of Windows so what has changed? One factor perhaps is the Microsoft has lost ground with the consumer market, and has no mobile offering. Windows is now a business workhorse, where having legacy applications just work is a top priority.

Cloud is another factor. Microsoft no longer needs to drive Windows upgrades to keep its profits flowing; cloud subscriptions and applications that run on Azure or Power Platform are its business focus.

We no longer see a strong “new Windows, new PC” as once was true in the heyday of the Wintel alliance, particularly with Microsoft now hyping Arm-based Copilot+ PCs. PC makers are relying more on Windows 10 end of life to drive hardware refresh.

It may be notable that, following the lacklustre reception for Microsoft’s various Windows SDKs for desktop development, there is increased support for the ancient Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). “Both WinUI 3 and WPF can take advantage of all Windows has to offer, including the new features and APIs in the Windows App SDK,” said corporate VP of Windows devices Pavan Davuluri around the time of Build.