Windows 11 updates now install significantly faster and use less CPU

Microsoft has made Windows Update significantly faster in its latest big update to Windows 11. Version 24H2 started rolling out earlier this month with lots of useful improvements, but now Microsoft is revealing this big update also reduces install time, restart time, and even CPU usage for monthly Windows updates.

Microsoft typically distributes monthly cumulative security and non-security updates, which are designed to roll out new features or protect against new threats. Windows 11 version 24H2 includes new ways to update the OS that make it more efficient and speedier, including parallel processing of components, scalable use of system RAM, and an optimized cache to update components.

These changes mean Windows 11 version 24H2 can install monthly updates up to 45 percent faster, with up to 25 percent less CPU usage. This also makes the restart time nearly 40 percent faster on some systems. Microsoft tested its latest 24H2 servicing updates on a virtual machine against its older 22H2 version of Windows 11, but the performance claims also apply against 23H2 as they both use the same older servicing stack.

Microsoft has also improved the download sizes of feature updates to Windows 11, reducing them by around 200MB. This size reduction has been achieved by not forcing the download of the built-in apps for Windows 11 if you already have the latest versions. "For Windows 11, version 24H2, we extended this design to include Microsoft Edge, saving approximately 200 MB for some endpoints," says Steve DiAcetis, a member of the Windows fundamentals team at Microsoft.