diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-desktop.yml b/.github/workflows/release-desktop.yml
index fc46de6b10c..33ca472e9a5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-desktop.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-desktop.yml
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ name: Release ODP Desktop
 on:
   workflow_call:
     inputs:
-      tag:
-        required: true
-        type: string
       draft:
         required: true
         type: boolean
@@ -13,10 +10,6 @@ on:
     types: [published]
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
-      tag:
-        description: "Tag for release"
-        required: false
-        default: ""
       draft:
         description: "Create as draft release"
         required: false
@@ -54,8 +47,9 @@ jobs:
       contents: write
     outputs:
       version: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.version }}
-      tag: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.tag }}
-      is_draft: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft == 'true' || github.event.inputs.draft == true}}
+      versioned_tag: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.versioned_tag }}
+      release_name: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.release_name }}
+      is_draft: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft == 'true' || github.event.inputs.draft == true || inputs.draft == true }}
     steps:
       - name: Download all artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
@@ -69,44 +63,21 @@ jobs:
       - name: Extract Version and Tag
         id: extract_version
         run: |
-          # Use input tag if provided, otherwise extract from artifacts
-          if [ -n "${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}" ]; then
-            TAG="${{ github.event.inputs.tag }}"
-            # Try to extract version from tag, otherwise extract from artifacts
-            VERSION=$(echo "$TAG" | sed 's/^[^0-9]*//')
-            if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-              # If tag doesn't contain version, extract from artifact filename
-              INSTALLER_FILE=$(find ./artifacts -name "*.exe" -o -name "*.dmg" | head -n 1)
-              if [ -z "$INSTALLER_FILE" ]; then
-                echo "::error::No installer file found in artifacts."
-                exit 1
-              fi
-              VERSION=$(basename "$INSTALLER_FILE" | sed -n 's/.*_\([0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\)_.*/\1/p')
-              if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-                echo "::error::Could not extract version from tag or filename: $(basename "$INSTALLER_FILE")"
-                exit 1
-              fi
-            fi
-            echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "release_name=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "tag=$TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          else
-            INSTALLER_FILE=$(find ./artifacts -name "*.exe" -o -name "*.dmg" | head -n 1)
-            if [ -z "$INSTALLER_FILE" ]; then
-              echo "::error::No installer file found in artifacts."
-              exit 1
-            fi
-            VERSION=$(basename "$INSTALLER_FILE" | sed -n 's/.*_\([0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\)_.*/\1/p')
-            if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
-              echo "::error::Could not extract version from filename: $(basename "$INSTALLER_FILE")"
-              exit 1
-            fi
-            echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "release_name=Open Data Platform v$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-            echo "tag=Open-Data-Platform-v$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          INSTALLER_FILE=$(find ./artifacts -name "*.exe" -o -name "*.dmg" | head -n 1)
+          if [ -z "$INSTALLER_FILE" ]; then
+            echo "::error::No installer file found in artifacts."
+            exit 1
           fi
+          VERSION=$(basename "$INSTALLER_FILE" | sed -n 's/.*_\([0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\)_.*/\1/p')
+          if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "::error::Could not extract version from filename: $(basename "$INSTALLER_FILE")"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "release_name=Open Data Platform v$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "versioned_tag=Open-Data-Platform-v$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Prepare assets and generate release.json
+      - name: Prepare assets and generate release.json for VERSIONED release
         id: prep_assets
         run: |
           mkdir ./release_assets
@@ -114,7 +85,8 @@ jobs:
           cd ./release_assets
           VERSION="${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.version }}"
           RELEASE_NAME="${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.release_name }}"
-          TAG="${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.tag }}"
+          VERSIONED_TAG="${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.versioned_tag }}"
+
           cat << EOF > release.json
           {
             "version": "$VERSION",
@@ -122,39 +94,46 @@ jobs:
             "pub_date": "$(date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')",
             "platforms": {
           EOF
+
+          FIRST_PLATFORM=true
+
           WIN_EXE=$(find . -name "*_x86_64.exe" | head -n 1)
           if [ -n "$WIN_EXE" ]; then
             WIN_SIG_FILE="${WIN_EXE}.sig"
             WIN_SIG=$(cat "$WIN_SIG_FILE")
-            WIN_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/${TAG}/$(basename "$WIN_EXE")"
+            WIN_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/${VERSIONED_TAG}/$(basename "$WIN_EXE")"
             cat << EOF >> release.json
               "windows-x86_64": {
                 "signature": "$WIN_SIG",
                 "url": "$WIN_URL"
               }
           EOF
+            FIRST_PLATFORM=false
           fi
+
           MAC_ARM_TAR=$(find . -name "*_aarch64.app.tar.gz" | head -n 1)
           if [ -n "$MAC_ARM_TAR" ]; then
-            if [ -n "$WIN_EXE" ]; then
+            if [ "$FIRST_PLATFORM" = false ]; then
               echo "," >> release.json
             fi
             MAC_ARM_SIG=$(cat "${MAC_ARM_TAR}.sig")
-            MAC_ARM_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/${TAG}/$(basename "$MAC_ARM_TAR")"
+            MAC_ARM_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/${VERSIONED_TAG}/$(basename "$MAC_ARM_TAR")"
             cat << EOF >> release.json
               "darwin-aarch64": {
                 "signature": "$MAC_ARM_SIG",
                 "url": "$MAC_ARM_URL"
               }
           EOF
+            FIRST_PLATFORM=false
           fi
+
           MAC_X64_TAR=$(find . -name "*_x86_64.app.tar.gz" | head -n 1)
           if [ -n "$MAC_X64_TAR" ]; then
-            if [ -n "$WIN_EXE" ] || [ -n "$MAC_ARM_TAR" ]; then
+            if [ "$FIRST_PLATFORM" = false ]; then
               echo "," >> release.json
             fi
             MAC_X64_SIG=$(cat "${MAC_X64_TAR}.sig")
-            MAC_X64_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/${TAG}/$(basename "$MAC_X64_TAR")"
+            MAC_X64_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/${VERSIONED_TAG}/$(basename "$MAC_X64_TAR")"
             cat << EOF >> release.json
               "darwin-x86_64": {
                 "signature": "$MAC_X64_SIG",
@@ -162,32 +141,28 @@ jobs:
               }
           EOF
           fi
+
           cat << EOF >> release.json
             }
           }
           EOF
-          echo "Generated release.json:"
+
+          echo "Generated release.json for VERSIONED release:"
           cat release.json
           cd ..
           echo "assets_path=./release_assets" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Upload release assets
+      - name: Create VERSIONED release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
-          tag_name: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.tag }}
+          tag_name: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.versioned_tag }}
           name: ${{ steps.extract_version.outputs.release_name }}
           files: ${{ steps.prep_assets.outputs.assets_path }}/*
-          draft: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft == 'true' || github.event.inputs.draft == true }}
+          draft: ${{ github.event.inputs.draft == 'true' || github.event.inputs.draft == true || inputs.draft == true }}
           prerelease: false
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Upload release.json as artifact for odp job
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: release-json
-          path: ./release_assets/release.json
-
-  update-latest-tag:
+  update-odp-release:
     needs: publish
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
@@ -209,25 +184,98 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Prepare latest assets
+      - name: Prepare ODP assets and generate latest.json for ODP release
         run: |
           mkdir ./odp_assets
+
           find ./artifacts -name "*.exe" -exec cp {} ./odp_assets/ \;
           find ./artifacts -name "*.dmg" -exec cp {} ./odp_assets/ \;
-          if [ -f ./artifacts/release-json/release.json ]; then
-            cp ./artifacts/release-json/release.json ./odp_assets/latest.json
+
+          VERSION="${{ needs.publish.outputs.version }}"
+          RELEASE_NAME="${{ needs.publish.outputs.release_name }}"
+
+          cd ./odp_assets
+
+          cat << EOF > latest.json
+          {
+            "version": "$VERSION",
+            "notes": "Latest stable release - $RELEASE_NAME",
+            "pub_date": "$(date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')",
+            "platforms": {
+          EOF
+
+          FIRST_PLATFORM=true
+
+          WIN_EXE=$(find . -name "*_x86_64.exe" | head -n 1)
+          if [ -n "$WIN_EXE" ]; then
+            WIN_SIG_FILE="../artifacts/windows-release/$(basename "${WIN_EXE}.sig")"
+            if [ ! -f "$WIN_SIG_FILE" ]; then
+              WIN_SIG_FILE=$(find ../artifacts -name "$(basename "${WIN_EXE}.sig")" | head -n 1)
+            fi
+            WIN_SIG=$(cat "$WIN_SIG_FILE")
+            WIN_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/ODP/$(basename "$WIN_EXE")"
+            cat << EOF >> latest.json
+              "windows-x86_64": {
+                "signature": "$WIN_SIG",
+                "url": "$WIN_URL"
+              }
+          EOF
+            FIRST_PLATFORM=false
           fi
 
-      - name: Create latest release
+          MAC_ARM_TAR=$(find ../artifacts -name "*_aarch64.app.tar.gz" | head -n 1)
+          if [ -n "$MAC_ARM_TAR" ]; then
+            if [ "$FIRST_PLATFORM" = false ]; then
+              echo "," >> latest.json
+            fi
+            MAC_ARM_SIG=$(cat "${MAC_ARM_TAR}.sig")
+            MAC_ARM_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/ODP/$(basename "$MAC_ARM_TAR")"
+            cat << EOF >> latest.json
+              "darwin-aarch64": {
+                "signature": "$MAC_ARM_SIG",
+                "url": "$MAC_ARM_URL"
+              }
+          EOF
+            FIRST_PLATFORM=false
+          fi
+
+          MAC_X64_TAR=$(find ../artifacts -name "*_x86_64.app.tar.gz" | head -n 1)
+          if [ -n "$MAC_X64_TAR" ]; then
+            if [ "$FIRST_PLATFORM" = false ]; then
+              echo "," >> latest.json
+            fi
+            MAC_X64_SIG=$(cat "${MAC_X64_TAR}.sig")
+            MAC_X64_URL="https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/download/ODP/$(basename "$MAC_X64_TAR")"
+            cat << EOF >> latest.json
+              "darwin-x86_64": {
+                "signature": "$MAC_X64_SIG",
+                "url": "$MAC_X64_URL"
+              }
+          EOF
+          fi
+
+          cat << EOF >> latest.json
+            }
+          }
+          EOF
+
+          echo "Generated latest.json for ODP release:"
+          cat latest.json
+
+      - name: Create ODP release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
         with:
           tag_name: ODP
-          name: Latest Release
+          name: Latest Stable Release
           body: |
-            This is the latest stable release.
-            For version-specific details, see the corresponding versioned release.
+            **This is the latest stable release (v${{ needs.publish.outputs.version }})**
+
+            This release always points to the most recent stable version.
+            For version-specific details and release notes, see: [${{ needs.publish.outputs.release_name }}](https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}/releases/tag/${{ needs.publish.outputs.versioned_tag }})
+
+            The `latest.json` file in this release is used by the auto-updater to check for new versions.
           files: ./odp_assets/*
           prerelease: false
           draft: ${{ needs.publish.outputs.is_draft == 'true' }}
         env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
\ No newline at end of file
+          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}