Windows 12 could be released as early as 2024

There are increasing signs that Microsoft is working on Windows 12 and may be planning to unveil the operating system as soon as next year. This was recently alluded to by Intel’s CFO David Zinsner at an analyst conference when he talked about a “Windows refresh” for 2024, as German technology portal heise.de reports.

Microsoft usually releases new operating systems in the fall. Windows 12 should therefore be released in 12 months at the earliest. But even if Windows 12 comes unexpectedly soon, there is no reason to change quickly, writes heise.de: “Even Windows 10 will continue to receive security updates until October 2025.” No end date has yet been announced for the current Windows 11, but experience shows that it will likely be supported for many years to come.

The Windows 12 rumors were fueled by a statement from Intel’s CFO David Zinsner: “We believe 2024 will be a promising year for the customer environment, especially due to the planned Windows refresh. We continue to believe that the installed base is quite outdated and is due for renewal. We believe that next year, with Windows as a catalyst, could be the start of this process. “We are therefore optimistic about how things will develop from 2024 onwards,” Zinsner explains.

Intel and Microsoft seem to be hinting at Windows 12

As early as February 2023, unconfirmed information appeared on X suggesting that Intel mentioned support for Windows 12 in its internal documents for the Meteor Lake processor family. It is expected that older processor generations will also be compatible with the new Windows, but new AI features will likely work less efficiently on older PCs.

Microsoft has not yet confirmed Windows 12, but hinted at a new version in March. Yusuf Mehdi, head of consumer marketing at Microsoft, told US technology portal The Verge: “As we develop future versions of Windows, we will think about other areas of how AI can be naturally integrated into the user experience.”

(oli)