Windows 11 24H2 and Windows 12 expected in 2024
Will Microsoft release Windows 12 in 2024 and what would the release mean for Windows 11? Microsoft hasn't announced Windows 12 publicly at this point, but several sources inside and outside Microsoft have indicated that a Windows refresh is coming in 2024.
The logical name for such a refresh is Windows 12, but Microsoft could surprise everyone and pick a different name.
A report by Taiwan's Commercial Times (CTEE) claims that Microsoft is going to release Windows 12 by June 2024. A strong focus of Windows 12 is AI and AI PCs will come out in the same year according to the report. While no further explanation on AI PCs is provided, this may include PCs with dedicated AI chips.
Microsoft unveiled its first AI chip, the Microsoft Azure Maia AI Accelerator. The chip is "optimized for artificial intelligence (AI) tasks and generative AI". It is a chip designed for datacenters, and Microsoft plans to integrate it into its datacenters in 2024.
The CTEE report doesn't attribute the statement that Windows 12 will be available in June 2024. It mentions several leaders of Taiwan's technology sector in the article though, including executives at ASUS, Quanta Computer and Gigabyte.
Intel's CFO also claimed that Windows 12 would come out in 2024 recently.
Windows 11 version 24H2
Work on Windows 11 continues at the same time. The first mention of Windows 11 version 24H2, the next feature update for Windows 11, was discovered this week.
Windows enthusiast Xeno (via Neowin) published screenshots of a new policy that references the next version of Windows 11. The policy, Enable Delegated Managed Service Account logons requires at least Windows 11 version 24H2 according to the screenshot.
Closing Words
With Windows 11 version 24H2 in development, will Microsoft really release Windows 12 in 2024 as well?
Microsoft has a few options when it comes to releasing a new version of Windows. Unless it is making Windows 12 the next feature update for Windows 11, it will continue to support Windows 11 for the foreseeable future when a dedicated new version of Windows, Windows 12, is released in 2024.
The release of Windows 11 version 23H2 guarantees 2 years of updates for Home users, which would mean support ends in October 2025. Enterprise customers get support until November 2026.
It would not be uncommon for Microsoft to release Windows 11 version 24H2 in the second half of 2024 and Windows 12 around the same time.
The mention of June 2024 in the CTEE article doesn't necessarily mean that Windows 12 will be released in that month. It could also indicate the release of the RTM version or even a preview.
Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system has about 2 years of support left before it is being discontinued. While there is a good chance that Microsoft will offer support extensions for Enterprise customers and business, it likely won't offer the same to consumers.
I have banned my Windows 11 on my laptop from ever connecting to the internet. I use Linux on another partition to go online. We shall see if Huawei wants to make a modest effort to deliver a competing system to headbutt Windows and Linux in the PC space.
Earth keeps spinning with or without 7 and XP. Linux filters people too hard it seems.
Windows 12 rumored to be released Summer of 2024 according to a Taiwan PC maker. More AI focused I guess. So Microsoft will have Windows 10, 11 and 12 to support for awhile? I am not buying it, and feel like Microsoft has not had success with Windows 11 adoption so why release yet another Windows. I already feel like Windows 11 was never a release anyone really wanted.
Microsoft were in the right place at the right time with Windows, Office and Xbox. Since then, they’ve basically just been fumbling along, following hype trend after hype trend with no real meaningful vision – while simultaneously also missing the most important technology shift, which was mobile.
As much as I’m not a fan of how Apple try to make their ecosystem too Apple-centric, they do at least look at upcoming trends and then decide whether that will actually be something useful to their users; then they take time to implement it in a useful way.
Microsoft on the other hand, just seem to latch onto the latest hype trend and buzzwords and pretend they’re doing something meaningful, but in reality just forcing some half-assed junk that nobody wants down their user’s throats.
The sentence “A strong focus of Windows 12 is AI and AI PCs” makes me cringe and more inclined to ditch Windows for MacOS. Basically they just want a stalking horse to hide their real motives, which is to scheme ways to abuse their dominant position on desktop to push Bing, MSN and Microsoft Advertising (and the data collection that comes with it). Microsoft aren’t competing, they’re grifting.
If it were not necessary for how I earn a living I would have piled all my Windows PCs into a heap, poured gasoline on them and torched them years ago. They have no strategy that anyone asked for nor needs, and are simply abusing their “you need us” position. F*uck Microsoft.
I completely agree with eWaste12’s comment above. I’ve been on Windows 11 for a few days now, and I can clearly say that it’s just a facelift of Windows 10, but very badly done.
Nobody wants another version of Windows that contains Microsoft’s stupid ideas and reduced functionality. They can’t even get Windows 11 usable after almost 3 years. They should return to 10 year releases that exclusively include security updates.
Windows 10, and Windows 11 are both terrible operating systems. The cycle of good and bad is over. Nothing will change as long as the same idiots rule Microsoft. I can’t wait to see Windows market share plummet even further because of Satya’s obsession with the cloud and fake artificial intelligence. Windows 12 will be nothing more than ransomware upselling you Microsoft’s buggy and useless online services.
Windows 7 was the last good version of Windows. I wish they had retained the UI of Windows 7 with the gloss, gradients, glass, rounded corners, Aero transparency and just kept it going forward while adding under-the hood changes to make it more modern and better.
I understand that with Windows 8 they had a stupid idea that Windows 8 will run on both desktops with massive screens and touch screen tablets, which is why they added an ugly, broken and useless UI, but they learned that this will never happen, but I don’t understand why Windows 10 still had ugly, blocky, flat and boring UI.
And Windows 11 is also like that. Despite the fact that Windows 11 added rounded corners, more transparency and icons with gradients, it still somehow looks flat and boring. Windows 7 and Windows XP still look better than Windows 11 and beat it in terms of usability.
What I don’t understand is why they are moving to a completely new UI, written in a completely new language with Windows 11. It’s the same one they use for their ugly, stupid, useless and oversized apps that they try to force on everyone. Even that is a mistake. The old Windows UI that was used in Windows 7 is still there – it’s good looking, fast and stable, they should just use that and return the old look from XP, Vista and 7 days.
If only they kept the UI of Windows 7, they would have had more people be happy with Windows in the past 10 years and people would have been happy to buy it and buy new PCs. Before, people were lining up in stores to get copies and were excited and posting pictures, now nobody gives a rat’s whisker about new versions of Windows.
@Windows XP
The issue with Aero is that 3D icons and rounded corners don’t translate to different devices. Period! I just don’t just mean smaller mobile devices, but also larger 12″ tablets. Plus, why waste resources running display processes when you can use that CPU power for background processing and functionality?
Call Windows 8 a failure all you want. It did one thing for ALL software vendors: It firmly established flat design, and it’s here to stay. Flat design elements can translate to all screen sizes and devices, which is exactly what Microsoft was trying to do with Windows 8 and Metro (now UWP). In fact, Apple is adopting elements of iOS in to their desktop MacOS. Everyone is adopting flat design: OS developers, app developers, web developers, you name it.
Microsoft HAD to do something in 2012 to stay relevant, against the tide of Google and Apple. The desktop was SERIOUSLY starting to slide in terms of sales, and it was the first signs of mobile taking over. How was Microsoft supposed to stay relevant stick with regular desktop Windows? There was really no future developmental progress to await in that space. The desktop has matured. Mobile has seen a LOT of growth as more normal, everyday people get into the online space, as opposed to “computer” and “nerd” types. Technology has become ubiquitous.
What you want is for Microsoft to either release versions of Windows that are just like 7 and Vista, or even worse yet, just provide support updates to Windows 7 forever and ever. Where is the growth potential for a software company there? There isn’t? What is it that you actually expect from Microsoft?
One more thing: Windows 8 is A LOT more like Windows 7 than you think. It’s a little more stable, responsive and compatible. Yes it’s a bit flatter (by that I mean on the desktop portion), but you use visual styles that mimic Aero. It’s fine. Who cares about translucency anyway? Wasn’t that long ago that you same people complaining now actually HATED Aero, and wanted to stick with XP until the bitter end.
Moreover, you can install Classic Shell which will hide the Start Screen and give you a 7-like Start Menu. It works.
I couldn’t said it better myself!
Strongly agree