Windows 12 will come to compatible PCs mid-year. Microsoft has not yet confirmed this, but this is clear from Qualcomm’s comments and is supported by an important new test release.
Qualcomm already introduced the Snapdragon Windows operating system.
Windows 12 already promises to offer additional support for ARM. This is a radical change, as Microsoft adapts the core of the Windows operating system. Such a modification would justify the jump from Windows 11 to Windows 12 in nomenclature.
Suspicious building
Meanwhile, Microsoft also launched Windows build 27547 in its internal Canary channel, and this build number suddenly jumped from 26047. This jump historically indicates that it is a new version of Windows. In addition, Microsoft is changing the release channel from Ni_release to Ge_release. In this case, Ge stands for Germanium: the code name for the new version of Windows. This situation is also in line with the documented rumors of its launch around the summer.
It now seems almost certain that a new major Windows version will be released around the middle of this year. The only open question is whether it’s really about Windows 12. In this case, Microsoft will move from Windows 11 to Windows 12 very quickly, while most users are still already using Windows 10. If the update goes smoothly for existing systems, there’s a chance Microsoft will keep the Windows 11 name for a while.
Windows artificial intelligence
On the other hand, Microsoft will not only focus on supporting ARM with the next version of Windows, but also on artificial intelligence. The co-pilot will be baked into everything. What this means in practice is still unclear. Maybe you’re getting a lot of native AI features available that use the AI capabilities of the new processors, or maybe it’s marketing inspired by the AI hype, with which Microsoft essentially wants to promote Copilot’s paid features.
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After all, Redmond isn’t shy about shoving its own products down users’ throats across Windows, whether they want it or not. Just think of Bing and Edge, and the constant questions of those who use Edge to choose Bing as their default search engine, and Bing as their Windows search function…
Regardless of the quality of implementation, the strong push for AI would justify the jump from Windows 11 to Windows 12 in the nomenclature. Either way, we’ll know more in the middle of this year. An official announcement will likely come soon, as Microsoft will also involve public Insiders in testing the new versions at some point.
