Microsoft's Windows 11 system has been on the market for a year and a half, but it still lags far behind Windows 10 in terms of market share, with the latter still holding over 70% of the market. Moreover, it seems that Windows 11 won't have a chance to catch up because Microsoft is expected to release Windows 12 in 2024, and this new version comes with significant improvements.
Following the three-year cycle, Windows 12 is likely to be launched in October 2024. This generation of the operating system will not be a mere patchwork. Microsoft will perform a surgical operation on the underlying architecture, with a focus on modularity, security, and AI. The different modules will be more independent, allowing for faster update frequencies without interfering with each other.
Although Microsoft has not announced any plans for Windows 12 yet, there are indications that the company is seeking to integrate AI capabilities into future versions of Windows.
"When we start developing future versions of Windows, we consider many aspects, and AI should naturally play a role in the user experience," said Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Consumer Marketing, in a previous interview. Mehdi was discussing the latest Windows 11 update, which integrates a new AI-powered version of Bing into the taskbar. This update also includes AI-driven content recommendations within the Start menu. It has been reported that Microsoft is also developing AI-driven smart capture features for Windows 11.
After Panos Panay, Head of Windows, claimed at CES earlier this year that "AI will reshape how you do anything on Windows," Mehdi made the aforementioned comments. Microsoft's Surface team has been hinting at how artificial intelligence will transform the way we use PCs.
Windows 12 not only brings software-level changes but also requires hardware compatibility. Leaked roadmaps indicate that Intel's 14th generation Core Meteor Lake will be the first to support Windows 12, along with the next-generation Wi-Fi 7 wireless networking standard.
On AMD's side, the initial support for Windows 12 is expected to come with next year's Ryzen 8000 series, confirmed to debut in 2024. The CPUs will feature the upgraded Zen 5 architecture, while the GPUs will be upgraded to Navi 3.5.
AMD has not provided specific details about Navi 3.5, but analysts believe it represents an architecture between RDNA3 and RDNA4, incorporating some technologies from the latter, such as the SALU support in RDNA4's FP32 units and improved geometry engines. However, it won't include the groundbreaking upgrades in RDNA4, such as ray tracing and scheduling architectures.