The release of Windows 12 has been postponed, but all indications are that it will take place during 2025.
A few days ago, we reported on the changes at the head of Microsoft's "Windows" department and their consequences for the development of Microsoft's next major operating system. Windows 12, once rumored for release in 2024, will not see the light of day this year: Yusuf Mehdi, the new head of the Windows branch to replace Panos Panay, who has left for Amazon, has decided to give himself more time, opting instead to release a major update to Windows 11 - 24H2 - at the end of the year.
[Corrected]
There has been a build jump for internal canary!
26047 > 27547- Xeno (@XenoPanther) January 30, 2024
Postponement is not synonymous with cancellation, however, and if in some cases the term is used to evoke the outright shelving of a project, Windows 12 should not be worried. On the contrary, observers agree that Yusuf Mehdi is determined to leave his mark on the future OS. In fact, some signs are unmistakable. On X (formerly Twitter), XenoPanther, a regular of Windows news, pointed out that on the Canary channel - a Windows channel reserved for Microsoft employees - a new Windows build has been published. It bears the number 27547, a significant change from the previous build 26047.
ge_release has been forked! Insiders won't get the 27XXX builds for quite a while I suspect.
Next Windows release should RTM in the 26XXX range. https://t.co/U3y50S5Q81
- Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) January 30, 2024
More importantly, Windows Central journalist Zac Bowden states that the next major Windows 11 update, 24H2, should remain in the 26XXX range. In a nutshell, the build 27547 seen on the Canary channel is a significantly different version of Windows, one that is not expected to leave Canary for some time yet. For Windows 10, the builds were 19XXX, while for Windows 11, they were 22XXX. The planets therefore seem to be aligning for a Windows 12 release sometime next year.
