Expected for 2024, Windows 12 should be boosted with AI and equipped with a revamped graphical interface. But it could be even more demanding than Windows 11 on the hardware level! Update on what we know about the future Microsoft system.
While Windows 11 is still struggling to establish itself and stabilize, as evidenced by the countless problem updates that have followed since its release (see our article), Microsoft is preparing its successor, logically called Windows 12 If the publisher is still very discreet about the major new features it will bring, we already know that the focus will be on functions using artificial intelligence and the cloud, as for the Microsoft 365 office suite, recently. boosted with AI (see our article), in a general movement towards this new Eldorado which has been attracting and agitating the entire techno planet for a few months, with the craze for conversational robots of the ChatGPT type. Anyway, if Microsoft is still silent about its plans, several leaks and predictions are beginning to give an idea of what the future PC operating system will look like.
Which PC for Windows 12?
Windows 11 lifted – and still lifts! – many criticisms as to its hardware requirements (see our article). And for good reason: it requires not only a recent processor but also a TMP 2.0 security chip, which prevents it from being used on very many PCs, even fairly recent ones (see our article). Of course, there are several ways to circumvent the constraints imposed by Microsoft (see our article), but you have to accept limitations and the lack of guarantee that everything will work correctly in the long term, especially for functional updates and security patches. . No wonder many prefer to stay on Windows 10, especially since Windows 11 is still noted for its bugs that sometimes lower its performance…
Unfortunately, and as expected, Windows 12 should not be more tolerant when it comes to hardware requirements. Worse: it could be even more greedy. Indeed, the specialists – generally well informed – of the site of the German site Deskmodder believe that Windows 12 will require at least 8 GB of RAM, double what Windows 11 requires. system. A system that is already very fat – but that can be lightened with tools like Tiny11Builder (see our article). Because we suspect that the majority of this RAM will be occupied by Windows, and not by “useful” applications and software, as is already the case for Windows 11.
Admittedly, 8 GB is not an unreasonable amount of Ram in 2023 – it is also the size of memory installed by default on most PCs currently on the market. But it is often the maximum for older computers. And, above all, this means that it will be necessary to count on 16 or even 32 GB to be able to use Windows 12 comfortably, with software – and not simply to admire the Office! Clearly, if you buy a PC today hoping to upgrade to Windows 12 when it becomes available, take a model that can accommodate at least 16 GB to be quiet.
Fortunately, and still according to Deskmodder, Windows 12 should not be more demanding than Windows 11 for the processor: in principle – but this is still only speculation -, CPUs compatible with Windows 11 should run Windows 12 without being rejected. Similarly, only the famous TPM 2.0 chip would be required: it seems too early to call for a Pluto-type security system, like the one that equips the Ryzen 6000 AMD, even if it provides better protection by filling the faults of the TPM. Phew!
Which interface for Windows 12?
Error, clumsiness or leak discreetly organized to feed rumours? Hard to say. Still, when the Ignite conference that Microsoft held between October 12 and 14, 2022 for developers and IT professionals, experts with particularly keen eyesight had spotted in the presentations a strange screenshot that could give an idea of what to what Windows 12 will look like. As they explain in their article, the sleuths of Windows Central thought they recognized a prototype interface supposed to simplify interactions on the touch screens of laptops and tablets. And which could serve as a basis for the future system… The image seen briefly being of poor quality, these specialists had fun reconstructing it properly. And even if it is only a concept – a fantasy? –, several important points seem to emerge from the supposed projects of Microsoft.
Thus, in addition to an obvious general purification, which is part of the continuity of the process started for Windows 11, there is a greater modularity of the functional elements with even some ideas visibly inspired by macOS. The taskbar with its icons centered is still there, but it seems detachable, so it can be positioned anywhere on the screen. Status icons (Wi-Fi, battery, time) appear at the top right, like on a smartphone. And weather info is displayed in the upper left corner. While a floating search box – and resembling Spotlight on Mac – is found in the middle, at the top, independent of the taskbar. In fact, everything seems softer, and designed for hybrid use, both for touchscreen and for the classic keyboard-mouse couple.
When will Windows 12 be released?
Of course, Microsoft hasn’t announced anything official about Windows 12 yet. But we can legitimately assume that designers and ergonomists from Redmond are seriously working on the interface and functions of the future system to make it clearer, more practical. and more pleasant, taking into account the mistakes of the past – Windows Vista, Windows 8… – and the new expectations and habits of users. And we can also bet that Windows 12 should be released in the fall of 2024, as many experts predict. A likely date, which, three years after the launch of Windows 11, should allow the publisher to get off to a good start, having boosted its system with AI. We just have to hope that Microsoft does not make the same mistakes, by releasing a product prematurely, with simply aesthetic alterations and a few not always useful additions: it is high time to find a successful Windows, both reliable and innovative.