Last year, rumors began to emerge about a new version of Windows that would focus heavily on AI. Microsoft had just begun its AI push, adding Copilots everywhere. Panos Panay, then leader of Surface and Windows teams, left the company in the same year. Panay was replaced by Yusuf Mehdi.
Windows 12, the name that Microsoft never confirmed officially, was said to focus heavily on AI. This went hand-in-hand with the AI PCs for Windows. One of the requirements of these PCs was an integrated chip, neural processing unit, to speed up AI processing on these devices.
The leadership change and the success of AI products at Microsoft may have played a role in Microsoft’s decision to postpone the release of Windows 12.
The company released a new build to the Insider channel this week. This build introduced a few new features, including sudo.
The release notes include confirmation that the 2024 update for Windows 11 will be Windows 11 version 24H2.
Here is what Microsoft reveals in the release notes:
Starting with Build 26-xx today, Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels will see the versioning updated under Settings > System > About (and winver) to version 24H2. This denotes that Windows 11, version 24H2 will be this year’s annual feature update. As mentioned here, Windows 11 will have an annual feature update cadence that releases in the second half of the calendar year.
While this does not include confirmation that Windows 12 won’t be released this year, there is no indication that Microsoft is preparing another operating system release in 2024. It is possible that Microsoft’s initial plans were to release the functionality of the feature update as Windows 12, but that it changed its mind.
Windows 11 version 24H2
Windows 11 version 24H2 is the feature update for Windows 11 in 2024. It is still assumed that the update will focus heavily on AI, but recent changelogs reveal little about the functionality that Microsoft plans to add.
Rumors suggest that Microsoft could launch an improved version of Copilot on Windows. The current iteration lacks any meaningful Windows-specific functionality, which is why users disable Windows Copilot on their devices. This could change, but Microsoft has not released the updated version for testing yet. For now, Copilot on Windows is more or less identical in functionality to Copilot on the Web.
Microsoft has a few months left before the release in the second half of 2024. It is possible that main AI improvements and tools are tested internally only at this time. Microsoft would have to integrate them into preview versions eventually though. This has to happen in the coming months.
AI PCs may have specific requirements, including an NPU. It seems highly unlikely that Windows 11 version 24H2 will only be available to devices with such a chip. It would block updates for the vast majority of systems and fragment the userbase even further.
More likely is that certain features are limited to devices with a NPU or work a lot better on these PCs.
Closing Words
As it stands, there will be a single major Windows release in 2024. It won’t be Windows 12, but Windows 11 version 24H2. Windows 12 may not be off the table though.
Next year will be interesting. It is the year that support for Windows 10 ends officially. While customers may extend support for several years, for a price, it may also be the perfect year for a Windows 12 release.
After all, with Windows 10 gone, there is only Windows 11 and hundreds of millions of Windows 10 devices that cannot be upgraded to the new operating system.
Now You: what do you expect from Windows 11 version 24H2?