There is almost certainly a new version of Windows in the works. And I couldn’t be happier about it.
It’s been a few years since Windows 11 was released in October 2021, and while Microsoft continues to regularly update it with new features, there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
We’ve been hearing rumors about what the next version of Windows will look like for years now, and after using Windows 11 since the developer preview days, I have a few requests for Windows 12 improvements.
It looks like Windows 12 might not launch in 2024, but it would make perfect sense for Microsoft to release the update by 2025. After all, October 2025 is when Microsoft will finally stop supporting the venerable Windows 10, and that will be four years into Windows 11’s lifespan.
That might seem like a quick turnaround, but it’s probably what Microsoft needs to do if it wants to capitalize on the industry’s current fervor for AI PCs. Now that many Windows PC vendors are releasing new laptops powered by Intel Meteor Lake chips, they’re explaining how those chips’ NPUs (Neural Processing Units) help them excel at “AI” tasks, and Microsoft is rushing to Integrate AI features into Windows 11.
The most obvious example is Windows Copilot, the virtual assistant built into Windows 11 that is based on the same technology that underpins Bing with ChatGPT. Copilot is getting new features at a fairly regular pace – even getting its own key on the keyboard – so Microsoft is clearly invested in making it, and AI, a core part of Windows.
But after using Copilot in Windows 11 since its release, I can’t help but think there’s a better way to implement this technology in an operating system. This is a key feature of Windows that feels awkward, and it’s not the only part of Windows that fits this description.
As we prepare for the next Windows release in late 2024 or 2025, I can’t help but hope that Microsoft strives to make major changes this time around. I’ve been using Windows 11 for years now, and these are the upgrades I’ve been dying to see.
Better AI integration
I first brought up Copilot for a reason: it’s both one of the coolest new Windows features and the one that needs the most work.
Copilot’s promise is clear: press a button to summon a chatbot that can answer your questions or perform basic tasks for you. When it launched in fall 2023, I thought Copilot could be a game-changer in the way we work, and after watching it evolve for six months, I still feel that way – but there’s a lot of work to do.
Windows Copilot is a good first step towards a true AI PC, but it still seems very limited. Every Windows 11 user can ask Copilot for help with basic questions or problems on their PC, and it can also perform some nifty tricks like generating images for free.
But Windows Copilot can’t yet reliably answer technical questions about Windows, nor can you rely on it to help you perform basic Windows tasks like changing power settings or launching Windows. programs. Microsoft regularly adds new features, but even when Copilot gains new capabilities, it can often be difficult to get the LLM-powered AI assistant to do what you ask reliably.
This is hardly surprising, since it is a new implementation of a fairly avant-garde technology that was grafted into Windows 11. Despite its flaws, I think Copilot gives us a glimpse of the value what AI-optimized PCs can have when the software is designed to handle all tasks. advantage of NPUs (Neural Processing Units) over CPUs from AMD and Intel.
So while Copilot was an interesting first attempt, in the next version of Windows I’d like to see Microsoft integrate AI more tightly into the operating system in a way that allows users to do more with less. effort. A Windows with better AI integration could do things like analyze and answer questions (in natural language) about the files and programs that are on your PC, or it could analyze voice command requests like ” turn on dark mode, close all apps, launch Chrome, and go to YouTube” reliably enough that Windows can reach a whole new level of accessibility.
Useful widgets
I love a good widget, so imagine my joy when we learned that Windows 11 came with a new Widgets menu that you can call up and close with the press of a button.
The promise of a customizable panel dotted with useful, information-rich gadgets won me over, but the practical result left me unmoved.
At launch, Windows 11’s Widgets menu was anemic and frustrating, with too few widgets offering too little customization. Instead of a useful, personalized one-stop shop for all the key details I like to keep on top of (like weather, email, text messages, and news), Windows widgets have been boring to use and easy to ignore. Microsoft has improved them since launch with some significant updates, but I still prefer using the widgets in macOS Sonoma over Windows 11 any day.
In fact, if Microsoft just copied the way Apple implemented widgets in macOS Sonoma for Windows 12, I think it would be a significant usability improvement. Windows fans deserve a Widgets menu that begs to be used, with finer controls over how widgets are positioned, what information they display, and how often they are updated.
A vision for Android app support
Man, what happened to Android apps on Windows 11?
If you don’t remember, this was one of the main selling points of the operating system when Microsoft first started introducing it. And despite launching with little support for Android apps, Windows 11 has finally been updated to the point where it’s easy enough for the average user to download an Android app and run it on their PC.
But unfortunately, it’s still difficult to find good apps in the Microsoft Store, and you’re limited to Android apps available through the Amazon App Store. With these restrictions in place, it’s perhaps not so surprising that Microsoft is now planning to stop supporting Android apps in Windows 11 by March 5, 2025.
This is a real shame, because seamless access to Android apps would actually be very nice on Windows PCs. Maybe you can’t think of fun ways to use Android apps on your Windows desktop, but these days the best 2-in-1 laptops are light enough and have nice enough touchscreens to that Windows 11 is pleasant to navigate via touch alone. And if you plan on typing and swiping on your laptop, you might appreciate having a number of touch-optimized apps for all your favorite services right at your fingertips.
This would help Windows also match one of macOS Sonoma’s main selling points, which is that Mac users can access the App Store and run iOS and iPadOS apps on their Mac. Since Windows laptops are still ahead of MacBooks in terms of touchscreens, a Windows 12 with better support and integration for Android apps could be much more useful and fun to use.
Outlook
It’s hard to say anything concrete about what to expect from the next version of Windows, except that we may hear more at Microsoft’s Build conference in May.
Whether it’s called Windows 12 or something else, the recent advent of AI mania – fueled in large part by Microsoft’s own Bing with ChatGPT – has given Windows plenty of room to grow.
A year ago, I never would have imagined that there would be many reasons to abandon Windows 11, but with new apps and AI features launching every day, it’s hard not to be excited about what an AI-focused Windows 12 could offer. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!