Coming in 2025: Will Microsoft's Windows 12 be a huge improvement on Windows 11?

The South African

5 days ago

While the conversation surrounding Microsoft Windows 12 has been going on for a couple of years now, no one knows yet what it will actually be.
Expected to launch in 2025, Microsoft still hasn't officially announced the next iteration of Windows, which means there's no definitive word on whether it will be a whole new operating system or simply a big 'update' for Windows 11.
That being said, there are a number of rumours and alleged leaks that point towards it being the best Windows operating system yet. We wanted to take a moment to look into these rumours and ponder the question of whether it will indeed be a huge improvement for Microsoft users around the globe.
Perhaps the most significant rumour is that generative AI will play an integral role in Windows 12. This isn't exactly a groundbreaking thing. Windows 11, of course, introduced a number of AI capabilities, but with the technology having progressed exponentially in the last few years, it's fair to say that Windows 12 will take it to the next level.
A recent report, for instance, hinted that Microsoft will rely heavily on machine learning to provide context-sensitive assistance to users when carrying out their tasks. This is an update that could be most felt and appreciated by the gaming market – of which there are some 1.1 billion players on Microsoft systems alone.
In the iGaming industry, AI integration can analyse players' gaming patterns and suggest personalised game selections, allowing them to access their favourite games quickly. Windows tools like Microsoft Copilot and Windows Recall have already been streamlining and optimising the online casino NZ product in this way, but the upcoming enhancements could take it even further, with AI also set to enhance security and transform the overall experience into something far more intuitive.
With millions of Windows customers estimated to use their systems for gaming and iGaming purposes, this is a big audience to appease, and it's crucial to do so if they want to maintain their dominance in the market.
The second biggest update to talk about is the UI. At an IT-focused Ignite 2022 conference, Microsoft quickly showed a glimpse of a Windows interface which could very well have been a template for Windows 12, including a floating taskbar and systems icons that hang on the right-hand side.
For customers using Windows 12 for business purposes, this could be one of the most significant changes. One of the key complaints surrounding Windows 11 was that the UI was far too rigid, limiting customisation and ultimately lowering the efficiency for business users.
The upcoming redesign clearly aims to address these concerns by offering a more flexible and adaptive interface, allowing users to personalise their workspace and set it according to their specific workflow needs – once again, the generative AI additions might also play a big factor in this.
Just as the gaming market represents a large portion of Windows users, the business market will also be hugely influential in the success of the Windows 12 launch. According to a study undertaken in 2023, nearly 25% of all businesses are still using Windows 7, rather than the updated operating systems – but when that inevitably becomes obsolete, there could be a big shift of customers moving from Windows to macOS. Microsoft will be hoping to rope that 25% in with Windows 12, offering this optimised UI, streamlined tools, and AI integration designed to boost productivity.
We should reiterate that all of these updates are still rumours at this point, so it's hard to say exactly whether Windows 12 will indeed be a huge improvement on Windows 11. But the signs are there that Microsoft is planning something big for 2025, and if any of the rumours are even remotely true, the majority of their users are unlikely to be disappointed.