What you need to know
- A recent leak regarding an upcoming Intel chipset lists Windows 12 as a supported OS.
- Microsoft reportedly shifted to a three-year development cycle for major versions of Windows, which would suggest Windows 12 may arrive in 2024.
- The tweet mentioning Windows 12 support has since been deleted.
Windows 12 could launch as soon as next year, based on previous reports. Recent leaks give more credence to suggestions that a new major release of Windows is on the way. A since-deleted tweet by @leaf_hobby, who is known for Intel hardware leaks, stated that Windows 12 is on the supported OS list for Intel's Meteor Lake-S desktop chipsets.
It's important to place today's reports within context. They refer to details from a leak about a chipset that mentions an operating system that has not publicly been confirmed to exist by Microsoft. With so many moving pieces and reports, it's important to take things with a grain of salt.
VideoCardz recorded the shared details before @leaf_hobby's tweet was deleted. (emphasis added):
"MTL-S has additional 5.0 x4 from CPU(for M.2?)
5.0 x16
5.0 x4
4.0 x4
From CPU Direct
No AVX512
Z890 has additional 4.0 x4 from chipset, x24 Gen4 lanes total
Wi-Fi 7 debut
It says support windows 12 on OS list(?)
Now only 6P+8E and 6P+16E, 8P under dev?
That’s everything I know"
The chipset in question, the Z980, is expected to be paired with Intel Meteor Lake and Arrow Lake CPUs. Meteor Lake processors may come in the second quarter of 2024, based on a report by BenchLife.
Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden reported that Microsoft moved to a new Windows development cycle back in July 2022. Major releases of Windows will come out every three years and feature drops will ship intermittently. One such feature drop shipped this week, adding an improved tablet mode, several taskbar options, and Phone Link support for iOS (in preview).
Windows 11 first shipped in October 2021. Going off the release cadence that Microsoft reportedly has, Windows 12 should arrive sometime in 2024. Plans are always subject to change, but we have at least an educated guess on when to expect the next major release of Windows.
The recent leak regarding Intel's upcoming chipset adds another piece of evidence that suggests Microsoft is working on Windows 12.
