When Microsoft released Windows 10 in 2015, it was widely reported that the company was calling
their newest operating system the last version of Windows, leading to widespread confusion and
memory when the company proceeded to announce Windows 11 in 2021. It turns out the last version
thing actually came from a throwaway comment by a Microsoft developer and not an official company
statement. So is Windows 11 the last last version or will we be seeing a Windows 12 in the next few
years? Prior to Windows 10, a new full-fledged version of the OS came out once every two or three
years, but by the time 2015 rolled around, Microsoft no longer thought that this was a viable model.
As computing was shifting more to applications that depended on the cloud, especially on mobile
devices, Microsoft believed forcing its users to wait literal years for major updates was silly
when people were used to getting updates on other platforms on a much more frequent basis,
and I'm sure Microsoft didn't want to end up lagging behind in terms of compatibility
with rapidly evolving technologies. So the company's strategy shifted to releasing multiple
feature updates per year on Windows 10, giving users a gradual improvement to keep up with the
times. And that seemed like a good idea, but a huge issue was that the improvements often weren't
all that gradual. Not only did many users not get used to how often major changes were made to the
OS, but updates were also cumulative. This meant that you couldn't pick and choose which features
you wanted, and if a long period of time passed since you last updated your system,
you'd get hit with a huge number of changes all at once. Although the changes themselves
weren't all that bad, many users weren't happy with the frequency of them, especially larger
organizations that had to manage large-scale Windows deployments for users who might not
have been all that tech savvy. Now, this wasn't the only reason that Microsoft ended up releasing
Windows 11, and putting out those major updates with an H in the name only once a year as a compromise.
There were enough differences in Windows 11 to make it a full-fledged separate product,
especially considering the beefed-up security requirements. But enough had changed overall
from the original Windows 10 paradigm for the Windows 11 designation to make sense.
But if Microsoft is fine with the annual update cadence and consumers end up being okay with it
as well, is there a point to Microsoft coming out with the Windows 12? There have already been
reports that Microsoft is indeed returning to their more traditional strategy of releasing a
new version of Windows every three years. This is probably a tacit admission on Microsoft's part
that the whole Windows as a service idea didn't completely take off. But beyond just that,
not sticking with one version of Windows for the rest of time makes sense for a couple of reasons.
As we saw with the controversy over TPM requirements for Windows 11,
hardware requirements are going to keep changing in the future. At some point, newer standards
will become necessities instead of nice to have. And once a Windows update requires some
major hardware change, it would be much more confusing to consumers if an update to the same
Windows version simply did not work in their existing hardware. Going back to a new full-fledged
Windows version every three years also gives consumers more of a choice as to whether they
want to drastically change how they interact with their computer. And for administrators
in large organizations, they might have really good reasons to stick with what they have, whether
that's a need to run older software or the fear that migrating to a new version of Windows would
cause chaos and calamity among the rank and file of their company. Although Microsoft has gotten
plenty of criticism for forced updates, upgrading to an entirely new version of Windows has always
been completely optional and remains so to this day. Right now, most folks in the industry are
expecting Windows 12 sometime in 2024, but we don't have much information as to what it would look
outside of possibly adding battery and Wi-Fi indicators at the top of the screen to make
the experience slightly more phone-like. Hopefully, exciting changes will be coming for those of us
using a desktop, like the ability to move the taskbar again. Oh, please, God, give me that back.
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