After Panos Panay left Microsoft, many speculated that Microsoft might not go with the three-year update cycle for Windows. And it has been proven true. Today, in its official Windows Insider blog, Microsoft finally ended the speculation by saying that "Windows 11 24H2 will be this year's annual feature update." This means that Windows 12 will not arrive in 2024, and we may have to wait until 2025 to experience the next big Windows update.
Windows 12 isn't coming in 2024; It's Windows 11 24H2 instead
The changelog was first spotted by WindowsCentral on the Windows Insider blog where Microsoft announced the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26052 release to Canary and Dev channels. The changelog says the following:
It is quite clear that Windows 12 is not coming this fall, and Microsoft has also emphasized that Windows 11 will follow an annual feature update, released in the second half of the year. It's again a departure from the smaller Moments updates for Windows 11 that we saw under Panay's leadership.
The new Microsoft executives leading the Windows division are likely concerned about increased fragmentation with another new release. Windows 10 still accounts for 66% market share and Windows 11 stands at a paltry 28%. Releasing Windows 12 in 2024 would further fragment the Windows platform, and Microsoft wants to avoid that.
