Earlier this year, Microsoft let go of the company’s chief product officer, Panos Panay, who oversaw the development of Windows 11 and Surface devices. The unit’s new management continues to create the roadmap for the development of the software platform for the coming years. Against this background, the Windows Central portal has collected information about the further development of Windows; It’s no surprise that it’s based on artificial intelligence.

According to the source, Microsoft plans to revert to annual releases of new versions of Windows. This means the software giant will release one major feature update every year, rather than a few smaller updates to Moment as it currently does. Microsoft has no intention of completely abandoning the use of Moment updates, but they will no longer be the primary means of delivering new features.

These changes are expected to go into effect after the Hudson Valley renewal is released next year. This means users can expect at least one more Moment update for the current version of Windows 11 to be released in February 2024 or early March. The Hudson Valley upgrade will be based on the Germanium platform, which is planned to be completed in April 2024. At the same time, the Hudson Valley won’t be ready for launch until August, with mass deployment expected in September or October 2024.

As with the Cobalt platform and the 2021 Sun Valley update based on it, Microsoft will continue to work on Hudson Valley throughout the summer, as some features are built independently of the platform. It is said that OEMs will start shipping Arm devices with Windows based on the Germanium platform in June 2024.

The reason for this is Qualcomm and Snapdragon X Elite chips. Devices based on these chips require changes to the Windows platform, as OEMs cannot ship Arm devices with the current version of Windows 11. They also can’t wait until the fall for the Hudson Valley to be fully ready for launch. Therefore, deliveries of Arm devices with Germanium-based Windows will begin in the summer. This means Arm PCs will start shipping in the summer with a version of Windows 11 that lacks most of the new features, as the Hudson Valley update won’t be ready until then. These devices are expected to receive a small cumulative update in the fall that will bring new features.

As for the Hudson Valley update, developers will focus on the integration of AI-based functions into the operating system. Most likely, some of the new AI functions on user devices require a processor with a built-in Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to accelerate AI calculations.

One of the main innovations of the Hudson Valley will be the artificial intelligence-based Windows Shell. To improve search, launch business processes, etc. It will be completed with the improved Copilot AI assistant that can run continuously in the background. According to knowledgeable sources, these innovations will be “revolutionary”.

In addition, Microsoft is also integrating a history/timeline feature that allows you to rewind data from apps and websites that Copilot remembers and filter the data based on various criteria. Neural networks will also improve Windows search by processing natural language queries to find items that have previously been viewed or run on the user’s computer. For example, if the user does not remember the name of the document he wants, he can enter a query like this: “Find the document Bob sent me on WhatsApp a few days ago”and Windows will understand and process such a request.

Another AI feature will be a tool called Super Resolution, which will use the NPU hardware unit to scale video and images in games. The Live Caption feature will be enhanced and will be able to translate multiple languages ​​in real-time, regardless of whether an audio or video call is being processed. Microsoft in any images etc. It’s even working on AI-powered wallpapers that will use machine learning to identify layers.

Besides artificial intelligence, Microsoft plans to add a new Creativity area to the Start menu and Explorer. It will collect all the company’s services that can be used to create various content. It will likely include shortcuts for creating and navigating to existing Designer projects, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and more.

Developers plan to make a number of improvements to the energy saving system. Battery life is expected to increase by 50% on some devices. Another “Green Energy” feature will ensure that the device is only charged when Windows determines that the energy received comes from renewable sources.

Finally, Microsoft is experimenting with a new desktop interface that places taskbar items, including the system tray, at the top of the screen. This change is still in the experimental phase and will most likely not be published until 2024. The developers also plan to make a number of changes to Hudson Valley to improve the overall performance of the system, but it is not yet known what these will be.

What the Hudson Valley will look like based on the Germanium platform remains a mystery. It is unknown whether this will be a new version of Windows 11 or whether Microsoft will offer the update as Windows 12. According to the source, Microsoft is tired of fragmenting the Windows user base. The software platform is currently used on approximately 1.4 billion devices, 400 million of which are Windows 11 PCs, which means there are 1 billion Windows 10 users and most of them cannot be upgraded to Windows 11. Hudson Valley because Windows 12 could hurt the company’s desire to reduce fragmentation of its user base. However, Microsoft has not yet made a final decision on this issue.

Last year, information appeared in the media about Microsoft’s intention to modernize the Windows platform as part of the CorePC project (in some sources, Win3). In fact, it is a continuation of the concept introduced in Core OS. Developers still plan to create a modular version of Windows that can be easily adapted to different form factors and customer needs. CorePC will be a more secure version of the operating system because system files, drivers and critical components are located on separate disk partitions and are read-only. This concept will also allow Windows to be updated faster.

CorePC will likely never be offered as an upgrade for existing Windows devices. CorePC will not be rolled out via update as there are strong differences between the Windows and CorePC platforms. At the same time, both platforms can coexist in parallel with each other, since to switch to Core the user will need to purchase a new device with a pre-installed operating system. In addition, Microsoft may release a separate CorePC version to compete with Chrome OS in the budget device segment. This project has nothing to do with the Hudson Valley, so it’s hardly worth waiting for CorePC to appear in 2024.