It’s official, Windows 12 won’t hit the market this year. Many rumors assumed that this new operating system would be launched at the end of 2024but about a few weeks ago, we started seeing more information that indicated that what would actually arrive on that date would be the next big update to Windows 11, and so it will be.

What many believed to be Windows 12 will eventually be Windows 11 24H2, an annual update that will bring important new features and which, as is the case with annual updates released by the Redmond giant, will extend the established support period. If all goes according to plan, this update will arrive between October and November of this year.

I know what you’re thinking, so what will happen with windows 12, will it end up being forgotten and we will never see it? Well no, most likely not, it will just be delayed and arrive later. We still don’t have a specific release date, but with a simple analysis of the current situation, it’s easy to predict its future.

Windows 12 arrives when Windows 10 “dies”

It makes the most sense and is best for both Microsoft and the average user. If the Redmond company launched its new operating system this year she would be in a difficult situation and would lead to that Windows fragmentationbecause it would have three different operating systems in the market, which are also divided into different versions depending on the update that each user has installed.

On the other hand, Windows 10 still leads market clearly and Windows 11 is in second place. Even Windows 12 wouldn’t have an easy time with this scenario, and it could cannibalize market share from Windows 11 instead of Windows 10, which would be Microsoft’s real goal.

Waiting until the end of Windows 10 to launch the new operating system would also serve to motivate many users to jump to Windows 12, who would probably prefer the novelty to the maligned Windows 11. In this case, it would also help a lot if Microsoft offers free updates from Windows 10 and Windows 11 to its new operating system and that it hasn’t increased Windows 12’s requirements too much, though that’s still not clear.

Personally, I think it’s most likely that Microsoft will announce its new operating system in the second half of next year, and that it will launch between months at best October and November 2025.