You're going to hate Windows 12 even more

Windows 11 now stands alone after Windows 10 became unsupported in October 2025, with Microsoft reporting a billion active Windows 11 users. Talk of a successor — commonly dubbed Windows 12 — surged after a PCWorld piece claimed a 2026 release, only for the article to be retracted and an apology issued by executive editor Brad Chacos.

The writer looks to Microsoft’s past missteps — the first Edge, Cortana and Surface RT — and suggests the company may revive ideas from Windows 10 S and Windows 10X, such as a locked-down app model and running legacy Win32 apps in containers. Predictions include deeper Copilot integration and hardware requirements that meet a Copilot+ standard, including a dedicated NPU and higher memory and storage.

The Home edition may be limited to apps from trusted sources, with Pro or Enterprise needed to install Win32 apps in sandboxed containers or via cloud-hosted Windows 365 PCs.

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