Pretty sure that it will come out lot sooner then 2036 and only thing it will surpass 11 for will be the amount of bloat and spyware.

if and thats a big if, Microsoft makes win12 less of a spyware and adware infested OS

and fyi Windows 10 was around for 10 yrs but Windows 11 is basically Windows 11 with
more bloat but with same DX12

Microsoft are planning to convert Windows to a Linux distribution, they already have the development versions up & running:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutions/linux-on-azure

So Windows 12 will likely be based on the Linux kernel, which is bound to be an improvement given that it runs the entire internet and most smartphones.

Originally posted by Head_on_a_Stick:

Microsoft are planning to convert Windows to a Linux distribution, they already have the development versions up & running:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutions/linux-on-azure

So Windows 12 will likely be based on the Linux kernel, which is bound to be an improvement given that it runs the entire internet and most smartphones.

But that also means that a lot of software will be incompatible with it.

Not if Windows add their ABIs to the Linux kernel :-)

Vulkan is already cross-platform anyway, that's why Proton works so well...

Given that Windows' market share fell to 69.73% in August 2025 according to Statcounter and the trend is for it to continue falling and the quality of the OS is dropping, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually falls below 70% by then.

Originally posted by Head_on_a_Stick:

Microsoft are planning to convert Windows to a Linux distribution, they already have the development versions up & running:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutions/linux-on-azure

So Windows 12 will likely be based on the Linux kernel, which is bound to be an improvement given that it runs the entire internet and most smartphones.

They released it in 2020 but it is specifically made for their servers.

Originally posted by Head_on_a_Stick:

Microsoft are planning to convert Windows to a Linux distribution, they already have the development versions up & running:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/solutions/linux-on-azure

So Windows 12 will likely be based on the Linux kernel, which is bound to be an improvement given that it runs the entire internet and most smartphones.

Um...just no. The Linux on Azure thing is purely enterprise solution. Microsoft is doing it because they know many enterprise users do use Linux (unlike PC, Linux is the single most used server OS on the planet. Or on supercomputers. Seriously, the Year of the Linux meme only applies to PC market. Linux dominates everything else, phone included), so it's best make it easy for the potential users and and thus drawing business to Azure rather than to something like AWS or Google Cloud. Especially since server products and cloud services are like 40% of MS' income.

Originally posted by 5GT. D34N:

It'll be a while before Windows 12 is even mentioned (perhaps another decade or so) like how Windows 10 was used for a long time before Microsoft ceased supporting it this month, but Windows 11 is still young at the moment, even if Windows 12 were to come out within a decade: will you upgrade to that or is it too soon?

Windows 11 came out 4 years ago.

It was a gap of 6 years between XP and Vista.
2 years between Vista and 7.
3 years between 7 and 8.
3 years between 8 and 10.
6 years between 10 and 11.

How do you figure it will be a decade before Windows 12?

Anyway, it doesn't matter to me anymore. I've switched to Linux, and I'm very comfortable here.

Honestly though, it's likely that Microsoft might pull another Win 11 requirement, except with NPU instead of TPM 2.0. It's likely that many people might not be able to update.

Originally posted by onyhow:

Honestly though, it's likely that Microsoft might pull another Win 11 requirement, except with NPU instead of TPM 2.0. It's likely that many people might not be able to update.

If anything if they do release a future Win12 or so. then I expect the requirement to be at 12th gen Intel or AMD Ryzen 5000 due to the introduction of "Shadow Stacks" as a security feature.
Windows 11's requirements were based off if the CPU had MBEC support as the said requirements were based around the idea of virtualization based security

you mean... it gets worse and looks more pretty? its vista... all over again.

I do not want it win98 was my first OS and win10 my last from ms. Hopefully we get Steam OS before windows 12 and we can all avoid using it. They have a slimline version for handhelds based on win11 that could change my mind if they debloated it but i doubt it...

I heard Microsoft wants to drop the number, and instead of "Windows 12" it'll be just "Windows" but the catch is it'll be annual subscription model for updates.