back to article Windows 11 24H2 is coming so we can all shut up about Windows 12 for another year

Industry chatter over the fate of the Windows 11 brand in 2024 is again rising in volume following the discovery that a Windows 11 24H2 installation is most definitely on the way. 2024 is set to be a big 12 months for Microsoft's flagship OS. By the end of it, Windows 10 will have less than a year before support is pulled for …

  1. Omnipresent Bronze badge

    TPM 3.0 standard

    Time for the rise of the all knowing nuclear powered clippy.

  2. aerogems Silver badge

    Meh

    Windows 10, 11, 12... It's just a name at the end of the day. Doesn't really mean anything. They could call it Windows ThisIsReallyTheFinalVersionEverWePinkyPromiseForRealsiesThisTime for all I care. While I hope to be some day pleasantly surprised with the whole AI thing, I'm guessing it'll just be one more thing I ignore because it has no real relevance to anything I do.

    1. Jamie Jones Silver badge

      Re: Meh

      Didn't they say they'd stop releasing complete windows versions after 10?

      1. Zolko Silver badge

        Re: Meh

        Yes they did. But predictions are difficult, especially if they are about the future

      2. aerogems Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Meh

        Yes, as people like you are wont to bring up every. single. time. The joke has long since become a dead horse, and that horse is now like a sticky puddle of goo from all the continued beatings you lot have been giving it. Who. the fuck. cares!? It's just a name, get over it.

        1. hplasm
          Meh

          Re: Meh

          "The joke has long since become a dead horse"

          Which joke - Windows 10, 11 or 12?

        2. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: Meh

          I was just asking a question... Um, did I sleep with your daughter or something?

          By the way where are these "people like me", and "my lot"? I'd like to make sure I avoid meeting that unkempt bunch, though fuck knows how the hell you would know what we're like, prick.

          Now run along, It was just a question, get over it! Nadella doesn't love you back, you know.

  3. lnLog
    Windows

    ha!

    "one more hurrah for Windows 11 before the operating system moves to maintenance, and something with a less toxic brand takes center stage"

    Judging by the talk of integrating Artificial Ignorance 'AI' into windows 12, it looks like it may be two in a row for high toxicity...

  4. LenG

    Lifetime

    I confidentlty expect Win 10 to be the most-used version well into 2026

    1. Aleph0
      Pirate

      Re: Lifetime

      For sure, for my next desktop PC rebuild I'm currently planning to obtain (most likely on the high seas -hence icon- since MICROS~1 doesn't sell it to end users) a copy of Windows 10 IOT LTSC 2021 that is supported until 2027 (mainstream, 2032 extended), since I cannot stand the modifications they've done to the taskbar in Windows 11.

      Sadly I doubt I will be switching to Linux soon, I have tried twice already but each time I've come back to Windows because file searching tools in the land of the penguin have no concept of opening a file with anything but its associated application. Whereas there are times I need to edit a picture, but most times I just want it to open in a much-quicker-to-start image viewer for example...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Lifetime

        "file searching tools in the land of the penguin have no concept of opening a file with anything but its associated application"

        You right click on it, same as in Windows.

        1. Aleph0
          FAIL

          Re: Lifetime

          "You right click on it, same as in Windows".

          That only works if you're using a file manager and you're already in the folder containing the file you're searching for. There's no graphical application like Search Everything in Windows that looks up in multiple folders and then allows the same context options like in a regular file manager. The nearest thing to it is AngrySearch, but once it's found the files you're looking for the only supported actions are simple verbs, like "rename", "delete" and "open" but crucially not "open with" that presents you with a choice of suitable applications.

          That's why I wrote "file searching tools" and not simply "file search". Also at the risk of attracting further downvotes, I don't think it's fair being downvoted for stating that an OS doesn't fit my use case...

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

          2. J. R. Hartley

            Re: Lifetime

            First rule of downvotes...

          3. yetanotheraoc Silver badge

            Re: Lifetime

            Interesting criticism of Linux, it raised my interest because the only "file searching tool" I ever use is the terminal emulator. :)

            In my experience Linux GUI applications are easily extended or modified by configuration or scripting (not to mention modifying the source). Sometimes it's enough to get an "almost" application and then change it slightly to suit your purpose.

            Anyway I looked at the AngrySearch readme ( https://github.com/DoTheEvo/ANGRYsearch ), and I see it integrates with the file manager. Besides the "open" action you also have an "open location" action. I'm not sure if there is a button for it, but there is a keyboard shortcut. Even better, for four popular file managers when you open the location for a file it is already selected in the file manager. From the file manager you of course will have the "open with" context action you are looking for.

            Another plausible idea which might work with any other Linux gui search tool, at the cost of one extra click, is to make the file manager the default application for your favorite filetype. Along the same lines you could go old school and create a simple menu in a shell script, and associate your filetype with the shell script. Choose "1" for first application, "2" for second, etc. Ah, the joys of read and xdg-open, it warms my heart thinking you might end up there.

          4. captain veg Silver badge

            Re: Lifetime

            So you are in fact talking about an app that you happen to have on Windows, not the operating system itself.

            The app vendor is free to make it available on other systems. Perhaps you should ask them.

            -A.

            1. Aleph0

              Re: Lifetime

              The Windows app works under Wine in that it can find the files, but thereafter it breaks because it expects to talk to Explorer. Same problem as the Linux equivalent really, there are any number of different file managers so it can only cater to the lowest common denominator.

              Kinda amusing how this thread has evolved like the old ones on Slashdot, complete with the reply "if you're having this problem you're free to write your own program to solve it"... Snark aside good suggestion @yetanotheracc, I'll look into it if I ever decide to try a third time with Linux.

      2. AlanSh

        Re: Lifetime

        It is so easy to fix the taskbar with Explorer Patcher. I have that plus Open Shell and it all works quite nicely.

        Alan

      3. martinusher Silver badge

        Re: Lifetime

        >have no concept of opening a file with anything but its associated application

        I do it all the time. I think you mean 'opens automatically based on a file extension' which is something Windows does (and was once a fruitful way to introduce viruses by building files with two extensions. The first one is displayed to the user as something innocent while the second is used by the system to select and run a program. Popular choices were to pair a jpg with a lnk.)

        File extensions don't exist on an 'ix' file system but specific programs that are trying to imitate the behavior of Windows might pretend they do.

        'ix' filesystems are also globally searchable although you don't normally need to look for stuff all over the system because it doesn't hide directories in obscure places like Windows does. (Worst case you do can just do a filtered listing from root but that not only uses the command line but its OTT for everyday use, you know where everything is. Windows generally copies and tries to improve on 'ix' but invariably falls flat (IMHO).

        But whatever floats your boat.....

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Reviewed our 30 user estate earlier this month

    Of whom 6 already use Macs.

    23 could all be moved to Mint or just Ubuntu Jammy on their existing kit.

    One person claims they *have* to use Excel. I can live with that.

    1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

      Re: Reviewed our 30 user estate earlier this month

      That's OK. Excel works as well as it ever does on W10.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Reviewed our 30 user estate earlier this month

      So you're getting the idiot Excel user a Mac, then?

      No need to use Micro$hit Windoze for that.

      1. WolfFan

        Re: Reviewed our 30 user estate earlier this month

        There are, unfortunately, some things that Excel on Windows can do that Excel on Mac can't, or can’t easily do. Ninety-odd percent of users would not have any trouble. Some would have to employ work-arounds. Some would just not need Windows.

    3. Steve Jackson

      Re: Reviewed our 30 user estate earlier this month

      Look how long Mac OSX hung around.

      Now they are on what, 14?

      Kind of implies they haven’t got it right the other nine (less with Windows) times?

      The next move will be to 24.x as Linux, LO, etc.

      Back in the summer of ‘95….

      ….coat still on peg.

  6. 43300 Silver badge

    Not sure that this demonstrates anything - there was a W10 21H2 which arrived shortly after the original release of W11, then a W10 22H2 a year later.

  7. elsergiovolador Silver badge

    12

    It's so great that Micro$oft is working on Windows 12 now.

    This means they (hopefully, touch wood) have no resources to mess up Windows 10.

    1. Yorick Hunt Silver badge

      Re: 12

      Never say never.

      Don't forget that thanks to their "updates," fresh Windows 7 installations would complain that "your processor is too new" when installed on decade+ old CPUs.

      Prepare for "TPM module detected, your device isn't compatible with Windows 10" (or "Windows 10 isn't compatible with your device").

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 12

        And then "TPM module manually disabled. Who are you trying to kid?"

      2. PhilipN Silver badge

        decade+ old CPUs

        Well if you must go for the new-fangled stuff

    2. doublelayer Silver badge

      Re: 12

      To be fair, they haven't said they're releasing Windows 12 any time soon. It's all been speculation about when they might do that and what might be in it. I don't expect it will be soon. While I'm sure it will happen at some point, it has only been 2.5 years since they pushed out Windows 11. That would already have been a relatively short gap between releases in the earlier versions of Windows (everything after XP, anyway), but compared to the seven years between Windows 10 and 11, I'm guessing the gap will be longer than average this time. Maybe 2026. That's also just speculation; while I think it would be a bad idea to release a new named version before then, Microsoft has done things that I consider bad ideas before.

  8. Jamie Jones Silver badge
    Coat

    Especially for movie fans!

    Is W11 24Hz especially designed for movie fans?

  9. mark l 2 Silver badge

    "it looks like there will be at least one more hurrah for Windows 11 before the operating system moves to maintenance, and something with a less toxic brand takes center stage."

    The only way the next version would be less toxic brand is if they dropped the Windows brand name altogether, which tbh i wouldn't put it pass MS marketing dept to do at some point, after all they have already dropped the Office from Office 365 so maybe it will just be 'Microsoft Copilot 12 Professional'

  10. Mostly Irrelevant

    Microsoft should just drop the version number entirely and make it a constant stream of updates. One major one a year. They said they would... then they just went back to their old system.

  11. Chris Warrick

    Was there any credible evidence for Windows 12, or is it just bloggers making stuff up? Windows’ release cadence was all over the place, there’s no reason to believe Microsoft will replace 11 with 12 in just 3 years.

  12. xyz123 Silver badge

    The best answer is to make Windows 12 free. Everyone loves free stuff. People still on XP/7/8/10 will want to get the 'free stuff'.

    Then charge subscription for co-pilot.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I won't be upgrading my WinXP, Win7 or Win10 machines.

      I'm in the position of being a small business owner who supports a bunch of clients with legacy software and hence I have 2x Win XP machines, 2x Win 7 and 2x Win 10 plus a Linux Mint daily user.

      SWMBO has a Win11 laptop, but having tried it I hate the Win11 interface. As she only uses email and Word on it plus Excel very occasionally, it's fine for her needs. That said, Win11 offers no advantage for me over Win10 and I really can't be bothered re-learning the interface.

      I suspect that if you offered the majority of older OS versions Win 12 free, the majority would not take it up simply because of the pain of having to re-learn the pointless changes to the interface and the almost certain that it won't run in anything older than a machine produced 12 months with a 3GHz quad core processor with at least 16GB of RAM etc etc.

      1. yetanotheraoc Silver badge

        To the pain

        "I suspect that if you offered the majority of older OS versions Win 12 free, the majority would not take it up simply because of the pain of having to re-learn the pointless changes to the interface and the almost certain that it won't run in anything older than ..."

        Then again any potential pain and/or not-running would only be experienced after the upgrade. So the suggestion to offer the OS for free and charge for CoPilot might just work. To make the lure more attractive, they could offer it free "for a limited time only".

  13. Proton_badger

    I'm just grateful to Valve for Proton. Because of it I have been able to ditch Windows for good and be free and unburdened like a Tumbleweed.

    1. Boothy

      I went dual boot over a year ago now, Win 10 + Mint, with GRUB set to load Mint by default.

      A good chunk of what I do on this machine is gaming, almost all my games are via Steam, and use of Proton is basically transparent to the end user (unless you want to tweak).

      Steam on Linux has been native for many years of course (2012), but the last two years has seen big leaps in Steam game compatibility thanks to the Steam Deck being launched (Feb 2022), with its OS being based on Arch Linux, and also uses Proton. This has meant many developers and publishers pushing to get Steam Deck compatibility for their titles, which basically means Linux compatibility.

      I've also noticed some old Windows titles, such as those written for Win 7 and then never updated for newer Windows, seem to work better under Proton, than they do under Windows 10, even in compatibility mode. (KotoR II being one example, which just crashes on me after a few mins on Win 10, but is rock solid for me on Linux!).

  14. chivo243 Silver badge
    Windows

    too bad...

    12 is half of 24, about as good as it gets with M$...

  15. Grunchy Silver badge

    Windows is dead

    Microsoft is irrelevant, it makes no difference what they do any more.

    (Speaking just for myself, of course.)

    I do have some legacy programs that only work properly inside a Windows VM, and that’s where they exist (speaking only for myself, of course.)

    I’ll see myself out…

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bought a new PC

    Got W11 with it.

    What’s the prob?

    1. hplasm
      Facepalm

      Re: Bought a new PC

      "What’s the prob?!

      You'll find out when it *won't* run Win12 for some odd reasom to do with hardware...

    2. captain veg Silver badge

      Re: Bought a new PC

      > Got W11 with it.

      > What’s the prob?

      Er, it's got W11 with it.

      -A.

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