Windows 12: Release Date, Rumors and What Is Actually Confirmed

Windows 12: where things really stand

Let us answer the question everyone asks first: Microsoft has not announced any Windows 12. There is no release date, no price and no official system requirements. Anything more precise that you read elsewhere is rumor.

What Microsoft says publicly is much simpler: Windows 11 remains its current system and receives one major update a year (24H2 in 2024, then 25H2 in autumn 2025), which brings the new features, notably around the Copilot assistant.

Here is the real state of play, without extrapolation:

Windows 12 release date: no announcement, only speculation

What Microsoft has said publicly

Nothing that mentions a “Windows 12”. Official communication covers Windows 11 and its yearly update cycle. No public document, conference or roadmap names a successor.

Where the circulating dates come from

In 2023, the specialist press described an internal project for a more modular Windows (code name “CorePC”), and hardware partners talked about a Windows “refresh” for 2024. The result: Windows 11 version 24H2 came out, not a new system. The deadlines put forward since then follow the same pattern: guesses, never confirmed.

A useful benchmark: for Windows 11, the official announcement (June 2021) came only about four months before the release (October 2021); for Windows 10, it came about ten months before the July 2015 launch. Lead times vary from one system to the next, but the principle does not: Microsoft announces its systems publicly before launching them. If Windows 12 ever happens, you will hear it from a reliable source and with time to spare, so there is no point holding out on rumors.

Windows 12 features: rumors versus what Windows 11 already offers

What the press has suggested, in the conditional

• AI at the heart of the system: a more deeply integrated assistant, able to act on files and settings.
• A modular architecture: a lighter Windows, updated in blocks, in line with the “CorePC” project described in 2023.
• Optimization for AI chips (NPU): features reserved for recent processors with neural processing units.

None of this is confirmed by Microsoft. These are plausible directions, not promises.

The reality: these features are already arriving in Windows 11

That is the paradox of waiting: most of what is attributed to Windows 12 is already rolling out in Windows 11. Copilot is built into the system, PCs with an NPU unlock local AI features, and each yearly update is free for genuine licenses. You do not need a hypothetical Windows 12 to benefit from what is new in Windows.

Windows 12 system requirements: nothing published yet

You cannot prepare a PC for a system that does not officially exist: no requirements have been published for a possible Windows 12. The only concrete benchmarks are today’s:

• Windows 11 minimum requirements: a compatible 64-bit processor, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, a TPM 2.0 chip and UEFI Secure Boot.
• Current “Copilot+” PCs: 16 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD and an AI chip (NPU) of at least 40 TOPS, the level required for the on-device AI features of Windows 11.

How to check that your PC is ready

Two quick checks are enough, with nothing to install:

• The TPM 2.0 chip: press Windows + R, type “tpm.msc” and confirm. The window shows the specification version, which should read 2.0. If the chip seems missing, it is often just disabled in the motherboard’s BIOS/UEFI, under the name “Intel PTT” or “AMD fTPM” depending on your processor. Our guide to Windows 11 without TPM shows how to enable it.
• Processor and memory: open Settings, then System and About, to check the exact processor model and the amount of RAM installed.

If your machine runs Windows 11 comfortably, you are in a solid position today, although nobody can guarantee what comes next. To tune your setup to the way you use it, our Windows gaming performance guide covers the versions and settings that really matter for performance.

Should you wait for Windows 12? An honest calculation

Waiting means betting on a product with no date, no price and no official existence. Meanwhile, the calendar is certain: Windows 10 reached its end of support on 14 October 2025, and Microsoft’s extended security update program for home users (ESU) was announced for one year only, until 13 October 2026.

In practice, staying on Windows 10 “until Windows 12 arrives” means:

• browsing with security flaws that will no longer be fixed;
• watching software and drivers gradually drop support for the system;
• waiting for a launch whose date nobody knows, even roughly.

The real cost of waiting, case by case

Take three concrete situations. You are buying a new PC: it comes with Windows 11 and will receive the next yearly updates, so waiting gains you nothing. You are building a machine yourself: without a license, Windows shows a permanent activation watermark and locks the personalization settings, and a genuine key solves that from the first start. You are keeping a PC on Windows 10: every month of waiting extends your exposure to flaws that will never be fixed.

And what do you hope to gain by waiting? No certain saving, since no price is known. No identified feature, since no official list exists. Waiting has a measurable, immediate cost for a purely hypothetical benefit.

What upgrade history tells us

Microsoft’s past policy is documented: moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in 2015, then from Windows 10 to Windows 11 in 2021, was free for genuine licenses on compatible hardware. Nothing guarantees this will happen again, and Microsoft has promised nothing. But one point has been constant: a genuine license has always been the ticket to the next system. A genuine Windows 11 key protects you now, gives you today’s features and, if history is any guide, puts you in a favorable position should a successor ever arrive.

Windows 11 keys available right now

Rather than waiting for a hypothetical system, equip your PC today. Each key is delivered by email within minutes, activates on Microsoft’s official servers and is a perpetual license: paid once, valid for life on your machine.

Torn between the two main editions? Our Windows 11 Home vs Pro comparison settles it according to your needs. Payment is secure, by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Bancontact, and every order comes with an invoice showing VAT. Starting from a clean install? Follow our guide to formatting and reinstalling Windows 11 step by step.