Microsoft may just be gearing up to switch to its original three-year development cycle for major versions of Windows. This would suggest that with the release of Windows 11 in 2021, we may see Windows 12 get released by 2024.
The report comes from Windows Central, suggesting that Microsoft may shift back to its original three-year cycle with Microsoft also planning to increase the output of new features rolling out to the latest versions of Windows.
Microsoft had originally abandoned its three-year cycle with Windows 10 last launching in 2015, Windows 8 launching back in 2012, and Windows 7 back in 2009.
Windows Central also mentioned that Microsoft had scrapped its original plan of a 2023 release of Windows (codenamed Sun Valley 3).
Furthermore, it reported that Windows 11 version 22H2 may ship the features of Sun Valley 3 and kick off its effort (internally called “Moments”) of dropping new features up to four times a year outside major OS releases.
This reportedly would help product teams ship its new features much sooner with Microsoft having supposedly tested this with the rollout of the Taskbar weather button on Windows 11 earlier this year.
Microsoft has not confirmed any of these rumors or any of its roadmap plans. So be sure to take all this with a grain of salt since not much is known as of now.
