A recent leak suggests Microsoft may be launching Windows 12 in June 2024, along with quite a few AI PCs running the new software. This information comes from Taiwanese newspaper Commercial Times (via Tom's Hardware), and it contradicts the updated release schedule from Microsoft that would put three years between each major release.
Windows 11 was released in October 2021, so seeing Windows 12 launch in June 2024 would be a few months ahead of schedule. In the report from Commercial Times, there were no direct quotes from major figures of PC companies, but the article suggested that certain industry leaders were excited at the prospect of Microsoft launching a new OS in the summer and 2024 being "the first year of AI PC."
Could 2024 be the first year for AI PCs?
Many industry leaders attended the recent Taiwan Medical Technology Exhibition in Taipei on Thursday, including Acer's Chairman and CEO Jason Chen and Quanta's Chairman Barry Lam. Though neither chairman is directly quoted, Commercial Times uses recent statements to glean important insight.
Supposedly, Acer's Chen was optimistic about the potential for AI PCs to "continuously accelerate" the industry via new AI apps and other hardware improvements over the coming years. Quanta's Lam was excited at the prospect of an upturn across Quanta's AI PC, AI server, and AI automotive electronics segments.
Commercial Times writes that Lam anticipates "next summer, when Microsoft launches a new generation of Windows operating systems, AI PCs will also be launched one after another." It's worth noting this is a quote from the Commercial Times article, not a direct quote from Lam.
Reportedly, other industry-leading PC companies, like MSI and Gigabyte, were also excited at "the first year of AI PC" and all the business opportunities and advancements that will accompany it. While this report of Windows 12 launching in June 2024 doesn't line up with Microsoft's three-year release mark in October 2024, it's possible that the new OS could be releasing ahead of schedule.
Intel's Meteor Lake chips will release on December 14, potentially followed by Samsung's Galaxy Book 4 launching on December 15 with a Meteor Lake chip. If hardware AI processing support is a minimum spec requirement for Windows 12, the release of Meteor Lake chips with an AI-powered NPU and subsequent laptops that use these chips could accelerate Microsoft's schedule for Windows 12.
With everything we know about Windows 12 so far, it's incredibly likely that AI will play a huge role across the entire operating system. If more laptops have built-in hardware AI processing support, more laptops will theoretically be compatible with Windows 12 if it has an AI-hardware spec minimum.
