While I wasn’t expecting Microsoft to announce Windows 12 during its RTX Spark launch event last month, more than a few people were hoping to see something truly new. Between the growing frustration with Windows 11 and the muted response to Copilot Plus PCs, it’s starting to feel like Microsoft needs to go bigger with its desktop OS.
Much of this year’s Windows development has been focused on underlying performance improvements, after Microsoft acknowledged the bloat and reliability issues with Windows 11 and created a plan to fix them. That work is ongoing, and sources tell me there’s now a big focus on quality for the next major release of Windows 11 in 2027.
Microsoft started planning to shift back to a three-year release cycle for Windows in 2022, with the first big release in 2024. At the time, many expected that to be Windows 12, but the company stuck to a major update of Windows 11 instead. Now that the three-year cycle is about to hit again, it looks like Microsoft is promising to improve Windows 11 instead of rolling new features and underlying improvements into a Windows 12 release.
Sources tell me that Microsoft is already preparing for Windows 11 version 27H2. Like the big 24H2 release in 2024, this will be a full OS swap, where Microsoft replaces or upgrades major parts of the OS. The past couple of annual releases (25H2 and 26H2) have been enablement packages, which simply switch new features on gradually as they’re rolled out in monthly cumulative updates.
Since this is a bigger release, more testing will be required for the new features and changes that Microsoft is planning to make next year. We will likely see Windows Insider testing begin a lot sooner than the typical June timeframe Microsoft used for both 25H2 and 26H2.
Microsoft is also preparing for the big release of Windows 11 next year by replacing the default wallpaper of the operating system. Sources tell me a new wallpaper will be unveiled at Microsoft’s Ignite conference later this month, with a series of designs replacing Bloom, the current default. Microsoft used Bloom to market Windows 11 heavily during its launch phase, with “Bloomberry” ice cream and the wallpaper gracing the famous Times Square screens.
The wallpaper replacements will vary across consumer and commercial versions of Windows 11, I’m told. The designs are similar to Bloom, but with a folding sheet of color immersed in clouds. The Windows 11 Pro version looks the most like the Bloom colors, while there are subtle variations for the consumer versions of Windows 11, focused on gaming, productivity, creator, and performance.
Microsoft has quietly started using some of these new wallpapers in its recent Windows 11 marketing materials, and it plans to preview the full Bloom replacement at Ignite before rolling it out broadly in early January.
The question I can’t answer yet is whether Microsoft will even consider moving to Windows 12 branding next year, or whether that’s still a few years away. Microsoft seems to be set on improving Windows 11’s reputation, but it’s a difficult task to achieve when lots of people have already made their minds up.
Even Microsoft’s performance improvements haven’t convinced everyone yet. Microsoft showed off some more of its memory optimization work earlier this week, improving performance and multitasking on PCs with 8GB of RAM. “Windows can now keep up to 2 GB more of your active data in memory instead of moving it to slower storage, so an app or tab you left open is less likely to reload when you return,” explains Windows chief Pavan Davuluri.
I’ve seen YouTubers and even some Windows Insiders question this work, skeptical that Microsoft is actually making improvements. But it’s not just a false promise from Windows engineers; there’s a big effort to make a series of small improvements that all add up to a better performance across a variety of hardware.
Windows Central tested Microsoft’s claims and found that the latest updates to Windows 11 do, in fact, improve memory usage. Paging less data to disk will also improve performance, particularly when you’re multitasking between apps on a system with just 8GB of RAM. Microsoft is making improvements to memory usage in apps like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook, too, so this isn’t even just a Windows effort anymore.
These changes are hard to notice unless you compare two systems side by side, and Microsoft clearly has a perception problem with Windows 11 that steady improvements like this won’t overcome.
Microsoft ultimately missed a chance to simply own up to the malware-like ads it has squeezed into Windows 11 and be transparent about the fact that they were a mistake. Instead, I think the company is betting that it can win back users over the long term through genuine improvements rather than a marketing exercise that packages everything up into a shiny, new Windows 12 release. Whether that’s enough to change how people feel about Windows remains to be seen, but Microsoft needs to give people a reason to be excited about Windows again, not just another reason to tolerate it.
- The biggest names in AI are backing a new way to opt out of scraping. OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic are all promising to adopt a new standard that will allow publishers to opt out of being scraped by AI bots. As Google Zero continues to reshape the publishing industry, Microsoft says websites will still appear in Bing’s search results even if AI training has been blocked. Anthropic has already adopted this new signal, which is part of a website’s robots.txt file, and Google and Microsoft are both planning to support it next year.
- Curry Barker used a Surface Laptop Ultra to help make his new YouTube short. Microsoft is promoting the performance benefits of RTX Spark on battery by showcasing that Obsession director Curry Barker used a Surface Laptop Ultra to edit the full Mama Bear film while unplugged. The edit obviously wasn’t performed on a single battery charge, as Microsoft notes, but it’s more to point out that Windows laptops have finally caught up to the MacBook Pro’s ability to maintain near-identical performance whether on battery or plugged in.
- Windows 11 tries new shortcuts for Xbox gaming mode and search. Microsoft has started testing new Windows 11 builds that improve on the recently refreshed Windows Search and add quick settings to Xbox mode. Windows Insiders can now test out filters in search for files, actions, or web results, as well as perform actions like changing screen brightness or volume. The Xbox mode in Windows 11 is also getting quick settings to easily toggle things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi without having to exit to the desktop mode on a handheld gaming PC.
- Xbox’s former COO has “serious concerns” about her abrupt departure. I said this was weird last week. Xbox’s former chief operating officer, Helen Chiang, suddenly left Microsoft less than two weeks ago after being promoted into the role in July. A surprisingly short memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma revealed the news internally, and now Chiang says she has “serious concerns” about how she was treated. In a lengthy post on LinkedIn, Chiang doesn’t dispute she was fired but says a Eurogamer report that it was related to policy violations is “not accurate.” Chiang also denies unfounded rumors that speculated she was leaking information, or that she left to join a competitor. I’ve only heard really positive things about Chiang, so this whole turn of events is very puzzling.
- The Elder Scrolls VI officially has a name: Sentinel. I reported in Notepad last week that Sentinel would be the official subtitle of The Elder Scrolls VI, and Bethesda confirmed it this week with a brief teaser video. While the game is still at least two years away from release, Bethesda has been showing off some parts of the story internally in recent months. There have been many leaks about The Elder Scrolls VI in recent years, and I will say that one was very accurate, while many others have been far off the mark.
- Xbox’s smallest-ever controller is surprisingly comfortable. I’ve been testing out the new $49.99 Xbox Nano controller over the past few days, and I’m impressed with the design. I have small hands so it’s perfectly suited to me, and it’s designed for younger people and gaming on the go. The big difference with the Nano over regular Xbox controllers is the size of the triggers. They’re also a lot more clicky than the thud on the regular controller. The battery life is also something you’ll have to get used to, as it seems to drain fully in around five to six hours.
- Xbox’s Arkane Studios attracts multiple bidders, including Ubisoft. We’re just weeks away from hearing about the fate of Blade developers Arkane Studios, and it looks like Microsoft has some options lined up for the studio. Bloomberg reports that Ubisoft and “at least two other gaming companies” have made bids for Arkane. Microsoft is also considering selling the studio to its management. I wrote last week that “I’m cautiously optimistic that Blade will be saved.”
- Microsoft is improving Outlook search with a small language model. Microsoft has heard the feedback about Outlook search and it’s looking to improve result ranking, results when connectivity is poor, and a better feedback loop for end users. Classic Outlook will now automatically fall back to a local index when connectivity to cloud servers is poor. This should improve the speed of results, but Microsoft is also using an Outlook-specific small language model ranker to improve the relevancy and speed of results. You’ll also be able to use a thumbs up or down on Outlook search results to let Microsoft know how happy you are with the changes.
- The new Windows 11 speed test was built by an AI agent. Microsoft saw the feedback about the taskbar speed test throwing you to a webpage, and it designed a fully integrated version for Windows 11 instead. “The design and build work was driven by an agentic AI workflow, with a person guiding the process in their spare time,” says Marcus Ash, head of design and research for Windows and devices. It took only a day to get a working prototype ready. “This is where I see a lot of potential in AI,” says Ash. “Getting from idea to customer value faster. Without AI slop. That is the way.”
- Xbox previews two new ways to control cloud games. Microsoft’s new Xbox Nano controller now supports a Wi-Fi connection directly to Xbox Cloud Gaming, just like Google’s Stadia controllers. It was a hidden feature when I tried out the new controller recently, and US players will be able to preview it ahead of a broader rollout. Microsoft is also previewing a new phone controller option for playing cloud games on smart TVs.
- Xbox overhauls its PC, web, and cloud apps with a faster design. Microsoft is unveiling a new Xbox PC app today that launches “up to 60 percent faster” than before, with an overhauled design to match new updates to Xbox Cloud Gaming on the web and smart TVs. Xbox Insiders will be able to start testing the updated Xbox PC app today, and the updated Xbox Cloud Gaming interface will start rolling out over the next few weeks. I’ve been trying out the new Xbox PC app on the Xbox Ally X handheld in recent weeks, and it’s noticeably faster and feels much more like I’m navigating an Xbox console interface than before. It’s good to see these much-needed improvements for the Xbox PC app.
I’m always keen to hear from readers, so please drop a comment here, or you can reach me at [email protected] if you want to discuss anything else. If you’ve heard about any of Microsoft’s secret projects, you can reach me via email at [email protected] or speak to me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where I’m tomwarren.01. I’m also tomwarren on Telegram, if you’d prefer to chat there.
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