It's no longer a secret that Microsoft is developing the "next generation of Windows" code-named "Windows 24H2". Since Microsoft has resumed its three-year development cycle, it is widely believed that the next generation of Windows will be named "Windows 12." But things took a turn for the worse. A Microsoft employee publicly stated that all this was just talk and there was no such thing. Even more surprising is how quickly they deleted their words from X (formerly Twitter).
Over the weekend, a Microsoft employee took to X (formerly Twitter) to address ongoing speculation about Windows 12 development. The tweet bluntly refutes the rumored existence of the operating system. However, the tweet was retracted shortly after users started asking questions.
A Microsoft senior program manager claimed in multiple tweets: "Windows 12 does not exist at all." The reason why these tweets were deleted is unclear, which adds a layer of mystery to the development of the incident. The employee may not be aware that Microsoft plans to name the next version of Windows 'Windows 12'.
Why talk about Windows 12? Here's a little background: Developer Rafael Rivera discovered a prompt pointing to "Windows 12" in a piece of VMWare software called ESXIVersion8.
When people on Reddit took a closer look, they discovered that the software had started hinting at "Windows 12" more than half a year ago. So, does this confirm the existence of Windows 12? Not so fast. Normally, such prompts in software like VMWare are meaningless. A former employee of tech giant Oracle also weighed in on the discussion. They mentioned that VMWare developers sometimes add such hints in "Future Planning and Testing". The appearance of a name does not mean that it has been finalized.
"I'm no longer there so I can't speak on this particular case, but I'm not shocked to see it," the former VMWare Workstation developer wrote in a tweet.
However, the Microsoft program manager's swift deletion of the tweet only added fuel to the fire.
Although the Windows giant has been tight-lipped about the arrival of the next generation of Windows, the mention of the next generation of Windows did appear at the Build 2023 conference.
As our previous report based on job postings noted, Microsoft is working on a web-centric version of Windows designed to challenge ChromeOS's dominance. Network-centric Windows 12 won't replace the traditional desktop environment, but it will complement it.