Over the past three years, Windows 11 has been a hug success as a new operating system. I upgrade my laptop from Windows 10 to Windows 11 since the first day when Windows 11 is public available. The new UI and fast internal search are the two best things I am satisfied with it. However, the hardware requirements of Windows 11 is quite obstacle, which prevents many modern PCs and laptops from installing Windows 11.
With the rapid growth and adoption of AI technology, I think it is time to upgrade to the new OS for Windows devices, the Windows 12. For OS upgrade, Apple does a much better job than Microsoft as it releases a new OS each time. I am sure Windows 12 will be released in the near future.
In this post, we will share the most recent news, features tips and tricks about Windows 12. Stay tuned!
Windows 12 Release Date
It is still a top secret in regard to Windows 12 release date. You couldn’t any official news or announcement about Windows 12 at the time we are writing this post. However, there are rumors across the social media. From a couple of the trusted sources, we believe Windows 12 will be released at the latter half of the year of 2025 (August to October). We will report the exact release day once confirmed by Microsoft.
Windows 12 New Features
We heard several major updated features in Windows 12 and they are great improvement to Windows 11. The most important one is the integration of AI technology. Some of new features in Windows 12 are:
- More Powerful AI technology built on the latest ChatGPT engine.
- New Window UI with floating taskbar and search panel.
- Better web app experience from the built-in Edge browser.
- Improved the gaming experience with Xbox Cloud Gaming, and enhanced HDR and refresh rate options.
- Better system protection from Microsoft Cloud Security. Scan virus and malware real time with most up-to date databse.
Windows 12 System Requirements
We are pretty sure not all Windows 11 devices are eligible to upgrade to Windows 12 as the new OS has more strict system requirements to be met. To install and run Windows 12 on an supported computer, the following system requirements should be included:
- Intel Core 10 Gen CPU or AMD Ryzen 3/5/7 models numbered 29xx, 31xx, 53xx or newer.
- 8GB or more RAM.
- 256 GB or more hard drive or SSD.
- UEFI compatible motherboard with Secure Boot.
- TPM 2.0 chip.
- Graphics card compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.
- High definition (1080p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel.
The above are just the most important of Windows 12 requirements. You can run the PC Heath Check tool to see if your computer is compatible with Windows 12 or not.
Windows 12 Download
There are multiple ways to download Windows 12 even at the early beta stage. We will introduce a few official channels for Windows 12 download.
Note: Before downloading Windows 12, make sure your PC meets the system requirements! Otherwise, the installation won’t continue on unsupported hardware.
Method 1: Download Window 12 from Insider Preview
The first place you should go when a new Windows OS or update is Windows Insider Preview. It keeps all the latest updates about the core OS, system update and bug fix. This also applies to Windows 11. To be the first round of Windows 12 user, you should join the Windows 11 Insider Program by signing with a Microsoft account.
After registration, sing in the Microsoft account on a device. When the new Windows 12 beta is available, you can download Windows 12 from system update portal from the Settings app.
You can also download the Windows 12 Preview build ISO image from here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windowsinsiderpreviewiso?rfs=1
Method 2: Download Windows 12 ISO from Microsoft
When the stable version of Windows 12 is released, then download Windows 12 from the Microsoft download center:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download
Method 3: Download Windows 12 Using Media Creation Tool
Windows 12 Media Creation Tool is the official tool to help you download Windows 12 ISO and create a bootable Windows 12 installation media. It can be a USB flash drive or CD/DVD.
First, download this free tool from Microsoft website and follow the screen instructions to download Windows 12 ISO disk image. After that, you can start an in-place upgrade or install Windows 12 from a bootable USB/CD/DVD.
The Bottom Line
Windows 12 will be next mainstream Windows desktop operating system with great enhancement of AI technology. We will keep updating this post for latest news about Windows 12 release date, download, system requirements and new features. Before upgrading to Windows 12, make a full backup of current disk in case of potential failure! We will also share the tricks to install Windows 12 on unsupported PCs.