Is Windows 12 Released?

No information

Microsoft has not announced Windows 12

Microsoft keeps shipping Windows 11 feature updates - version 26H2 reached the Release Preview Channel on 27th August 2026 and is expected later in 2026, version 26H1 came out on 10th February 2026 for Snapdragon X2 devices

Meet Windows 11 version 26H2

  • Movable taskbar and the small taskbar return
  • Less Copilot integration in the shell
  • Legacy dialogs moved to WinUI
  • Faster File Explorer
  • Optimised for PCs with 8 GB of RAM
  • App-specific actions from the taskbar

Version

You can check which version of Windows you are using by opening the System Information window. To do this, press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box. Type
msinfo32
and press Enter. The System Information window will open and display the Windows version.

About Microsoft Windows

Windows is an operating system developed by Microsoft. The OS runs on many different brands of desktops and laptops around the world. From Dell to HP, to other brands like Lenovo, Windows is at the core of their functioning since their earlier versions. Talking about the most popular operating system used throughout the world bears significant weight. A lot of the world’s biggest businesses likely run windows in their offices for all kinds of extremely important work. Maybe more relevantly, around 85% of the computers around the world run some version of Windows. Windows even has made its way into pop culture, with the traditional sounds, Windows XP landscapes, and many more relatable contents that go to show the immense popularity of the operating system.

People use Windows to simply log in to their computer and find a familiar and simple-to-use interface that compartmentalizes tasks in the way that the name suggests “Windows”. I am using a Windows machine to type this article while listening to music in another window. Somebody else might be using it to sort massive datasets, while a gamer somewhere else is running cutting-edge 4K graphic video games with their Windows machine. Windows has its flaws, like slowing down older hardware with the myriad of innovative features that it brings and being less efficient with resources than maybe some Linux distributions. Still, there are multiple reasons why people keep choosing Windows to live their virtual lives along with the many other applications that live in their machines. I attribute this to the structured sense of the operating system, as well as an admittedly large factor of tradition. You can visually sort your desktop, and you can visually sort your tasks in the Windows bar in a way that is so intuitive that a kid could sit down and do it.

Windows has a number of interesting features, perhaps one of the most flashy being Microsoft Copilot, the AI assistant that replaced Cortana (retired in 2023). Copilot can answer questions, draft emails and documents, and works with the other Microsoft software on the machine. Windows computers also come with Windows Defender, a free antivirus and protection software that is very welcome in today’s cyber landscape, where hacking techniques and harmful viruses lurk in most corners of the internet.

Releases

The current version is Windows 11, which keeps getting updated monthly to patch bugs, correct drivers and reinforce security, plus a yearly feature update: version 25H2 came out on 30th September 2025, version 26H1 on 10th February 2026 for Snapdragon X2 devices, and version 26H2 has been in the Release Preview Channel since 27th August 2026. Microsoft has not announced Windows 12.