This slick Windows 12 concept video makes Windows 11 look ancient and boring
Take a glimpse into the potential future of Windows PCs, at least as envisioned by one fan.
What you need to know
- A new concept video shows what Windows 12 could look like.
- While it's known that Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows, the company has not confirmed a name for its upcoming OS.
- The concept video shows a revamped Start menu, a flexible widgets board, and new ways to customize the look of a PC.
Windows 12 isn't official yet, but it's the name many have given to the next version of Microsoft's operating system. We know that Microsoft is hard at work on an OS that's codenamed Hudson Valley. Leaks, rumors, and reports have already started to emerge about the upcoming update to PCs.
Our Senior Editor Zac Bowden gathered together everything he knows about "Windows 12," including the fact that it's expected in the second half of 2024. Microsoft is reportedly working on a new lock screen, login screen, and notification center.
While all of that is exciting, it's not a look at what Windows 12 could actually look like. That's where a new concept video from YouTuber AR 4789 comes in. While the video is just a dream of what Windows 12 could look like, it gives a chance to discuss the future of Windows.
The Start menu shown in the video looks like a merger of the Windows 11 and Windows 10 menus. It has transparency effects and is centered like the Start menu on Windows 11, but it has the all-apps menu on the side as seen in Windows 10.
The recommended section of the Start menu has been replaced with a Recent items list that you can scroll through to see more.
The widgets board from Windows 11 lives on in the Windows 12 concept, but with some major improvements. Widgets can be dragged and dropped onto the desktop. They can also be rearranged freely within the panel in a similar manner to Live Tiles on Windows 10.
There are also some handy new widgets, like an app launcher.
In what many would consider a welcome change, the concept's widgets board lacks ads and the MSN feed.
Some new theming options appear in the concept video as well. They aren't as dramatically different as those seen in the widgets board, but they give some new ways to customize the look of your PC.
As we move toward the release of Microsoft's next operating system, we're bound to see more fan concepts appear. What do you think of this imagining of Windows 12? Let us know in the comments below.
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![Sean Endicott](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AsAPmtpmgAiogz9PUMpLyf.jpg)
Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.
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Sean Endicott I'm a big fan of being able to move the widgets freely within the panel. I think Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot by trying to make the widgets board a thing for news and ads rather than just letting people access widgets.Reply -
Ron-F Looks great but seems too classy for a Microsoft designed UI. That said, they are improving with Panos, hopefully they will get there.Reply -
Iamdumbguy Run-of-the-mill concept garbage. Make everything transparent? Check. Add tabs to everything; even Settings? Check. Basically make it look like macOS? CHHHHHHEEEEECCCCCKKKKK!Reply -
Iamdumbguy
"News" is a strong word for the absolute bottom of the barrel aggregated crap that fills the feed.Sean Endicott said:I'm a big fan of being able to move the widgets freely within the panel. I think Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot by trying to make the widgets board a thing for news and ads rather than just letting people access widgets. -
naddy69 Windows 11 IS ancient and boring.Reply
The present - and future - is Unix. The whole world runs on Unix today. Unix runs on everything from mainframes to all phones and watches. MacOS is Unix. IOS is Unix. Android is Unix. Linux is Unix.
MS knows this. This is why Windows can now run Linux and Android apps. Even Azure is 70% Linux today.
MS needs to port Win64 to Linux and put Windows out of its misery, into permanent legacy/maintenance mode. Windows 14 (or whatever) needs to be Linux based.
Otherwise, Windows has no future.
Fun fact. In 1986, MS had the largest installed base of UNIX computers on the planet. The Tandy 6000 running MS Xenix. I suppose that Xenix COULD be resurrected and used. But today, MS does not have the power (not to mention developer respect) to make that happen. They would be better off using Linux. -
Thretosix Looks like I'll be staying with Windows 10. It seems they are doubling down on Appling their product.Reply -
Iamdumbguy
Apple-ing their products would mean actually supporting them. It would mean building and re-building apps with their own frameworks instead of abandoning it all for javascripted garbage.Thretosix said:Looks like I'll be staying with Windows 10. It seems they are doubling down on Appling their product. -
BINARYGOD
lol as if MS doesnt support their stuff, usually long after most other think they should just up and google itIamdumbguy said:Apple-ing their products would mean actually supporting them. It would mean building and re-building apps with their own frameworks instead of abandoning it all for javascripted garbage. -
BINARYGOD
the concept is not from MS, its from some designer with a youtube accountThretosix said:Looks like I'll be staying with Windows 10. It seems they are doubling down on Appling their product.
also, I love how anything that looks refined in terms of UI is "appling" even thought nothing official about Windows 10 or 11 is apply like at all, beyond just looking nice.
EDIT - also its funny to me how many windows 10 haters are now swearing by it. WIndows is like Civ games, everyone pretend to hate the new one (like it molested their cat) until the next one comes out. -
BINARYGOD
i have the button turned off, but that aggregator is as good as you make it - its default is crap, but so are most aggregators if you dont go in customize.Iamdumbguy said:"News" is a strong word for the absolute bottom of the barrel aggregated crap that fills the feed.