Microsoft first moved away from its three-year cycle with the release of Windows 10 in 2015, prioritizing the idea of ​​Windows as a service. Instead of a big feature release every three years in a new version of Windows, Windows 10 was updated twice a year with big new features. For years, many Windows watchers believed that Windows 10 would be the last major version of Windows, after a Microsoft employee described Windows 10 as “the last version of Windows.” Microsoft never dismissed those comments and instead said at the time that they “reflected how Windows will be delivered as a service that brings new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner.” That all changed with the release of Windows 11 last year, and Microsoft moved to an annual update rate for both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Given Microsoft’s move to Windows 11 branding, it’s reasonable to expect that any future major version of Windows will also see a rebrand. We haven’t seen Microsoft adopt Windows 11.1 or 11.2 with the major Windows 11 updates so far, so many will now be wondering if Windows 12 is on the way. Windows 11’s successor could arrive in 2024. Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Alongside the next version of Windows in 2024, Microsoft still has plans to keep Windows 11 fresh for years to come. The software maker has been moving away from its original promise of big annual updates for Windows 11 in recent months, preferring to ship major features as soon as they’re ready. The next major update, 22H2, is currently expected to arrive in September or October, having been recently finalized by Microsoft. Microsoft has reportedly scrapped plans for a similar big 23rd annual update in H1 2023 and will now prioritize releasing new features during 2023. This is more in line with Microsoft’s recent changes to the Windows Insider program, with more experiments and prototype functions to be widely tested. Microsoft has not officially commented on its plans for the Windows roadmap. The company has made a fresh push at Windows over the past two years, after the pandemic boosted Windows usage. Microsoft had originally planned to release Windows 10X on dual-screen devices, but after declaring that “the PC is back” at the start of the pandemic, it continued to rework 10X into what became Windows 11.