Next-generation Windows development plan
Dear Windows Team: Here's a supplementary systematic summary and analysis of the main features of Windows 12: Start Menu/Screen: Fresh layout: Clearly divided into different zones — account area (user account at the top left), shortcut area (on the far right for easy access to common folders), list area (where you can pin apps, including most used and suggested ones), and pinned tiles area (four-column layout). It's cleaner and you can even resize it by dragging the edges. Full-screen start screen is back: Combines the classic Windows 7 list (easy to browse) with Windows 8.1 style live tiles (for info and quick launch). Tiles can be arranged both horizontally and vertically. More flexible tiles: Tiles now come in five sizes — small, medium, long, wide, large, and tall — way more options than before, plus there's a new animation when you resize them. Structural Innovation: Clearly divided into the Account Area (user account located in the upper left corner), Shortcut Area (located on the far right for easy access to commonly used folders), List Area (applications can be attached to the list, including most frequently used and recommended apps), and Pinned Tiles Area (four-column layout). The structure is more organized, and the size can also be adjusted by dragging its edges. Full-screen Start screen return: It combines the traditional Windows 7 list (for easy navigation) with Windows 8.1-style live tiles (for information display and quick launch), with tiles supporting both horizontal and vertical arrangements. Enhanced Tile Flexibility: Provides five sizes—small, medium, long, wide, large, and tall—far exceeding previous options, while also introducing tile resizing animations. Custom tile options: including colorful, gradient, light, dark, transparent (default), and semi-transparent tones, offering a high degree of personalization. Migration Friendly: When upgrading from Windows 7, 8.1, 10, or 11, pinned apps and websites are automatically migrated, reducing the user's reconfiguration workload. Copilot Tile: The AI assistant Copilot has received a dedicated tile, highlighting its significance. A new rainbow effect has been added. Taskbar & Search: The taskbar consists of the Cortana icon (on the left), mobile devices (on the left), Start, Search, Task View, Chat, applications, the system tray (on the right), and notification icons (on the right), among others. Search box enlargement & shape change: The search box is more prominent, changing from a circular shape (Win11) to a rectangular one, and supports wider options, thereby enhancing the search entry point. Search menu flexibility: Highly adjustable, consistent with the style of the Start menu. Personalized lock screen interface: Date and time alignment: supports left alignment (default) and center alignment. Brand new photo effects: Highlight the main subject of the photo, allowing it to be placed before or after the background time. Windows Hello: Facial recognition supports logging in while wearing a mask. Widgets: Pinned to the desktop: No longer limited to the small panel above the taskbar, they can be pinned anywhere on the desktop like traditional widgets. Fullscreen mode: The left side is the widget panel, and the right side displays information sources (such as news), supporting up to six columns for greater information capacity. New widgets: Specifically mentions the 'Calendar' widget, 'People' widget, 'Microsoft Edge' widget, and 'Cortana Suggestions' widget coming soon (although Cortana itself also seems to have updates).Microsoft Store widget: A dedicated widget for accessing the app store. Productivity and Multitasking Enhancements: Task View returns to the Windows 10 experience: Dragging to multiple desktops: More mature virtual desktop management allows you to drag windows to the "Task View" icon and then move them to multiple desktops. Timeline feature returns, supporting cross-device history. Window switching returns to the Windows 10 experience: Alt+Tab experience restored to classic style. Snap Assist returns to Windows 10 experience with significant enhancements: Supports up to eight snap layouts (especially for large horizontal screens), a productivity tool. Supports ultrawide screens (21:9, 32:9) with a variety of snap layouts. App Updates: New Mail, Calendar, and People: Highlights mentioned, possibly accompanied by UI and feature updates. New Outlook App: Supports email address removed for privacy reasons, email address removed for privacy reasons and email address removed for privacy reasons. New Cortana: Multilingual Support: Expands usage scope. Consumer Skills Return: Music control, smart home control, and third-party skills return, aiming to restore its practicality as a voice assistant. Provided in two forms: rings and dough. Supports the 'Cortana Suggestions' widget. Screenshot Tool: Supports full-screen recording. Media Player: Appearance selector returns, supporting live tiles. Microsoft Store Revamp: UWP Apps Return: Some high-quality UWP apps and Metro apps are back on the store, and the progressive web apps (PWAs) from the original Microsoft Store are transitioning to UWP apps. Gaming Ecosystem Expansion: New PlayStation app, Nintendo Switch app, and a dedicated Nintendo game section have been added, significantly expanding gaming-related content. Enhancing Visual Experience: The window transparency effect has been improved, and a new glass effect has been added. System avatars are now rounded rectangles, and the search box is rectangular (more in line with current design trends).A new top bar has been added (weather, system tray, date and time).Dynamic wallpaper effects have been introduced. The Windows 11 startup sound has been retained. Large-scale return of classic applications and features: This is the most striking (and also most questionable) part, including: Applications: MSN series apps, Tips, Print 3D app, Maps, Windows 7 desktop gadgets, Windows Media Center, Groove Music, Desktop Messaging apps, Windows 8.1 apps. System Features: HomeGroup, Timeline (cross-device history), Tablet Mode (significantly enhanced tablet experience), Windows Ink Workspace. Evaluation: This is a very bold strategy aimed at satisfying the nostalgia and specific needs of different user groups. Others: Controllers: Compatible with DualShock 4, DualShock 5, Joy-Con, and Joy-Con 2, among others. Android Subsystem Return: WSA is back, with special emphasis on supporting full-screen operation for apps in landscape mode (addressing one of the previous main pain points). Notification Center separated from Calendar: The quick action panels for the Notification Center and Calendar are separated, which may make the interface cleaner and operations more focused. Windows 12 Next-Generation PC: Offers larger storage capacity, longer battery life, more powerful performance, and enhanced security and stability. Windows Backup: Expanded to more countries and regions, with the addition of backing up personal files and applications to external storage devices. Data Transfer: Allows transferring personal files and applications from an old computer to a new one, or migrating partitions to a new hard drive. Core and Versions: Version Number: Initial Release 26H1, with the OS internal version reset to 12.0.0.0, marking a significant new beginning. System Naming: References to Windows 12 and Windows 12e, as well as Windows 12 Ultra. Extensive Free Upgrade Path: Covers Windows 11 (including SE), Windows 10 (including S), Windows 8/8.1 (including Windows RT), and Windows 7. This is a key strategy to attract user migration. Hardware Requirements by Tier: Windows 12e: Ultra-low system requirements (2GB RAM, 32GB storage), aimed at education or basic devices, possibly similar to Cloud/SE versions. Windows 12 (Home/Pro/etc.): Mainstream system requirements (4GB RAM, 64GB storage, DirectX 11), removal of strict restrictions like TPM (the biggest change!). Windows 12 Ultra: High-performance requirements (8GB RAM, 128GB storage, TPM 2.0, DirectX 12), unlocking all advanced features (such as advanced AI functions, ultimate performance optimizations?). Significant Extension of the Lifecycle: Home & Pro: 2 years (24 months) -> 4 years (48 months). Enterprise, Education, IoT Enterprise: 3 years (36 months) -> 6 years (72 months). This presents a considerable advantage for corporate and institutional users, reducing migration frequency and overall costs. I hope this leaked information can be reported to Pavan Davuluri.
Request to Extend Windows 10 Support Beyond October 14, 2025
Hello Microsoft Team, I’m writing as a loyal Windows user to share my concern about the upcoming end of support for Windows 10 scheduled for October 14, 2025. Many users, including myself, rely on Windows 10 daily for work, education, and personal use. Not all of us are in a position to upgrade our hardware or switch to a new operating system without facing financial or technical challenges. Windows 10 is stable, familiar, and perfectly suits the needs of millions of people worldwide. I respectfully ask that Microsoft consider extending support for Windows 10 or providing more affordable and accessible options for users who cannot upgrade easily. Even an extended security update program for personal users (not just businesses) would make a big difference. Thank you for your time and for listening to the voices of your user community. Sincerely, Omar, Yahiya.Save the date: Windows Office Hours - October 16, 2025
Join us at our next monthly Windows Office Hours, on October 16th from 8:00-9:00a PT! We will have a broad group of product experts, servicing experts, and engineers representing Windows, Microsoft Intune, Configuration Manager, Windows 365, Windows Autopilot, security, public sector, FastTrack, and more. They will be standing by -- in chat -- to provide guidance, discuss strategies and tactics, and, of course, answer any specific questions you may have. For more details about how Windows Office Hours works, go to our Windows IT Pro Blog. If you can't make it at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time, post your questions on the Windows Office Hours: October 16th event page, up to 48 hours in advance.
Windows 11 unexpected reboots during gaming
I've had this issue before where in the middle of a game both my monitors shut off and the computer crashes (but will not reboot on its own) the last time it was an issue with the RAM but I replaced that RAM recently. I'll post the windows logs below in the comments, any help is much appreciated.
Buying new laptop - need advice
Hi All, I am using windows 10 laptop right now, as the support is ending in few weeks, looking to buy new laptop. Unfortunately existing laptop is not eligible to upgrade to windows 11 so i have to buy new one. Question is should i buy windows 11 laptop now OR wait till windows 12 is released. Also if i buy a windows 11 laptop now, how to find if it is eligible to upgrade to windows 12 once that OS is released. Appreciate your inputs, thanks in advance.
Windows 11 Install - Boot Errors
I've had a heck of a time trying to update my machine. Had to convert my partition from MBR to GPT to enable Secure Boot... once I did that, I got all green checkmarks on the PC Health Check app. An update message never popped up, so I decided to attempt the USB ISO route. Formatted it to NTFS, downloaded the ISO, ran setup. Made sure the only thing plugged into the computer is the USB, keyboard, and mouse. Partway through the many resets, I saw a message about a STOP_CODE (didn't get the entire thing.) Once everything booted back into Windows 10 Pro, the Setup window displayed the following error: "0xC1900101 - 0x40017 The installation failed in the SECOND_BOOT phase with an error during BOOT operation" I went to the WINDOWS\Panther folder and pulled the following from the setuperr.log: SP SPDisableRollback: BCD failed to set new OS boot entry as default. Error: 0x00000002 SP SPDisableRollback: Failed to delete the boot status policy for the new OS. Error: 2 SP SPDisableRollback: BCD failed to remove the downlevel OS current boot entry. Error: 0x00000002 SP Failed to disable rollback SppDeleteSnapshots failed. hr = 0x800401f0 Failed to delete C:\windows.old\Windows\System32\oobe\SetupPlatform\SetupPlatform.dll. hr = 0x80070005 Can anyone suggest a path forward? I've tried to search on the above errors, and most of the BCD stuff I'm seeing seems to be related to other issues. Also, doing a clean install is not a viable option at this time (too many files in too many places... I laugh at the idea of a OneDrive backup.) Thank you!Running on-prem script against 365 without storing plaintext creds
Looking to run a script on an on-prem server to collect audit logs from Exchange online without storing credentials in the script. Was wondering what the current best practice for this is, or if anyone knows how to do it? Have stumbled across Azure automation, but not sure that will be able to run from on-prem or not and my google-fu isn’t conclusive. Has anyone done this and could point me in the right direction? One of our local PowerBI guys has been using his own AD user account at the moment and that’s clearly BAD.
There is a compatibility issue between the Gamefirst VI application and Windows Security.
Is the Gamefirst VI application infected with malware, or is this just the first false detection for it? With the latest updates from Microsoft, is there any reason to believe this application is malware-infested? What is the best approach to resolve this issue?
