• A YouTuber has shared a new concept video of ‘Windows 12.2’
  • This is a follow-up to their previous vision of Windows 12, and refines the concept
  • There are some smart ideas, but Microsoft is likely to be thinking very differently about it’s next-gen OS

Windows concept videos are quite popular these days, as it’s intriguing to take a glance at what might be if Microsoft took a different tack with its OS – and another one just popped up showcasing ‘Windows 12.2’ no less.

BetaNews spotted this latest concept video from ‘AR 4789’, a YouTuber who regularly posts these kinds of visions of how Microsoft could spin Windows. If you’re wondering why it’s called Windows 12.2, this is because the YouTuber already posted a take on Windows 12 a few months back – so this is a refinement.

At any rate, have a watch of the video below and see what you make of the concept, remembering that it is just that – this isn’t a mod, there are no installation files, and it isn’t based on leaks within Microsoft or anything remotely official.

It’s simply an alternate vision of how Windows 12 could look, so click play – maybe skip the beginning which is just the mock setup of the operating system, head to 3:20 if you want to miss that – then afterwards, I’ll give you my thoughts on this idea (if you’ll indulge me).

Analysis: a smart concept – but the future of Windows will probably look very different

Overall, the YouTuber’s take on the Windows 12 interface looks really clean and streamlined, and I like that vibe. There’s a cheeky reference to Apple’s Liquid Glass design, as well, with the Aero (transparency) effect from Windows Vista in evidence (recall the whole Apple copied Microsoft battle of barbs, though as I’ve said before, I don’t feel that’s a very fair stance – and arguably, Apple did sneak in first with the Aqua design in the interface of OS X 10 at the turn of the millennium).

Indeed, the Windows 7 theme applied in the video looks tasty, too, and I also really like some of the nuances, such as the choice of taskbar implementations (two smaller versions, plus floating or docked taskbars, or even options for a Windows 7 or 10-style bar). The Start menu gets a similar treatment and a smart level of customization overall.

I wish Microsoft would adopt some of these ideas, but let’s face it – the likelihood of that is remote-to-non-existent (and that’s a charitable assessment).

Indeed, I’d argue that the likelihood of Windows 12 appearing in the near(ish) future is also low in the probability stakes. Why? While rumors of Windows 12 have continued to circulate here and there, I’m thinking that whatever step Microsoft takes with the next incarnation of Windows – whatever it might be called – is going to need to be a big stride forward.

This is because Windows 11 was seen as a reskin of Windows 10 when it arrived, and there’s definitely some truth there. Under the fresh paint job, many of the features and core workings of Windows 11 remained much the same as Windows 10 (even though a lot was changed under the hood – even more so with Windows 11 24H2 – but you don’t see that, despite there being benefits such as better security, for example).

And even today, there’s a feeling that I see commonly when reading various online forums that Windows 11 really isn’t much different to Windows 10 – so why upgrade? There’s no major pressing reason to do so (and many of the shiniest new Windows 11 features are for Copilot+ PCs only, anyway).

Okay, so you have to upgrade soon, of course, with Windows 10’s End of Life in sight – unless you sign up for extended updates, and I think there’s a good argument for doing just that (as you can get an extra year of security updates for free).

Where am I going with all this? Well, if Windows 12 arrives relatively soon in the OS deployment timeframe, it’s not going to be all that much different to Windows 11. Much like the concept we see here, it’ll remain largely the same – though we can hope for design and customization innovations along the lines of what the YouTuber suggests.

In this scenario, though, Windows 10 kind of clatters into Windows 11 which sort of bumbles into Windows 12 – they’re all much of a muchness, as they say. And yes, sure, maybe Microsoft will plump for more modest iterative upgrades for its desktop OS in the nearer-term in this vein. However, this isn’t a great look in terms of innovation – and I think the software giant is looking to make a big splash with AI. Indeed, the company’s execs are pretty much telling us this already.

Which is why Microsoft might simply not bother with Windows 12 – and just keep Windows 11 rolling on down the road on annual updates – while it works to make a big entrance with Windows AI, or Windows Copilot, or whatever a much more tightly AI-focused operating system ends up being called (it won’t be Windows 12, I don’t think – again, it’ll be a statement of some kind).

If Microsoft really wants to sell AI – and I think there’s an abundance of evidence of that, including key chatter from top execs – the next take on Windows will have Copilot’s tentacles snaking into a lot more corners, and will push all kinds of new AI-related tricks on us.

As a result, next-gen Windows will probably look very different to the concept we see here – but I hope that Microsoft might take at least some inspiration from the ideas aired on YouTube here, as I’m a fan.

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