While we still have at least a couple of Windows 11 Moment updates left in store (Moment 3 and Moment 4), Microsoft is already making some steady progress toward Windows 12. Senior exec Panos Panay explained that the next-gen Windows 11 and Windows 12 will be a blend of cloud-powered and AI-driven experience, and Microsoft is slowly making some progress towards it. In aspects of security too, the company is killing off legacy components like MSDT, as well as VBScript, which has been exploited in the past.

If you are wondering about the release date of Windows 12, a recent rumor regarding Intel's 14th Gen Meteor Lake-S desktop CPUs claimed that Microsoft's Windows 12 will be supported by the next-gen Intel CPUs. The rumor was interesting regardless if it's true or not. However, it may end up being the latter, as there appears to be some lack of evidence that supports the existence and arrival of Meteor Lake-S.

Rumors from December suggested that launch plans for Meteor Lake-S were canceled (via Raichu on Twitter), and a more recent (now-deleted) report from Benchlife also echoed similar sentiments. The report claimed (via Wccftech) Arrow Lake-S will be superseding the canceled Meteor Lake-S:


HWiNFO, which can often reliably leak upcoming CPU or GPU products / SKUs, does not seem to feature anything regarding Intel's Meteor Lake-S (MTL-S). Version 7.3.2 does however mention " Metero Lake" only. Meanwhile, the most recent pre-release version (v7.41, Build 5020) of the software has already added preliminary support for Arrow Lake-S. Although it is possible that Meteor Lake-S gains HWiNFO support later on after Arrow Lake-S, it is a bit unlikely.


While it is possible that Windows 12 arrives alongside Meteor Lake mobile, instead of the Meteor Lake-S desktop CPUs, that would be a difficult thing to happen as Windows 12 will then have to release either by the end of this year or early next year. This is because, on multiple occasions, Intel has reiterated that its Meteor Lake CPUs, which are being built on the Intel 4 node, were already manufacturing-ready by the second half of 2022. In a recent statement to The Verge, Intel spokesperson Thomas Hannaford reassured that such plans remained unchanged and 2023 is when Meteor Lake sees the light of day.