Since the beginning of the year we have been seeing rumors about the supposed next update of Microsoft‘s operating system, and now we have a new one that places Windows 12 in the year 2024. For its part, Windows 11 was somewhat traumatic in terms of hardware due to the requirements technicians I had but will the same thing happen with Windows 12? Can it be installed on any PC?
From what it seems, Microsoft is not too happy with the result that Windows 11 is giving them, since its adoption has not been as fast and extensive as they intended and, in fact, today the most used operating system is still Windows. 10 even though upgrading to the next version is free. This could cause an acceleration in the release cycle in the company, and would give Windows 11 only 3 years to live. Of course, Windows 11 should continue to receive support and updates for at least 10 years, until 2031.
Will Windows 12 be installed on all PCs?
In theory (for now it’s all leaks and guesses), Microsoft’s next operating system will introduce significant changes to the user interface, support for newer types of hardware, and support for newer APIs.
The transition to Windows 11 has been quite traumatic in terms of hardware. The need to have a TPM 2.0 chip on the motherboard was introduced, and at a hardware level, it is the only operating system compatible with Thread Director technology, integrated in Intel Core 12 (Alder Lake) processors, almost forcing users owners of the new Intel platform to use this version of the operating system.
In principle, Windows 12 will have the same hardware requirements as Windows 11, no more and no less, so the short answer to the question is that if your PC is already compatible with Windows 11, it will be with the next version and you will not have any Type of problem.
The Pluto security chip
In collaboration with AMD, Intel and Qualcomm, Microsoft has developed the new security chip that they have called Pluton (yes, without the tilde in the O because the name is in English). The difference between these Pluton chips and the TPM 2.0 chip that we use today is that it is integrated directly into the processor , so the limitations imposed will be at the CPU architecture level.
In principle, the purpose of this new chip is simply to store, encrypt and protect sensitive data, such as credentials, user identity, encryption keys and personal data. This information cannot be removed from the chip in any way, as it will be isolated from the rest of the system to ensure that no attack technique can access it. In addition, SHACK (Secure Hardware Cryptography Key) technology is used, which supposedly ensures that encryption keys can never leave the protected hardware.
This integration will only be possible with the next generation hardware, which will be released at the same time as Windows 12, but it does not mean that the previous hardware will not be compatible with the operating system, it will simply use TPM 2.0 the same as now instead of the new Pluto chip.
