For more than a year, we’ve been hearing rumors that Windows 12, the next major release for Microsoft’s venerated operating system, could be coming as soon as 2024. As always, Microsoft has refused to confirm or deny those rumors. So when Intel’s chief financial officer David Zinsner recently hinted at a Windows release expected next year that would drive new PC (and thus processor) sales, tongues began wagging.
Zinsner didn’t set out to tip Microsoft’s hand — he did it accidentally during a conversation with a financial analyst at Citigroup’s Global Technology Conference in September. In a transcript posted by investor site Seeking Alpha (free registration required), he is quoted as saying, “We actually think ’24 is going to be a pretty good year for client [processor sales], in particular, because of the Windows refresh. And we still think that the installed [PC] base is pretty old and does require a refresh, and we think next year may be the start of that, given the Windows catalyst.”
