Microsoft has not officially announced Windows 12. Although it remains a mystery, numerous rumors and leaks have sparked speculation about its features, release date, and design. Here's a rundown of what experts and technology enthusiasts expect from the next major version of Windows.

Windows 12 Release Date – Q4 2025?
You might also want to consider speculation about the potential arrival of Windows 12. However, new intelligence suggests that it probably won't arrive this year. Microsoft hinted at Windows 12 during CES. However, 2025 seems to be the time to "refresh Windows 11". This makes it less likely that Windows 12 will arrive soon. Microsoft's historic release schedule (five years between Windows 10 and 11) may push Windows 12 back to 2027.

The "Germanium" platform for Windows 11 24H2 Update focuses on AI-centric features in Copilot+ PCs. This move could mark a turning point for hardware that uses neural processing units in Windows 12, whenever it arrives.

What fuelled Windows 12 speculation?
For context, the speculation regarding Windows 12 first emerged from Intel and Qualcomm, both of whom anticipated a "Windows refresh" sometime in 2024. However, this was probably about the Copilot+ edition of Windows 11, which was not a completely different version.

The market dynamics also indicate the delay of a launch. Windows 11 now holds 34% of the global market share, still significantly below Windows 10's 63%. Releasing another version of Windows too soon would only add to end users' confusion.

Windows 12 Key Features
AI-Driven Enhancements
Microsoft suggests big AI features for Windows 12. Some possible AI improvements include predictive interfaces, personalized recommendations, backend stability, security, and improved update efficiency . Copilot-like features may also become more contextual, with voice-activated commands akin to Microsoft Cortana.

6 AI Features Expected in Windows 12
Copilot Everywhere
Experience seamless AI integration across the Windows interface. Microsoft's Copilot assists with tasks, boosts productivity, and provides personalized recommendations.

Smart Recall Search
Find what you need quickly using natural-language queries. Smart Recall intelligently searches your past files, web searches, and apps through intuitive conversational search.

NPU Acceleration
Leverage Neural Processing Units (NPUs) for fast AI apps, multimedia editing, and visual upscaling. Enhanced AI processing delivers smoother multitasking.

Parallax Live Wallpapers
Bring your desktop to life with dynamic, AI-driven wallpapers that adapt in real-time to themes, lighting, and user interaction.

DirectStorage & DirectX 13
Enjoy faster gaming performance, reduced loading times, and realistic graphics. DirectStorage reduces bottlenecks, while DirectX 13 enhances gaming realism.

Modular CorePC System
Get lighter, faster, and tailored installations. Windows 12’s CorePC optimizes performance and battery life for your specific device.

Modular System Design
Windows 12 may use a modular design. This will create a lighter and customizable version of Windows that fits specific hardware and consumer needs. It represents a significant break from the current Windows version, which is a single, unified entity.

Potential Interface Changes
Then, at Microsoft Ignite 2023, a Windows 12 leak suggested a desktop design. The interface featured:

An email preview and a floating search bar on the top
A detached taskbar
You will find system icons in the top right corner
In the upper left, we have some weather info
They're not as alarming as the Windows 10-to-11 jump , but they could radically change how you use the OS. These changes, particularly the relocation of system elements, may confuse veteran Windows users.

Will Windows 12 be on a Subscription Model?
Subscribers will need to pay regularly to use a subscription-based Windows service. However, analysts in the industry generally interpret this as enterprise-focused offerings like Windows 365 Cloud PC.

The End or Continuation of Windows as a Service?
Highly anticipated, Windows 12 is expected to pursue Microsoft's Windows as a service strategy, providing continuous feature updates, security patches, and smaller intermediate "Moments." This feature will keep Windows constantly updated and evolve in small steps, rather than making giant leaps through big version jumps.

What to Expect in Windows 12
The details are uncertain. However, Windows 12 will likely focus on AI features and may have a more modular design. Windows users can look forward to improvements, more personalization, and possibly big changes. These updates will help Windows stay current with new technologies and changing user needs, even with its uncertain future.
Via Techsupport, Inetarchive, Picarchive

Clearing out old emails, large files and more can free up a lot of space.


Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The holidays are almost here, which means there will be a lot of photo ops in the near future. But if you use Google Drive, all your photos, videos and other random documents might be eating up the 15GB of free storage Google Drive provides.

If you run out of storage, you'll see a message asking you to upgrade to a Google One plan, but that doesn't mean you have to buy digital storage. If you're willing to create another Google account, you can transfer all your old email and files for free. But if that sounds like a hassle, here are some other tricks we used to clear out space our digital filing cabinet that you might find useful.

I recommend trying these tips on your laptop rather than a phone, as you'll have an easier time sorting through and managing files. I'll walk you through both processes if you have access only to a mobile device.

1. Easily find and delete large files

Here's how to delete files by size on your desktop.

1. Log into your Google Drive account.

2. Click Storage in the menu on the left side of the screen.

3. The Storage page should list your files from largest to smallest, but if not, click Storage used on the right side of the screen. The files should now be ordered from largest to smallest.

4. Click on the large files you want to delete to select them. You can select multiple files by holding the Shift key on your keyboard.

5. After selecting the files for deletion, click the trash bin that appears near the top of the screen.

You're not finished when the items are in the Trash. From there, click Trash on the left side of the screen to go to the Trash menu. Then, click Empty Trash on the right side of the screen, and then click Empty forever.

You can also delete files by size on your mobile device. Here's how.

1. Open your Google Drive app and log into your account.

2. Tap Files in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

3. Tap Name underneath My Drive near the top of the screen.

4. Tap Storage used. This will arrange your files from largest to smallest. You can select My Drive and then Storage used again to list your files by smallest to largest.

5. Tap the three dots (...) next to the item you want to delete.

6. Tap Remove then Move to trash.

Google says in the app that items in your Trash are deleted forever automatically after 30 days. If you want to speed things up and empty your trash now, here's how.

1. Tap the hamburger icon (three stacked lines) in the top-left corner of the screen next to Search in Drive.

2. Tap Trash.

3. Tap the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the screen.

4. Tap Empty trash.


Whether you need to make more space or just want to keep your
Gmail tidy, it's easy to make room for storage in the service.
James Martin/CNET

Delete files by size in Gmail
You can also delete your files by size in Gmail. Here's how on desktop.

1. Log into your Gmail account.

2. Type has:attachment larger:10MB into the search bar and hit Search. This will show you all emails that have attachments larger than 10MB, from largest to smallest. You can use this format to filter by other size files, not just 10MB files.

3. Check the boxes to the left of each email you want to delete, then click the Trash icon across the top of your screen. It should be under Conversations.

4. Click Trash on the left side of the screento go to the Trash menu. If you don't see Trash, click More and Trash should be in the expanded menu.

5. Click Empty trash now at the top of the screen.

You can delete files in the Gmail app similarly too. Here's how.

1. Open your Gmail app and log in to your account.

2. Type has:attachment larger:10MB into the search bar and hit Search. This will show you all emails that have attachments larger than 10MB, from largest to smallest. You can use this format to filter by other size files, not just 10MB files.

3. Tap into the email you want to delete.

4. Tap the trash bin icon across the top of your screen.

5. Tap < in the top-left corner of your screen.

6. Tap the hamburger icon in the top-left corner of the screen next to Search in mail.

7. Tap Trash.

8. Tap Empty trash now.

Note that once a file goes to Trash, it'll automatically delete after 30 days.

2. Empty your spam folder

I forget about emptying my spam folder, but it can take up unnecessary data in your Gmail account. Emptying your spam folder — and your social or promotions folders — is another way to make space.

Here's how to empty your Spam folder on your desktop.

1. Log into your Gmail account.

2. Once you're logged in, click Spam on the left side of the screen. If you don't see Spam, click More and Spam should be in the expanded menu.

3. In your Spam folder, click Delete all spam messages now.

4. Click OK in the pop-up.

Here's how to empty your Spam folder in the mobile app.

1. Open the Gmail app and log into your account.

2. Tap the hamburger icon in the top-left corner of the screen next to Search in mail.

3. Tap Spam.

4. Tap Delete all spam messages now or Empty spam now.


Don't let spam bog down your Gmail. Getty Images

3. Delete old or duplicate photos in Google Photos

Google also includes Google Photos in the 15GB of free storage it gives its users. Photos and videos can take up more space than text-based files, especially higher-quality ones, so it's a good idea to go through and delete old and duplicate photos and videos to make room.

There's no option to arrange your photos and videos from largest to smallest like in Google Drive and Gmail, so you'll have to go through and delete items manually. You can check how much space a file is taking up by selecting it and clicking the "i" for information from the top menu.

Here's how to delete photos and videos from Google Photos on your desktop.

1. Open and log into Google Photos.

2. Scroll your mouse over photos and videos you want to delete and click the gray checkmark icon in the top-left corner of the photo or video. Do this to as many photos and videos as you want.

3. Click the trash icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

4. Click Move to trash.

5. Click Trash on the left side of the screen.

6. Click Empty trash near the top-right corner of your screen.

7. Click Empty trash again, and you're set.

Here's how to delete photos and videos from the Google Photos mobile app.

A note for Apple users: If your Gmail is linked to your iCloud account, the two digital storage spaces may also be linked. This means that when enabling the Backup & Sync feature on Google Photos, all your local photos on your iPhone will be displayed on Google Photos. If you delete a photo on Google Photos, then the local photo on your iPhone will also be removed. When the local photo is removed, it won't show up on iCloud. You'll be able to tell if this is you when you try to delete an image on Google Photos; a pop-up window will let you know you're about to delete from both places.

1. Open and log into Google Photos.

2. Tap the photo or video you want to delete.

3. Tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

4. Tap Delete.

5. Tap Library in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

6. Tap Trash.

7. Tap the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the screen.

8. Tap Empty trash.

9. Tap Delete.

If you don't click or tap Empty trash on either desktop or mobile, the photos and videos you've deleted will automatically be deleted after 60 days.

Bonus tip: You can reduce the file size of some photos and videos in Google Photos. Doing so will allow you to regain some space, but it will reduce the quality of your media. You can learn more about this from Google Support here.


Photos and videos in Google Photos can take up a lot of storage.
Sarah Tew/CNET

4. When all else fails, download your files to your desktop

If your storage is still almost full and you can't part with any more items from your Google Drive, Gmail or Google Photos, you can download your items and store them directly on your computer before deleting them from your Google Drive.

Here's how to download all your Google files for storage on another hard drive.

1. Open and log into your Google Drive or Google Photos account on your desktop.

2. Select the files or photos you want to download.

3. Click the three stacked dots in the upper-right corner of your screen.

4. Click Download. Note that Gmail will download messages as a .eml file.

5. Once the items are downloaded and moved onto your hard drive, feel free to delete them from your account and empty your trash bins.

You can download emails from Gmail in much the same way, but you have to download your emails one at a time. While this makes downloading your emails more tedious, it's still possible. Here's how to download your emails from Gmail.

1. Open and log into your Gmail account on your desktop.

2. Click on the email you want to download.

3. Click the three stacked dots in the upper-right corner of your screen.

4. Click Download. Your emails will download as a .eml file.

5. Once your emails are downloaded and moved onto your hard drive, feel free to delete them from your account and empty your trash bins.

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Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 Canary Channel update, build 27965, which finally brings the redesigned Start menu from Dev/Beta Channels to Canary users. While the new Start menu is the main feature, Microsoft is also making important changes to .NET Framework 3.5. The latter is no longer a Windows Feature on Demand (optional component), which means users who rely on it should get it via a standalone installer. Also, the build introduces Edit, a new command-line text editor, fixes for the taskbar and system tray, and more.

Here is the changelog:

Introducing the new Start menu for Windows 11

Easily launch all your apps with a scrollable Start menu



We’re making it easier for you to launch your apps with our updated, scrollable Start menu. With “All” now on the top-level, apps are easily accessible without having to navigate to a secondary page. In addition, we’re introducing two new views to browse and launch your installed apps in the “All” section: category and grid view.

The new default Category view automatically groups your apps by category for quick access to your most used categories and apps. So, if your most used apps are Outlook and Solitaire, you can expect those apps to bubble up to the top in their respective categories. Categories are formed when there are at least 3 apps in each respective category. Otherwise, they will remain in the “Other” category.

Grid view is ordered alphabetically, like List view, but allows for better scanning of all your installed apps with more horizontal real estate. With new view options to choose from in the “All” section, we’ll remember your last used view so you can reliably launch your apps with the view you prefer most.



Experience a larger Start menu with responsive sections

We’re making better use of your screen real estate by adapting the size of the Start menu based on your screen size. Have a larger-screen device? You can expect to see a larger Start menu, by default, so you can see more of your apps and files. On larger devices, users can expect to see 8 columns of pinned apps, 6 recommendations, and 4 columns of categories in the Start menu. On smaller devices, you’ll see 6 columns of pinned apps, 4 recommendations, and 3 columns of categories.



Sections within Start are also responsive, so you can see more or less of your Pinned and Recommended sections. Have only a few pins? The Pinned section will shrink down to a single row, and other sections will slide up. If you’d prefer not to see recommendations, then turn off the following toggles in Settings > Personalization > Start: “Show recently added apps,” “Show recommended files in Start…,” “Show websites from your browsing history,” and “Show recommendations for tips…” If there aren’t any recommendations available, the section will collapse so you can see more of your installed apps.

Seamless cross-device integration with Phone Link

Lastly, we’ve updated Start to continue allowing you to take advantage of powerful cross-device features. Now, you can easily expand and collapse mobile device content using the new mobile device button next to the Search box.

This cross-device integration is generally available for connected Android and iOS devices in most markets and will be coming later in 2025 to the European Economic Area.

Here are the changes and improvements:

[.NET Framework 3.5]

• Starting with Build 27965, .NET Framework 3.5 is no longer a Windows Feature on Demand optional component. We encourage customers relying on the legacy framework to move to modern versions of .NET. Customers running business-critical applications that still depend on .NET Framework 3.5 can access a .NET Framework 3.5 standalone installer located here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2337635. More information about .NET Framework products’ lifecycle can be found here: Lifecycle FAQ – .NET Framework | Microsoft Learn

[Command Line]

• Edit, a command-line text editor, is now delivered with Windows! You can quickly edit a file while in the Terminal app by typing edit followed by the file name. Edit is open source on GitHub and for a full list of its features, check out its docs.

Here are the fixes:

[Taskbar and System Tray]

• If you were having issues with the taskbar not autohiding correctly in the previous flight, that should be resolved now.

[Video Playback]

• Fixed a recent issue that was causing some videos and games to be unexpectedly red.

• Fixed an issue that could affect the layback of protected content in certain Blu-ray, DVD, and digital TV apps that used Enhanced Video Renderer with HDCP enforcement.

Finally, here is the list of known issues:

[File Explorer]

• [NEW] We’re working on the fix for an issue in the latest Canary builds causing File Explorer to crash when transferring files to a network drive.

[Settings]

• [NEW] Settings may crash when accessing drive information under Settings > System > Storage. This also impacts accessing the drive information from the properties when you right-click a drive in File Explorer.

[Lock and login screens]

• [NEW] We’re investigating an issue in this build where the media controls may not display on the lock screen.

[Power and Battery]

• We’re investigating reports that sleep and shutdown aren’t working correctly for some Insiders after the latest Canary builds.

You can find the release notes for build 27965 here.

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Cyber Defense is a comprehensive guide that provides an in-depth exploration of essential practices to secure one’s digital life. The book begins with an introduction to cyber hygiene, emphasizing its importance and the foundational concepts necessary for maintaining digital security. It then dives into financial security, detailing methods for protecting financial accounts, monitoring transactions, and compartmentalizing accounts to minimize risks. Password management and multifactor authentication are covered, offering strategies for creating strong passwords, using password managers, and enabling multifactor authentication.

With a discussion on secure internet browsing practices, techniques to avoid phishing attacks, and safe web browsing, this book provides email security guidelines for recognizing scams and securing email accounts. Protecting personal devices is discussed, focusing on smartphones, tablets, laptops, IoT devices, and app store security issues. Home network security is explored, with advice on securing home networks, firewalls, and Wi-Fi settings. Each chapter includes recommendations for success, offering practical steps to mitigate risks.

Topics covered in Cyber Defense include:

   • Data protection and privacy, providing insights into encrypting information and managing personal data

   • Backup and recovery strategies, including using personal cloud storage services

   • Social media safety, highlighting best practices, and the challenges of AI voice and video

   • Actionable recommendations on protecting your finances from criminals

   • Endpoint protection, ransomware, and malware protection strategies, alongside legal and  ethical considerations, including when and how to report cyber incidents to law enforcement

Cyber Defense is an essential guide for anyone, including business owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, IT staff and support teams, and students studying cybersecurity, information technology, or related fields.

How to get it

Follow this link to get your copy of Cyber Defense Best Parctices for Digital Safety of this guide. This link will redirect you to my One Drive account and click Download. [system administrator]

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