Still eating more specs? 🚨

The tide of news about Microsoft's next edition of Windows has returned to the spotlight; the latter reportedly suggests that future operating systems may significantly raise the hardware requirements, specifically giving priority to AI processors or NPUs (Neural Processing Unit) with at least 40 TOPS of processing power with a minimum of 16GB of RAM memory to support newer AI features running directly on the machine.

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That concept became increasingly talked about after Microsoft released the Copilot + PC standard, a group of PCs designed to support internal AI processing, with the company stating that Windows' implementation of advanced AI features required a 40 + TOPS-efficient NPU coupled with at least 16GB of RAM and a minimum 256GB of storage to allow the system to process AI models quickly and efficiently use power.

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The specification mirrored a new direction Windows was moving from using AI as just an optional feature, to becoming an integral part of the operating system, with NPUs performing some kind of AI task processing instead of the CPU and GPU, such as image processing, real-time language translation, or intelligent assistant features, allowing faster and more energy efficient operations than before.

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At present, chips that support such standards are starting to appear on the market, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 300 series, the new generation of Intel Core Ultra, and the Snapdragon X series, which was used in the Copilot + PC segment pushed aggressively by Microsoft in the latter.

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There is no clear information on whether the 40 + TOPS NPU condition mentioned only needs to be an NPU included in the CPU, or can use the processing power of a split-screen card (GPU). If in the future it is determined that it only needs to be an NPU built in the CPU, it may result in many computers today not being able to use new versions of Windows, especially desktop PCs, gaming computers, or older notebooks without a built-in NPU.

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That scenario could cause the hardware specifications of the next version of Windows to become a point of contention again; similar to the range Microsoft defined, TPM 2.0 was a key condition of Windows 11, which prevented many PCs from upgrading by then.

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Another possible approach is that Microsoft may choose to split the user experience into two groups, such as some systems or features specifically designed for PCs that pass the Copilot + PC standard, while a typical PC still runs the current version of Windows or a version that downgrades some of its features.

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Despite rumors that the next version of the operating system, called Windows 12 by many, may be released sometime in 2026, so far Microsoft has not officially announced such a plan. And many parts of the data remain only at the level of industry trend analysis. But what is starting to become apparent is that the direction of Windows in the next generation will tie in more AI-compatible hardware, which may require future PC shopping options to consider AI capabilities alongside more general performance than ever.

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Source: neowin

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