Microsoft teases 'next generation of Windows' with reveal 'very soon'

Microsoft is about to reveal the next-generation of Windows, with CEO Satya Nadella teasing big things are coming to Windows very soon.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during his Build 2021 keynote this morning: "Soon we will share one of the most significant updates to Windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunity for developers and creators. I've been self-hosting it over the past several months, and I'm incredibly excited about the next generation of Windows. Our promise to you is this: we will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative, new, open platform to build and distribute and monetize applications. We look forward to sharing more very soon".

We might not find out everything about the next-gen Windows during Build 2021, but it seems that we're going to see Microsoft at least outline what it wants to do with the future of its desktop OS over the coming days. This will have ripple effects throughout workstation or casual users, professionals, and gamers once the new Windows (11?) is announced.

We might even see Microsoft move away from numbering its Windows OS and maybe it'll just be "Windows" for a more simple design. Not Windows 11, not Windows 2021, not Windows Me.

• Read more: Windows 10's next major update for 2021 codenamed Iron (Fe)

What we can expect from the next-gen Windows, which is codenamed Sun Valley, is a totally-new Start Menu which will be the star of the show. There will be countless other new features and tricks in the new Windows I'm sure, but the redesigned Start Menu has been getting some hype for a while.

Overall UI changes will be a big deal in the new Windows as well, with Microsoft also set to make broad changes to the Windows Store (which is so badly needed). We should expect big, big changes with the future version of Windows, just as PCs and PC gaming are going to the next level with all of these new CPUs, GPUs, PCIe 4.0, and soon PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 technologies.