They have been saying that for a few versions of Windows now... Remember, Window 10 was going to be the last OS they made, it would be Windows as a Service. Microsoft actually said that and 2 years later, Windows 11 comes out.... If they do it, it will be a license model. As they do for corporate users. I doubt that home/personal users will be in a subscription model. I've always kept my operating system legal no matter what software I have on it but, if they go to this, I might join others here. About the only sub I have is XM radio(never pay more than $6 a month) and Xbox(gamepass)/PSN, and the ONLY reasons.... My local radio stations suck and I do like playing games online with friends and family.
All discussion has quieted down. There were many rumors about a release in fall 2024 that would disrupt the usual cycle, but it looks like it won't be arriving for some time. Personally, this doesn’t concern me much because I find Microsoft's changes to Bing CoPilot frustrating. Its woke approach often leads to incorrect information and irrelevant ad-related links. Reports indicate it requires a significant amount of extra horsepower to meet minimum requirements, which contributed to my decision to downgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 11. In fact, I found W11 laggy compared to my W10 even though my PC officially supports W11, just not Windows Hello.
Yes, and MS was big on this with W11 and then out of the blue there was serious chatter about W12 shortly after W11 was made available. This change in direction was inconsistent.
Of course, it's Microsoft we are speaking about. Maybe fundamental decision-making still takes place in a garage... at a Saturday evening... when being drunk.