Senior Microsoft official reveals key ideas for next major Windows release

Microsoft has just posted a new video in the Windows in the Cloud podcast series on the Windows IT Pro YouTube channel. This time, the guest is Pavan Davuluri – Microsoft's Windows and Devices leader – talking with Christiaan Brinkhoff, AI Product Manager at Redmond.

The talk covered the journey of Windows from past to present, and sketched out a vision for the future. And it was here that Davuluri revealed his vision for the next major version of Windows – an ambitious vision where voice will be the 'key' to how we interact with computers.

If Windows users have been loyal to the keyboard and mouse for decades, Davuluri believes that will change dramatically:

'I think we're going to see computers become more user-friendly, ubiquitous, multi-platform and multi-modal, and voice is going to be increasingly important.'

He also highlighted AI features like Copilot Vision – which can 'see' the screen and recognise context – that will help make Windows a more user-aware operating system:

Your computer will be able to see your screen, understand the context, and you will be able to talk to it while you write, draw, or interact with other people. The computer will understand your interaction intentions at a semantic level.

Although Davuluri spoke from a personal perspective, what he shared seems to reflect quite clearly the direction Microsoft is pursuing for the next generation of Windows.

Microsoft has yet to publicly talk about its plans for future Windows updates. But the dream of a Windows that "understands" users through AI is not new. Back in January 2023, at AMD's CES event, former CEO Panos Panay outlined a similar vision, where artificial intelligence would become the soul of the operating system.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 17 August 2025