. While rumors of "Windows 12" exist, Microsoft has not officially announced a successor as of February 2026. 5. Summary Table: Redstone vs. Windows 11 Windows 10 (Redstone Era) Windows 11 (Sun Valley Era) Primary Codename Redstone (RS1–RS5) Sun Valley (SV1–SV3) Design Language Early Fluent Design Fluent 2 (Mica/Rounded) Release Cadence Twice yearly Once yearly Security Mandate Standard BIOS/UEFI Mandatory TPM 2.0
After RS5, Microsoft moved to and "Vibranium," finally ending with "Cobalt" (Windows 10 build 213xx), which was supposed to be the next major Windows 10 release. However, Cobalt took a sharp turn. windows 11 redstone
Windows 11 was built upon the core foundation established during the late Redstone/Windows 10 era but introduced significant modernizations: Design Language: It transitioned to the Fluent Design System 2 Summary Table: Redstone vs
Unlike Windows 10’s big Redstone drops twice a year, Windows 11 uses continuous innovation via (Moment 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). These are the new "Redstone"—small but frequent feature drops. Windows 11 was built upon the core foundation
In the early concept phases of what would eventually become Windows 11, the operating system was not intended to be a "new" Windows. It was internally codenamed and later elements were referred to as "Sun Valley." These were planned to be major overhauls of Windows 10—essentially a massive UI refresh that would modernize the look and feel of the OS while keeping the underlying architecture the same.
The final entry, which tested productivity features like "Sets" (tabbed windows for apps).
While Microsoft does not recommend installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, they have stated it is not illegal. 4. Current Challenges & Future Outlook Adoption Rates: