(Image credit: Microsoft)
Are you thrilled at the prospect of Windows 11? If so then you will be pleased to know that Microsoft’s latest OS now has an official release date. That date you’re looking for is October 5th, 2021.
A new Windows experience, Windows 11 is designed to bring you closer to what you love.
Microsoft had this to say about the release date in a recent blog post:
“The free upgrade to Windows 11 starts on October 5 and will be phased and measured with a focus on quality. Following the tremendous learnings from Windows 10, we want to make sure we’re providing you with the best possible experience. That means new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first.”
If you’re a Windows 10 user and you meet the hardware requirements for Windows 11 you’ll be able to download the new OS and install immediately as of the date mentioned above. Users with older OS’s will need to perform a clean installation via a bootable USB drive and an ISO to complete the installation.
The free upgrade to Windows 11 will begin spreading out to eligible Windows 10 PCs and PCs that come pre-loaded with Windows 11 will start to become available for purchase.
Windows 11 is packed with new features and sports a long overdue UI overhaul. Microsoft’s stringent hardware requirements are angering broad swaths of the company’s user base. Many CPU’s that are perfectly capable of running Windows 11 are simply incompatible with it. That means if you have a top of the line computer that can run Windows 10 without a hitch you may not be able to use Windows 11 at all.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Windows 11 features
Windows 11 new visual design extends across multiple areas, from rounded corners to the centering of content and new animations.
That start put everything you need at the center with a set of pinned apps and utilizes power of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to show your recent files.
Another is the new multitasking feature thanks to Snap Layouts, Snap Groups and Desktop that provide an even more effective way to multitask and optimize screens in real estate.
Widgets that bring you closer to the information you care about, may it be the information you both want and need.
There’s also the Touch Keyboard Personalization with 13 newly designed themes for the touch keyboard. An option of creating a fully customized theme including background images and an introduction of a setting to resize the touch keyboard.
(Image credit: Xbox)
Windows 11 Gaming Experience
Gaming has always been Windows priority.
Windows 11 superior graphics all thanks to Auto HDR, a unique capability offering which automatically adds High Dynamic Range (HDR) enhancements to games built on DirectX 11 or higher. With Xbox Game Pass for PC, you will get access to over 100 high-quality PC games to play on Windows 11.
Here’s another window’s 11 first look.
While Microsoft hasn’t backed away from those requirements the company has announced that it will continue to support Windows 10 through 2025. That gives Windows 10 users plenty of time to retire their existing equipment and still get a free upgrade to Windows 11 which is good news indeed.
One way or the other though the future is Windows 11. It ultimately comes down to whether you embrace the future now or a bit later on but either way it’s coming.
