Windows 11

At the Microsoft Build 2021 developer conference, CEO and chairman Satya Nadella teased about the existence of the next generation of Windows during his keynote speech. According to Nadella, he had been self-hosting it for several months. He also teased that an official announcement would come very soon.[37] Just a week after Nadella's keynote, Microsoft started sending invitations for a dedicated Windows media event at 11:00 a.m. ET on June 24, 2021.[38][39] Microsoft also posted an 11-minute video of Windows start-up sounds to YouTube on June 10, 2021, with many people speculating both the time of the Microsoft event and the duration of the Windows start-up sound video to be a reference to the name of the operating system as Windows 11.[40][41]

On June 24, 2021, Windows 11 was officially announced at a virtual event hosted by Chief Product Officer Panos Panay.[39][42][43] According to Nadella, Windows 11 is "a re-imagining of the operating system".[44] Further details for developers such as updates to the Microsoft Store, the new Windows App SDK (code-named "Project Reunion"), new Fluent Design guidelines, and more were discussed during another developer-focused event on the same day.[45][46][47]

The Windows 11 name was accidentally released in an official Microsoft support document in June 2021.[48][49] Leaked images of a purported beta build of Windows 11's desktop surfaced online later on June 15, 2021,[50][51] which were followed by a leak of the aforementioned build on the same day.[52] The screenshots and leaked build show an interface resembling that of the canceled Windows 10X, alongside a redesigned out-of-box experience (OOBE) and Windows 11 branding.[53] Microsoft would later confirm the authenticity of the leaked beta, with Panay stating that it was an "early weird build".[54][55]

At the June 24 media event, Microsoft also announced that Windows 11 would be released in "Holiday 2021".[56][57] Its release will be accompanied by a free upgrade for compatible Windows 10 devices through Windows Update.[58] On June 28, Microsoft announced the release of the first preview build and SDK of Windows 11 to Windows Insiders.[59]

On August 31, 2021, Microsoft announced that Windows 11 was to be released on October 5, 2021.[60] The release would be phased, with newer eligible devices to be offered the upgrade first.[8] Since its predecessor Windows 10 was released on July 29, 2015, more than six years earlier, this is the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows operating systems, beating the time between Windows XP (released on October 25, 2001) and Windows Vista (released on January 30, 2007).[61]

The first television commercial for Windows 11 premiered during the 2021 NFL Kickoff Game on September 9, 2021; it was intended to showcase a "feeling of immersion and fluidity", with imagery of operating system features and Xbox Game Studios' Halo Infinite.[62] Other promotional campaigns on release day included the Burj Khalifa in Dubai being illuminated with imagery of the Windows 11 logo and default "Bloom" wallpaper,[63] and Mikey Likes It ice cream parlors in New York City distributing free cups of "Bloomberry" ice cream.[64][65]

Though a support document listed October 4, 2021, as the initial release date,[66] Microsoft officially released Windows 11 on October 5, 2021,[8][67] as an opt-in, in-place upgrade through either the Windows 11 Installation Assistant application (which can perform the upgrade, or generate an ISO image or USB install media), or via Windows Update in a phased rollout; Microsoft anticipated that Windows 11 would be available via Windows Update to all eligible devices by mid-2022.[68][69][70] New installations of Windows 10 on eligible hardware may present an option to upgrade during the OOBE.[71] Retail copies of Windows 11 (consisting of a license key and USB flash drive) were released on May 9, 2022,[72][73] and digital licenses became available via Microsoft Store on July 28, 2022.[74]

A redesigned user interface is present frequently throughout the operating system, building upon Fluent Design System; translucency, shadows, a new color palette, and rounded geometry are prevalent throughout the UI. A prevalent aspect of the design is an appearance known as "Mica", described as an "opaque, dynamic material that incorporates theme and desktop wallpaper to paint the background of long-lived windows such as apps and settings".[96][97] Much of the interface and start menu takes heavy inspiration from the now-canceled Windows 10X.[98] The Segoe UI font used since Windows Vista has been updated to a variable version, improving its ability to scale between different display resolutions.[99]

The flyout for the hardware indicator for volume in Windows 11 version 22H2

The taskbar's buttons are center-aligned by default, and it is permanently pinned to the bottom edge of the screen; it cannot be moved to the top, left, or right edges of the screen as in previous versions of Windows without manual changes to the registry.[100] The notifications sidebar is now accessed by clicking the date and time, with other Quick Actions toggles, as well as volume, brightness, and media playback controls, moved to a new settings pop-up displayed by clicking on the system tray. The "Widgets" button on the taskbar displays a panel with Microsoft Start,[101] a news aggregator with personalized stories and content (expanding upon the "news and interests" panel introduced in later builds of Windows 10).[86][96] Microsoft Teams is similarly integrated with the taskbar, with a pop-up showing a list of recent conversations.[82]

The Start menu has been significantly redesigned, replacing the "live tiles" used by Windows 8.x and 10 with a grid of "pinned" applications, and a list of recent applications and documents.[80][86] File Explorer was updated to replace its ribbon toolbar with a more traditional toolbar, while its context menus have been redesigned to move some tasks (such as copy and paste) to a toolbar along the top of the menu, and hide other operations under an overflow menu.[96]

The redesigned Task View in Windows 11, featuring a separate wallpaper support for individual desktops.

Task View, a feature introduced in Windows 10, features a refreshed design, and supports giving separate wallpapers to each virtual desktop. The window snapping functionality has been enhanced with two additional features; hovering over a window's maximize button displays pre-determined "Snap Layouts" for tiling multiple windows onto a display, and tiled arrangement of windows can be minimized and restored from the taskbar as a "snap group".[86][102] When a display is disconnected in a multi-monitor configuration, the windows that were previously on that display will be minimized rather than automatically moved to the main display. If the same display is reconnected, the windows are restored to their prior location.[103]

On October 21, 2021, Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) became available to Beta channel builds of Windows 11 for users in the United States,[104] which allows users to install and run Android apps on their devices. Users can install Android apps through any source using the APK file format.[105] An Amazon Appstore client for Microsoft Store is also available.[106][107][108][109] The Windows Subsystem for Android and Amazon Appstore became available to Release channel users in the United States on February 15, 2022, in Windows 11 Release build 22000.527.[110]

WSA is based on the Intel Bridge runtime compiler; Intel stated that the technology is not dependent on its CPUs, and will also be supported on x86-64 and ARM CPUs from other vendors.[109]

Installation requires internet connection and Microsoft account login is mandatory unless manually bypassed to create a local user.[111][112][113][114][115]

As part of the minimum system requirements, Windows 11 only runs on devices with a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 security coprocessor.[116][117] According to Microsoft, the TPM 2.0 coprocessor is a "critical building block" for protection against firmware and hardware attacks. In addition, Microsoft now requires devices with Windows 11 to include virtualization-based security (VBS), hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI), and Secure Boot built-in and enabled by default.[118] The operating system also features hardware-enforced stack protection for supported Intel and AMD processors for protection against zero-day exploits.[119]

Like its predecessor, Windows 11 also supports multi-factor authentication and biometric authentication through Windows Hello.[118]

In subsequent updates, Microsoft added several features based on artificial intelligence (AI), like live captions, background noise removal in videoconferencing, webcam auto-framing that follows the user's movements,[85] and AI-powered Bing Chat in the taskbar's search field.[120] Following the integration of GPT-4 in Microsoft's other products, the company announced that by summer 2023, a new Windows Copilot would add GPT-4 integration to the Windows taskbar.[121]

Windows 11 is available in two main editions; the Home edition, which is intended for consumer users, and the Pro edition, which contains additional networking and security features (such as BitLocker), as well as the ability to join a domain.[123] Windows 11 Home may be restricted by default to verified software obtained from Microsoft Store ("S Mode").[124] Windows 11 Home requires an Internet connection and a Microsoft account in order to complete first-time setup.[125] This restriction is also applied to Windows 11 Pro since version 22H2[115] as it was announced on February 2022.[126]

Windows 11 SE was announced on November 9, 2021, as an edition exclusively for low-end devices sold in the education market; it is intended as a successor to Windows 10 S, and also competes primarily with ChromeOS. It is designed to be managed via Microsoft Intune, and has changed based on feedback from educators to simplify the user interface and reduce "distractions", such as Snap Layouts not containing layouts for more than two applications at once, all applications opening maximized by default, and Widgets being removed. It is bundled with applications such as Microsoft Office for Microsoft 365, Minecraft Education Edition, and Flipgrid, while OneDrive is used to save files by default. Windows 11 SE does not include Microsoft Store; third-party software is provisioned or installed by administrators. To target organizations migrating from Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge is configured by default to enable the installation of extensions from the Chrome Web Store.[127][128]

The basic system requirements of Windows 11 differ significantly from Windows 10. Windows 11 only supports 64-bit systems such as those using an x86-64 or ARM64 processor; IA-32 and ARM32 processors are no longer supported.[117] Thus, Windows 11 is the first consumer version of Windows not to support 32-bit processors (although Windows Server 2008 R2 is the first version of Windows Server to not support them).[135][136] The minimum RAM and storage requirements were also increased; Windows 11 now requires at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.[137] S mode is only supported for the Home edition of Windows 11.[138] As of August 2021, the officially supported list of processors includes Intel Coffee Lake (eighth generation Intel Core) CPUs and later, AMD Zen+ CPUs/APUs and later (which include the "AF" revisions of Ryzen 1000 CPUs, which are underclocked Zen+ CPUs that supplant Ryzen 1000 parts that could no longer be manufactured due to a change in process),[139] and Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 and later.[140] The compatibility list includes the Intel Core i7-7820HQ, a seventh-generation processor used by the Surface Studio 2,[141] although only on devices that shipped with DCH-based drivers.[142]

Legacy BIOS is no longer supported; a UEFI system and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 security coprocessor is now required.[100][132][143][144] The TPM requirement in particular has led to confusion as many motherboards do not have TPM support, or require a compatible TPM to be physically installed onto the motherboard. Many newer CPUs also include a TPM implemented at the CPU level (with AMD referring to this as "fTPM", and Intel referring to it as "Platform Trust Technology" [PTT]),[145] which might be disabled by default and require changing settings in the computer's UEFI firmware,[146] or a UEFI firmware update that changes the default settings to reflect these requirements.[147]

Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) can still ship computers without a TPM 2.0 coprocessor upon Microsoft's approval.[116][148] Devices with unsupported processors are not blocked from installing or running Windows 11; however, a clean install or upgrade using ISO installation media must be performed as Windows Update will not offer an upgrade from Windows 10.[149] Additionally, users must also accept an on-screen disclaimer stating that they will not be entitled to receive updates, and that damage caused by using Windows 11 on an unsupported configuration are not covered by the manufacturer's warranty.[150][151]

Some third-party software may refuse to run on configurations of Windows 11 that do not comply with the hardware security requirement, with Riot Games' multiplayer game Valorant (which uses it to strictly enforce its kernel-level anti-cheat component) being the first such example.[152]

Reception of Windows 11 upon its reveal was positive, with critics praising the new design and productivity features.[153] However, Microsoft was criticized for creating confusion over the minimum system requirements for Windows 11.[154] The increased system requirements (compared to those of Windows 10) initially published by Microsoft meant that up to 60 percent of existing Windows 10 PCs were unable to upgrade to Windows 11,[155] which has faced concerns that this will make the devices electronic waste.[156]

Microsoft has not specifically acknowledged this when discussing the cutoff, it was also acknowledged that the sixth and seventh generation of Intel Core processors were prominently afflicted by CPU-level security vulnerabilities such as Meltdown and Spectre, and that newer CPUs manufactured since then had increased mitigations against the flaws.[96][157]

Speaking to IT news outlet CRN, a dozen independent solution providers all felt that they "believe Windows 11 will be a meaningful step up in security, and they agree with Microsoft's strategy of putting security first."[157]

Research Vice President of Gartner Stephen Kleynhans felt that Microsoft was "looking at the entire stack from the hardware up through the applications and the user experience and trying to make the entire stack work better and more securely.[157]

Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica praised the improvements to its visual design (describing the new "Mica" appearance as reminiscent of the visual appearance of iOS and macOS, and arguing that Microsoft had "[made] a serious effort" at making the user-facing aspects of Windows 11 more consistent visually), window management, performance (assessed as being equivalent to if not better than Windows 10), other "beneficial tweaks", and its system requirements having brought greater public attention to hardware security features present on modern PCs. Criticism was raised towards Widgets' lack of support for third-party content (thus limiting it to Microsoft services only), regressions in taskbar functionality and customization, the inability to easily select default applications for common tasks such as web browsing (now requiring the user to select the browser application for each file type individually), and Microsoft's unclear justification for its processor compatibility criteria. Cunningham concluded that "as I've dug into [Windows 11] and learned its ins and outs for this review, I've warmed to it more", but argued that the OS was facing similar "public perception" issues to Windows Vista and Windows 8. However, he noted that 11 did not have as many performance issues or bugs as Vista had upon its release, nor was as "disjointed" as 8, and recommended that users who were unsure about the upgrade should stay on Windows 10 in anticipation of future updates to 11.[96]

Tom Warren of The Verge described Windows 11 as being akin to a house in the middle of renovations, but that "actually using Windows 11 for the past few months hasn't felt as controversial as I had expected"—praising its updated user interface as being more modern and reminiscent of iOS and ChromeOS, the new start menu for feeling less cluttered than the Windows 10 iteration, updates to some of its stock applications, and Snap Assist. Warren noted that he rarely used the Widgets panel or Microsoft Teams, citing that he preferred the weather display that later versions of Windows 10 offered, and did not use Teams to communicate with his friends and family. He also acknowledged the expansion of the Microsoft Store to include more "traditional" desktop applications. However, he felt that Windows 11 still felt like a work in progress, noting UI inconsistencies (such as dark mode and new context menu designs not being uniform across all dialogues and applications, and the UWP Settings app still falling back upon legacy Control Panel applets for certain settings), regressions to the taskbar (including the inability to move it, drag files onto taskbar buttons to focus the corresponding application, and the clock only shown on the primary display in multi-monitor configurations), and promised features (such as dynamic refresh rate support and a universal microphone mute button) not being present on the initial release. Overall, he concluded that "I wouldn't rush out to upgrade to Windows 11, but I also wouldn't avoid it. After all, Windows 11 still feels familiar and underneath all the UI changes, it's the same Windows we've had for decades."[158]

PC World was more critical, arguing that Windows 11 "sacrifices productivity for personality, but without cohesion", commenting upon changes such as the inability to use local "offline" accounts on Windows 11 Home, regressions to the taskbar, a "functionally worse" start menu, Microsoft Teams integration having privacy implications and being a ploy to coerce users into switching to the service, File Explorer obscuring common functions under unclear icons, forcing users to scroll through many options to discourage changing the default web browser from Microsoft Edge, and that the OS "anecdotally feels less responsive, slower, and heavier than Windows 10". It was concluded that Windows 11 "feels practical and productive, but less so than its predecessor in many aspects", while its best features were either "hidden deeper within", required specific hardware (DirectStorage, Auto HDR) or were not available on launch (Android app support).[159]