The time has come! After a short yet storied development period, Windows 11 will formally launch this week. Microsoft will start rolling out its latest and greatest OS to the first devices tomorrow.
In other words, users who are not part of the Windows Insider preview program will get to see what the deal is with this highly anticipated new operating system.
And the deal is surely big here.
Windows 11 is a massive overhaul of the modern versions of the OS that we have been known to love over the past decade or so. There are a number of new things you will notice after you first install this new version of Windows on your computer.
The new OS borrows a bunch of ideas from Windows 10X, the dual-screen operating system that unluckily never saw daylight. Yet, it served as the donor for a handful of new features and the overall design direction.
For example, the Taskbar icons are centered in Windows 11, while the Start Menu gives up on the Live Tiles and goes for a more static approach that in many ways makes more sense going forward for the operating platform.
As for the rollout, while Windows 11 will be available as a free upgrade for compatible devices, there are a few caveats that you must be aware of.
The most important of these is that if you are already on Windows 10, you will not be able to get Windows 11 unless your PC meets Redmond’s strict new system requirements.
That is because the company, ideally, only wants new-generation computers to experience its new OS.
Other than that, the rollout will happen in stages, as it almost always does these days.
While the process itself starts tomorrow, October 5, not everyone will get Windows 11 on day one. If anything, it could take a while until everybody is provided with the update to the new operating system, as Microsoft checks for compatibility with hardware, software, and firmware.
The company itself has explained that it hopes to complete the rollout to eligible devices by mid-2022.
Proceed.
