Windows 11: Sorting through the data

 Earlier this year Microsoft announced Windows 11 a complete redesign of the windows environment with enhanced security. This was surprising as Windows 10 was supposed to be the last windows ever and we were just supposed to see updates to this version of the OS. Microsoft has made it clear with products like Microsoft 365 to make windows more like a service rather than just an operating system. 

""Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10." That was the message from Microsoft employee Jerry Nixon, a developer evangelist speaking at the company's Ignite conference this week." (Warren, 2015) 

Some of the big highlights include 

-Removal of the live tiles from the start menu 

-Relocation of the taskbar icons to be more centered (similar to what you see in MacOS and many Linux distros) 

-Integration of Microsoft Teams (Like they previously did with Skype) 

-Ability to run native Android apps 

-Xbox tech for better gaming like direct storage and autoHDR

-Virtual desktop support (similar to MacOS and Linux) 

-A cleaner, more rounded interface (Once again MacOS) 

There is also a lot of back and forth around what systems will users be able to upgrade to Windows 10 in October when it is set to become available. Discussions around TPM 2.0 support and elevated hardware specifications have been all over. For clarification some systems will be able to install windows 11 even if they do not meet the minimum requirements, but it will be an unsupported upgrade and at this time looks like it will miss out on some features and security updates. I have included the hardware requirements from Microsofts website at the bottom of the post. If you would like to try this now there is a public beta of the software available but I would caution against installing it on your daily driver PC.

Hardware requirements

To install or upgrade to Windows 11, devices must meet the following minimum hardware requirements:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or system on a chip (SoC).
• RAM: 4 gigabytes (GB) or greater.
• Storage: 64 GB* or greater available storage is required to install Windows 11.
  • Additional storage space might be required to download updates and enable specific features.
• Graphics card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with a WDDM 2.0 driver.
• System firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable.
• TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0.
• Display: High definition (720p) display, 9" or greater monitor, 8 bits per color channel.
• Internet connection: Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates, and to download and use some features.
  • Windows 11 Home edition requires an Internet connection and a Microsoft Account to complete device setup on first use.

* There might be additional requirements over time for updates, and to enable specific features within the operating system. For more information, see Windows 11 specifications. 

Thanks for reading.