Microsoft made its latest working system, Home windows 11, publicly out there on October 5, 2021 — a bit greater than six years after Home windows 10 debuted. Home windows 11 gives updates and new options, together with an easier design meant to extend productiveness, methods to connect with individuals quicker, an all-new Microsoft Retailer, and a extra open ecosystem that unlocks new alternatives for builders and different creators.
This Microsoft Home windows 11 cheat sheet particulars the working system’s primary options, lists system necessities, explains how and when to get it, and extra.
What’s Home windows 11?
Home windows 11 is Microsoft’s latest main launch of its working system and the successor to Home windows 10. The OS options an all-new simplified but modernized interface designed to encourage productiveness and creativity.
Whereas the March 2022 Home windows 11 Patch isn’t labeled as a “feature update” to the working system by Microsoft, the patch did comprise a number of unannounced options. For instance, if you happen to run Home windows 11 with Widgets turned on, you’ll discover a brand new icon within the decrease left nook of the desktop that gives a abstract of your native climate circumstances. Microsoft additionally up to date Notepad and rebranded the Groove media participant.
As of Could 2024, Home windows 11 is the second hottest Home windows model in use after Home windows 10.
What’s the Home windows 11 model timeline?
Model 21H2
The unique model of Home windows 11 was launched to the general public in October 2021. This model, additionally known as model 21H2 and codenamed “Sun Valley,” was made out there as a preview construct to Home windows Insiders within the growth channel in June 2021. Throughout its roughly one yr existence, Home windows 11 model 21H2 was up to date and patched over two dozen occasions.
Model 22H2
The Home windows 11 2022 Replace, sometimes called 22H2 and codenamed “Sun Valley 2,” was the primary main replace to Home windows 11. The primary preview of this model of Home windows 11 22H2 was launched to Home windows Insiders within the Dev Channel on September 2, 2021. The replace started rolling out to the general public on September 20, 2022.
The Home windows 11 2022 Replace included a number of characteristic updates, enhancements and enhancements. These included hypervisor-protected code integrity safety, sync standing of OneDrive displayed in File Explorer, Home windows Studio Results, and streamlining adjustments for future Home windows 11 updates and patches. Since its launch, Home windows 11 22H2 has been patched and up to date quite a few occasions.
SEE: Take a look at these Home windows 11 22H2 enterprise options it’s worthwhile to know.
Model 23H2
The Home windows 11 2023 Replace, sometimes called 23H2, was launched to the general public with eligible computer systems on September 26, 2023. In September 2023, Microsoft started rolling out a brand new Home windows 11 replace to eligible computer systems. Often called Home windows 11 23H2, this newest main replace provides new options, functions and safety protocols to the working system, together with Home windows Copilot, File Explorer enhancements, Home windows backup app, taskbar enhancements, new quantity mixer, 7-Zip and RAR help and RGB peripheral customization.
SEE: All the things it’s worthwhile to learn about Microsoft Copilot on this TechRepublic cheat sheet.
Model 24H2
The Home windows 11 24H2 Replace is an upcoming replace to the working system. A preview was launched by means of the Home windows Insider Program to builders on February 8, 2024. Some notable enhancements will embrace HDR Backgrounds, Wi-Fi 7 help, AI Voice Readability and AI CoWriter in Notepad.
What new options include Home windows 11?
New Begin format
In Home windows 11, the newly centered Begin button makes use of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to point out current recordsdata, it doesn’t matter what platform or machine they had been being seen on beforehand, together with an Android or iOS machine.
Snap Layouts, Snap Teams and Desktops
A brand new set of options in Microsoft Home windows 11 is the introduction of Snap Layouts, Snap Teams and Desktops. These provide a “powerful way to multitask and stay on top of what you need to get done,” in line with Microsoft’s press launch. With these Home windows 11 options, customers can set up home windows and optimize display screen actual property for a cleaner visible format (Determine A). Customers can create and customise separate Desktops for every a part of their life — like one for work and one for private use.
Determine A
Chat from Microsoft Groups
In Home windows 11, Microsoft integrates Chat from Microsoft Groups into the taskbar, so customers can immediately join through textual content, chat, voice or video with private contacts, no matter which platform or machine is getting used throughout Microsoft Home windows, Android or iOS. By Microsoft Groups, customers can now immediately mute and unmute or begin a presentation instantly from the taskbar within the new OS.
Lockscreen Widgets
Home windows 11’s new Widgets are a customized feed powered by synthetic intelligence and Microsoft Edge. As an alternative of utilizing a cellphone to verify information, climate or notifications, now customers can open their Home windows 11 desktop to see a equally curated view (Determine B). Widgets gives new alternatives inside Home windows 11 to ship customized content material for creators and publishers.
Determine B
Microsoft Retailer overhaul
The Microsoft Retailer has undergone a serious overhaul; customers now have one protected location for apps and content material to look at, create, play, work and study. In accordance with Microsoft, the Retailer “has been rebuilt for speed and with an all-new design that is beautiful and simple to use. Not only will we bring you more apps than ever before, we’re also making all content — apps, games, shows, movies — easier to search for and discover with curated stories and collections.”
Main first- and third-party apps reminiscent of Microsoft Groups, Visible Studio, Disney+, Adobe Artistic Cloud, Zoom and Canva have additionally been added to the Microsoft Retailer.
Android apps
By its partnership with Amazon and Intel, the Microsoft Retailer permits customers to find Android apps, which may be downloaded through the Amazon Appstore. Microsoft is enabling builders and impartial software program distributors to carry apps to the Microsoft Retailer, it doesn’t matter what app framework is used to create them.
What new options include Home windows 11 22H2?
The primary main content material patch, often known as Home windows 11 22H2, added a number of new options and functions to the working system.
For enterprise customers, Home windows 11 22H2 improved File Discover performance to combine OneDrive standing, which improves workforce collaboration and cooperation. The replace additionally added a brand new characteristic referred to as Home windows Studio Results, which is able to enhance digital conferences with AI-powered processing effectivity.
On the person stage, Home windows 11 22H2 added new quality-of-life options like voice activated navigation, Begin Menu characteristic enhancements, extra personalization themes and the Clipchamp app. Additional, Home windows 11 22H2 added new reside captioning options for robotically transcribing digital conferences.
What new options include Home windows 11 23H2?
The most recent main content material patch, often known as Home windows 11 23H2, provides a number of new options and functions to the working system.
The spotlight of Home windows 11 23H2 Replace is the addition of Home windows Copilot, which integrates an on-demand generative AI characteristic instantly into the working system. Home windows Copilot can be accessible to customers as they work with Mail, Paint, Notepad and some other Home windows app.
Home windows 11 23H2 consists of the customarily requested for potential to manage RGB peripherals natively by means of Home windows settings as an alternative of counting on third-party software program and utilities. The replace additionally helps a number of frequent open-sourced archiving protocols, together with 7-Zip and RAR. The 23H2 replace consists of quality-of-life enhancements for Home windows File Explorer and the taskbar.
SEE: How you can Allow Home windows Copilot in Home windows 11 23H2
What AI options have been added to Home windows 11?
Microsoft has added a variety of options primarily based on synthetic intelligence to Home windows 11 since its preliminary launch, together with Dwell Captions, background noise elimination in videoconferencing, webcam autoframing and the Bing Chat chatbot within the taskbar’s search subject.
Copilot
In January 2024, Microsoft introduced that the brand new Home windows 11 PCs, together with the Floor line popping out by means of Spring 2024, will embrace a Copilot key. The Copilot key allows quick access to Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, in Home windows.
Copilot assists with quite a lot of duties, reminiscent of remodeling paperwork into shows, modifying images, summarizing emails and conferences, managing PC settings like enabling battery saver and accessing data from completely different apps and platforms.
SEE: Home windows 11 Replace Brings New Tips to Microsoft Copilot
Recall
Recall, introduced at Microsoft Construct on Could 20, 2024, is a brand new AI-powered characteristic that permits customers to shortly and intuitively search by means of their machine’s historical past utilizing pure language questions. Whereas that is included as part of Home windows 11, it would solely work on Copilot+ PCs which have inbuilt neural processing models.
Recall runs regionally, logging every thing the pc has finished, together with internet shopping, file creation and voice chats, so something the person has come throughout through that PC may be referred to as upon. Recall is included with Timeline — the prevailing Home windows characteristic that reveals operating apps and previous actions — to offer an easy-to-use scrollable interface.
How you can disable Recall
Recall has confirmed a controversial characteristic because it was introduced, primarily attributable to privateness and safety considerations. Microsoft has since made it an opt-in characteristic quite than being enabled by default, and dedicated to enhancing the safety measures across the information it shops.
Regardless of this, the tech big delayed Recall’s rollout with the brand new Copilot+ PCs on June 18, 2024, so it could possibly “ensure the experience meets our high standards for quality and security.”
Whereas Recall remains to be unreleased, some members of the Home windows Insider program have had the prospect to discover a preview model of the characteristic and have shared how it may be disabled.
- Open Home windows Settings and navigate to Privateness & Safety within the sidebar.
- Choose Recall & Snapshots to view the Recall settings.
- Click on Delete Snapshots after which Delete All to clear Recall’s historical past.
- Click on the Save Snapshots change to show it to the Off settings to disable Recall.
What do builders must learn about Home windows 11?
PWABuilder3
Home windows 11 options the brand new PWABuilder3, so builders can construct a PWA from their internet app in minutes (Determine C). WebView2 runtime is included with Home windows 11, which makes it simpler to reap the benefits of its internet platform as a safe strategy to construct hybrid internet apps. Choices like Home windows Terminal and the brand new Microsoft Edge DevTools can nonetheless be used, as they’re now included in Home windows 11.
Determine C
Home windows App SDK
Launched March 29, 2021, the Home windows App SDK, beforehand often known as Venture Reunion, makes it simpler to combine Home windows 11 options into apps, however it nonetheless permits builders to achieve greater than a billion customers on Home windows 10.
Home windows on ARM
Builders can construct apps that run natively on Home windows on ARM with the brand new ARM64 Emulation Appropriate ABI. Utilizing the ARM64EC, native ARM and emulated x64 code may be blended in the identical course of or module. This interoperability means builders can optimize apps to run on Home windows on ARM — even when the app has x64 dependencies or hundreds x64 plugins they don’t management.
WinUI3
To rejuvenate app designs, builders can use WinUI3 in Home windows 11, which gives built-in UI updates reminiscent of rounded geometry, refreshed iconography, new typography, enjoyable micro-interactions like Lottie animation and refreshed shade palette. The Snap layouts characteristic will assist with most productiveness in Home windows 11.
Reunion Windowing
Reunion Windowing permits builders to simply handle and create app home windows. The characteristic works with current app codes, simplifies frequent operations and brings new performance to desktop apps like Mild-Dismiss Conduct, Image-In-Image mode and simpler titlebar customization.
SEE: Discover ways to set up Home windows 11 from Microsoft’s ISO file.
Microsoft Retailer commerce availability
Together with the main adjustments to the Microsoft Retailer, Microsoft is taking steps to unlock better financial alternative for creators and builders. Microsoft now permits builders and impartial software program distributors to promote their apps on the platform no matter whether or not they’re constructed as a Win32, Progressive Internet App, Common Home windows App or some other app framework, to allow them to attain and interact a bigger viewers.
The income share insurance policies have modified, too. Builders can now carry their very own non-gaming apps into the Microsoft Retailer with their very own commerce platform and maintain 100% of the income — Microsoft takes nothing. Builders can nonetheless use Microsoft’s commerce platform, with aggressive income share of 15% for apps and 12% for video games.
Is Home windows 11 free?
Home windows 11 is obtainable by means of a free improve for eligible Home windows 10 PCs and on new PCs as of October 5, 2021. To see in case your Home windows 10 PC is eligible for the free improve to Home windows 11, obtain the PC Well being Test app.
Prepare your workforce and change into a Home windows 11 energy person with The Important Home windows 11 Course and The Final Home windows 11 Coaching Video Course from TechRepublic Academy.
How do I improve to Home windows 11?
Microsoft Home windows 11 is obtainable as a common launch to the general public. Assuming your private pc meets the prerequisite necessities, together with set up of Home windows 10 1909 or later, you may improve to Home windows 11 by navigating to the Replace & Safety settings display screen.
Customers may reap the benefits of the Home windows 11 Set up Assistant to bypass the Home windows 10 Replace & Safety display screen and improve to Home windows 11 instantly.
Are you able to arrange Home windows 11 and not using a Microsoft Account?
Microsoft requires the person to log in to a free Microsoft account to obtain and set up Home windows 11; nonetheless, this step may be prevented by creating a neighborhood account — i.e., one which solely applies to that machine and doesn’t contain an web connection — throughout the setup course of.
Comply with these steps to create a neighborhood account and set up Home windows 11.
- Comply with the Home windows 11 set up course of till you’re introduced with the Let’s Join You To A Community field.
- Press Shift + F10 to open command immediate, kind “OOBEBYPASSNRO” and press enter. The PC will reboot.
- Restart the set up course of. Whenever you attain the Let’s Join You To A Community field, click on I Don’t Have Web after which Proceed With Restricted Setup.
Create a neighborhood account when prompted, after which end the set up. You may hook up with the web as soon as the set up has accomplished.
Why is my PC not eligible for Home windows 11?
To put in Home windows 11, your PC should meet system necessities that it could not presently fulfill. These necessities embrace:
- Processor: 1GHz or quicker with two or extra cores on a appropriate 64-bit processor or System on a Chip.
- RAM: 4GB.
- Storage: 64GB or bigger storage machine.
- System firmware: UEFI, Safe Boot succesful.
- Graphics card: Appropriate with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.
- Show: Excessive-definition (720p) show that’s better than 9″ diagonally, 8 bits per shade channel.
- Web connection: Home windows 11 Residence version requires web connectivity and a Microsoft account to finish machine setup on first use. Switching a tool out of Home windows 11 Residence in S mode requires web connectivity.
SEE: Right here’s the right way to inform in case your PC can run Home windows 11.
What are the feature-specific necessities for Home windows 11?
Some options in Home windows 11 have elevated necessities past these listed above. Listed here are extra particulars relating to necessities for key options per Microsoft.
- 5G help: Requires a 5G-capable modem.
- Auto HDR: Requires an HDR monitor.
- BitLocker to Go: Requires a USB flash drive (out there in Home windows Professional and above editions).
- Consumer Hyper-V: Requires a processor with second stage tackle translation capabilities (out there in Home windows Professional and above editions).
- Cortana: Requires a microphone and speaker and is presently out there on Home windows 11 for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the U.Ok. and the U.S.
- DirectStorage: Requires an NVMe SSD to retailer and run video games that use the Customary NVM Specific Controller driver and a DirectX12 GPU with Shader Mannequin 6.0 help.
- DirectX 12 Final: Out there with supported video games and graphics chips.
- Presence: Requires a sensor that may detect human distance from machine or intent to work together with machine.
- Clever Video Conferencing: Requires video digital camera, microphone and speaker for audio output.
- A number of Voice Assistant (MVA): Requires a microphone and speaker.
- Snap: Three-column layouts require a display screen that’s 1920 efficient pixels or better in width.
- Mute and Unmute from Taskbar: Requires video digital camera, microphone and speaker for audio output.
- Spatial Sound: Requires supporting {hardware} and software program.
- Groups: Requires video digital camera, microphone and speaker for audio output.
- Contact: Requires a display screen or monitor that helps multi-touch.
- Two-factor authentication: Requires use of PIN, biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared digital camera), or a cellphone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
- Voice Typing: Requires a PC with a microphone.
- Wake on Voice: Requires Trendy Standby energy mannequin and microphone.
- Wi-Fi 6E: Requires new WLAN IHV {hardware} and driver and a Wi-Fi 6E succesful AP or router.
- Home windows Hi there: Requires a digital camera configured for close to infrared imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Units with out biometric sensors can use Home windows Hi there with a PIN or transportable Microsoft appropriate safety key.
- Home windows Projection: Requires a show adapter that helps Home windows Show Driver Mannequin (WDDM) 2.0 and a Wi-Fi adapter that helps Wi-Fi Direct.
Is Home windows 11 value it?
In accordance with Microsoft’s present help plan, Home windows 10 will lose help for future characteristic and safety updates on October 14, 2025. After that date, any enterprise, no matter measurement, will incur a major danger of legal responsibility for utilizing Home windows 10. With that in thoughts, upgrading to Home windows 11 is clearly mandatory and completely definitely worth the effort and time.
Home windows 11 is designed to reap the benefits of the most recent in each {hardware} and software program safety protocols, one thing Home windows 10 isn’t in a position to do. These safety measures assist the working system fend off varied cyberattacks and malware together with software program viruses and ransomware. As a result of Home windows 11 is a free improve to Home windows 10, for many companies and people there’s little motive to not improve.
SEE: Right here’s the right way to discover and set up the brand new Home windows 11 22H2 replace.