Windows 11 is new, but it's also familiar. Don't worry if you haven't yet received the update.
Because the move from Windows 8 to Windows 10 was so massive, the transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11 may feel minor. It's big enough that Microsoft skipped a whole version number. That generation was all about righting a ship that had strayed too far into tablet land, attempting to persuade everyone that Windows laptops and tablets were just as exciting as iPads. They aren't, and that's fine: I work on a Windows system, and I play a lot of PC games on one, but I read the news on an iPad in bed at night.
Windows 10 received positive reviews at launch and has remained in everyone's good graces since it got out of the way of whatever you were doing rather than attempting to impose its ideals on you. But, more crucially, it was free* — the asterisk denotes that it was available to anybody with a non-ancient PC as a no-cost upgrade. Before 2015, Windows updates were either expensive or came preloaded when you purchased a new laptop or desktop. Around the same time, Apple's OS X switched to a similar free-to-upgrade arrangement. Except for system designers, the concept of paying for a computer operating system separately is almost non-existent. That's a significant improvement from the $120 you had to pay Microsoft to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Who will be able to install Windows 11?
To be honest, the list of compatible PCs is a little smaller than I had anticipated. A 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, UEFI secure boot, and TPM (trusted platform module) 2.0 are the minimum requirements. For some users, especially on less expensive laptops, the last one is the most difficult. You could be in danger if your CPU is older than the seventh-generation Intel Core series (we're up to the 11th-generation presently). Use the Microsoft PC Health Check software to see if your computer is in good shape. In any case, there are workarounds for installing Windows 11, but use them at your peril.
Cues from the environment
If there's one feature in Windows 11 that sticks out right away, it's this: Instead of being positioned to the left by default, the start menu and taskbar are now centred at the bottom of the screen. Yes, that is the single most significant visual and interface difference you will notice on the first day. Sure, there's a lot more going on behind the surface, but it feels like this UI change is more there to let you know there's something new and different going on. A lot is going on in Windows 11 as well. You're unlikely to notice much of it if you're a casual or mainstream user, but there are a few notable improvements worth highlighting.
Read more: Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio review: It's all about the screen
Install Android on your Windows PC.
Most Chromebooks, which run Google's ChromeOS, can run just about any Android app, from phone-centric favourites like Instagram to mobile games, which is one of its biggest selling features. That frees Chromebooks from being limited to cloud-based software and, frankly, gives your $300 Chromebook a lot more functionality.
Microsoft is including comparable features into Windows 11 to compete with Chromebooks and to strengthen ties between Windows PC users and Android phone users, just how Macs and iPhones are inextricably linked. However, such functionality is not included in the Windows 11 launch edition. It'll be showcased in the following months, but I don't think it'll be available as a fully built feature until 2022. That's a pity because, for most users, quick access to Android apps was likely to be the most important feature in Windows 11. Sure, there are other options, like as utilizing an app like Bluestacks or Microsoft's Your Phone app, but they aren't easy enough for ordinary users.
Multiple desktops and snap groups
Once you get the hang of it, easily grouping several open windows so you can see and access them when you want and hide them when you don't is useful. The ability to snap windows into pre-defined spaces on the desktop has been available for a while, but the new Snap Groups and Snap Layouts give you a few extra options. When you hover your mouse over the "maximize" button in the upper right corner of most windows, a pop-up window with a variety of layout choices appears. When you minimize these programs, hover over any of the snapped window icons in the taskbar to bring them back up in the same places. However, not all of the apps I tried permitted me to snap the window. Web browsers, system tools, and a slew of other apps did, but Photoshop and Steam didn't (hovering over their maximize buttons didn't bring up a pop-up menu with snapping alternatives).
Windows 11 Review: Familiar Yet Innovative
Change the wallpaper in Windows 11 in 5 Simple Steps (It's Super Easy)
Everything You Need to Know About Windows 11's New Features and MoreWindows 11 Compatibility: Use These Tools to See If Your PC Meets Microsoft's Requirements
All the Upgrades You Should Know About Windows 11 vs. Windows 10
Surface Pro 8: An Old Friend for Windows 11
Review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio: It's All About the Screen
It can be useful if you have a large display, utilize many monitors, or require several thinly sliced web browser windows active at once. On a laptop screen, you're seldom staring at more than one or two windows at a time.
Multiple desktops are a frequent macOS feature that may help you arrange several aspects of your digital life. For example, you may have all of your professional apps on one desktop, such as email programs, browsers, and video conference apps, and all of your gaming apps on another. You can hot-swap between them just like on a Mac, and it's simply a shift in how your open programs are displayed. You can do the same thing on Windows 10, but it's a nuisance. Desktops have their taskbar icon by default in Windows 11, and establishing and arranging numerous desktops is even easier than on a Mac, which isn't something you'll hear all that often.
Every gadget creator adores widgets, which are little icon-like programs that are frequently grouped someplace on your device's UI. The weather, stock prices, your most recent emails or calendar items, or a tiny newsfeed are usually included. They're on your iPhone and iPad, Android devices have them, and Macs have them (under the usually hidden Notification Bar on the right side of the screen). Widgets were also included in previous versions of Windows. Gadgets were the name for them, and they vanished along with Windows 7.
They've returned. On the bright side, the new widgets are easier to discover thanks to their taskbar button. When you press the button, a semi-transparent panel appears on the screen's left edge. Weather, your Outlook calendar, photographs from OneDrive, a To-Do list, and a few more widgets are included by default. You can tweak the list a little bit, but there aren't many alternatives right now. Below that is a newsfeed that appears to be controlled by the same folks that curate the news on the Microsoft Edge browser's home screen. By clicking on a menu item in the news section or hitting a "manage your interests" button to personalize the feed, you can hide stories from any single outlet, although it's very simple by default. There's a lot of sports, Fox News, and celebrity news.
Integration with Microsoft Teams
Instead of Zoom, Facetime, or Google Hangouts, do you utilize Microsoft Teams? Because it's now completely integrated into Windows 11, you'll be able to get to it and launch it a little faster. Except for Microsoft employees, I've never been invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting. It's worth noting that the updated iOS "invite anybody" functionality now allows Windows users to join Facetime sessions. Video meeting mindshare (face share?) is fiercely competitive.
Other enhancements to the quality of life
I take a lot of screen images since I frequently refer to system tools, settings menus, and other on-screen items in my work. That's simple on a Mac: Shift + Command + 4. It's never been quite that straightforward on Windows. The built-in Snipping tool, on the other hand, is significantly less obnoxious with Windows 11. You may now capture a screenshot by pressing Windows + Shift + S; however, while this copies the screenshot to the clipboard, it does not save the image automatically, so you'll have to do it manually.
The Edge browser now offers a secure Kids Mode that can be configured for different age groups and can be accessed by clicking on your profile in the top right corner. Auto HDR, a function carried over from the Xbox Series X, boosts lighting, brightness, and contrast in games that don't support high dynamic range for a more HDR-like image. I'm looking forward to a redesigned Microsoft app store that includes third-party services such as gaming shops and web browsers. The Opera browser is currently accessible, and the Epic Games shop will be available soon. There's no word yet on other browsers, such as Firefox or Chrome, or the famous Steam PC gaming shop. Android app support will eventually come through an Amazon-branded Android app store rather than Google Play, at least at first.
Who is the best candidate for Windows 11?
Despite my ambivalent feelings about the new Windows operating system, there's no compelling reason to avoid it. That's because, from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 Creators Edition, each new PC OS is released in an imperfect condition, with the finest upgrades and refined versions arriving later. I've been using different preview builds of Windows 11, as well as the final release build, for months and it's been fine, nearly trouble-free, and I've never considered going back to Windows 10.
However, Microsoft is bound to be Microsoft at times. Some long-standing Windows annoyances have persisted. When you first set up the OS, there are still a lot of data-sharing and ad-personalization items to uncheck, and the built-in Edge browser still buries the default search engine settings (to switch from Bing too, for example, Google) many submenus deep. Switching which applications do what by default has become more difficult; you must now assign each file type —.htm,.html, and so on — one by one. At some time, perhaps, this will be simplified.
If you buy a new laptop or desktop after today, it will almost certainly come with Windows 11 preloaded. You don't have to make a deliberate decision in such a situation; simply go with the flow. You'll be able to download and install Windows 11 now or shortly if you have a current-generation Windows laptop, tablet, or desktop. It's being gradually rolled out to avoid a massive rush of same-day downloads.
As a general rule, I recommend not being the first person on the block to download a new operating system update, whether it's for your laptop, phone, or tablet. Issues will surely arise, if only because of the vast array of hardware combinations and peripherals that must function properly, from printers to mice to virtual reality headsets. However, substantial testing has been done for Windows 11, and the primary difficulties so far have been with the way icons are presented, certain menu oddities, and occasional File Explorer glitches. For the time being, my final opinion on the topic is that if you want to try to download/install Windows 11 on the first day, go for it. It's also acceptable if you want to wait a few weeks (or months).
1 Comments
Great Post
ReplyDelete