Windows 11: Everything that you must know!

Windows 11 is the latest and is called to be the greatest operating system coming from Microsoft till now. Microsoft announced Windows 11 in the middle of 2021, bringing major UI and performance changes to Windows. Let's take a technical look at Windows 11.

When was Windows 11 released?

After presenting Windows 11 on June 24, 2021, Microsoft officially started rolling it to the public on October 5. The catch here is that Microsoft is not forcing to install Windows 11 instead they are giving a choice to users to either manually upgrade to Windows 11 or stay on Windows 10 which is supported until 2025.

Windows 11 Minimum Requirements -

Here is the minimum requirements to start using Windows 11 :-

1. Processor : 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC) with 1GHz or faster clock speed with 2 or more cores
2. RAM : 4GB
3. Storage : 64GB or more extensive storage device
4. System firmware : UEFI, Secure Boot capable
5. TPM : Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
6. Graphics card : Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
7. Display : High definition (720p) display which is diagonally more than 9 inches diagonally & 8 bits per colour channel

Now, all Windows 11 editions require internet connectivity and a Microsoft account to finish the device setup for first use. Microsoft also changed the CPU requirements, and many older processors are no longer supported as now they support only 64-bit processors and RIP the GOAT 32-bit CPUs. Microsoft allows you to let you install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware (with some tweaks of course!) via ISO but you might not receive any more updates after that.

What are these new versions 22H2 and 23H2?

There is basically 2 types of updates in Windows 11, The basic ones are, those that focus on fixes and security improvements and the other is one which is meant to add new functionality. Windows 11 received an update to version 22H2, which added a ton of new features, more on that later. Since version 22H2 was released, Microsoft has also rolled out Moment updates, which include collections of features bundled in cumulative updates.

What's new with Windows 11?

There was a term Sun Valley that was tossed around for the internet the last few months before Windows 11 was announced. It is the codename for the big UX change that's functional with Windows 11. It's meant to make the windows more touch-friendly, which Windows 10 somewhat struggled with.

Tabbed File Explorer and Notepad

Now File Explorer and Notepad have a tabbed interface, just like what you might see in a web browser. It makes File Explorer easier to manage your files without opening multiple windows. Notepad also supports this feature. With CPUs having a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), it lets you change the way your camera looks. There are some such as blurring your background, automatically keeping you in frame by using eye contact, which corrects the position of your eyes to make it appear like you're looking directly at the camera. There's also a voice effect called voice focus, which filters out background noise.

Support for Android apps

Another major addition to Windows 11 is support for running Android apps on Windows. This is possible with the partnership with Amazon Appstore, which makes it possible to install Android apps on Windows 11.

Rounded corners in UI

Windows 11 also brings a huge visual change compared to Windows 10. Windows 10 looked the same for the past six years, and Windows 11 brings a refreshing look, with rounded corners all over the UI, which makes it a little more welcoming.

Start Menu with Bliss wallpaper

There's a brand-new Start Menu which has changed the square tiles to app icons, which has a more modern look and feel. By default, the Start menu and the taskbar are off the screen, though you can it to the left side if you wish too.

Windows 11 different layout selection

This feature is a gift for users that use Ultra-Wide monitors as you can select one of the tiles in the layouts, and your app will snap to that position on the screen. Earlier, Microsoft never supported three apps side-by-side before.Snap Groups saves your snapped windows. In simple words, if you minimize all of your windows open and then hover over the app in the taskbar that you have snapped, you'll see an option to put all snapped apps back in their positions.

Microsoft Store

Now, App Developers can submit their apps without packaging them in a bundle. Microsoft wanted to lure desktop apps to the Microsoft Store with Windows 10, but that didn't work out quite well how Microsoft wanted it to happen. The Developers can also host them on their own CDN meaning that they don't need to be distributed by Microsoft.Now, uploading your app to the Microsoft Store is a lot easier. During the initial launch, Google Chrome was left out but now any browser can now be distributed through the Microsoft Store, with Mozilla Firefox standing as a notable example. The store as got a lot better with the new design and new categories and collections.

Gaming Enhancements

Microsoft is very focused on gaming, and there is no reason not to be! It is the only viable PC gaming platform, a console play, and a cloud back end that's second to none. And as we know, if there's an Azure play to be made, Microsoft will make it. Windows 11 has a bunch of gaming improvements. One is Auto HDR, which was a feature first included in Xbox Series X & S consoles and now it is coming to Windows. It automatically adds HDR to older games, as you can get from the name.

Clock with Focus Sessions

One of the major app updates with Windows 11 is a new Clock app with Focus Sessions. Wait but what are these focus sessions? Well, this feature is meant to help people concentrate, by creating a timer so that you can focus on work as long as that timer doesn't run out. It can integrate with Microsoft To Do, allowing you to sync up with your scheduled to-dos.

New Photos app

The Photos app has many of the same features, though it had a refreshed design and some new features, like a filmstrip at the bottom same as the one present in the Gallery app of any Android Phone.

All in one Snipping Tool

Snipping Tool has been replaced by Snip and Sketch in Windows 11 the all-in-one single Snipping Tool. When you press Win + Shift + S you will now have options like Rectangular Snip, Freeform Snip, Window Snip, and Fullscreen Snip. It also provides some editing tools, so that you can mark something up and more.

Task Manager

In Windows 11 version 22H2, Microsoft has redesigned the Task Manager, it's now more in line with the rest of the Windows 11 design language. Now, It follows your system theme! This means the new task manager has dark theme support and uses accent colour in the UI instead of the old yellow and orange gradients.

Settings app

Windows 10 setting looks incredibly plain and boring. In Windows 11, the new Settings app is much more beautiful, with transparency effects, more colourful icons, and a neater visual language overall. On top of the page, in each category, it now displays quick shortcuts to the most important or commonly used settings, making the app feel more practical lively and colourful.

Teams integration in Windows 11

Microsoft is driving Teams as the main platform for personal communications, and integrating it directly into Windows 11. A Teams chat button has been added in the taskbar where you can see your recent conversations and even start a video call with others.

Different Virtual Desktop wallpapers

Compared to the other changes this is a pretty small change, but if you're the one who uses a virtual desktop, it's probably a big one for you. You can now set different wallpapers on each of your virtual desktops, helping you to define the look of each one for its own purpose. By pressing Ctrl + Win + Left/Right Arrow Key you can switch between desktops

Windows 11 Widget Panel

Windows 11 Widgets panel is one of the noticeable improvements. Widgets include items like the weather, stock information, and sports scores. It can also show things like Microsoft To Do lists, calendar events from Outlook, and memories from your OneDrive photos.

Improvements of Windows on Arm Devices

Windows 10 devices with Arm processors stumbled with a lack of apps as they only supported 32-bit emulation. With Windows 11, Arm devices can finally emulate 64-bit apps, so most of the apps should work just fine. A new application Arm64EC ABI (Application Binary Interface), allows developers to slowly transition their apps to run natively on Arm. By this, developers can gradually improve performance without committing to fully rewriting every component of their apps.Microsoft is finally taking Windows on Arm more seriously by supporting most of the Microsoft apps to work on Arm Devices. Apps like Calculator, Microsoft Store, Camera, Visual Studio and the entire developer toolchain, including things like Windows Terminal, and more.

Another thing that's ultimately available is Hyper-V support for Arm, which means that users should be able to run virtual machines with much better performance on Arm devices. This has been tested for a long time with Windows Insiders.

Microsoft rolled out these new updates to Windows 11 on a monthly basis, with optional updates in between the updates. Most of these updates tend to focus on security, but some of them do add new features like the Moment updates that were mentioned earlier in the post.