At the release of Windows 10 in 2015, Microsoft said that it would be the last version of Windows, and would get "feature" updates twice yearly. In June of this year, it was announced that Windows 11 was coming, and it would be probably be released at the end of this year. The release date, as it turns out (and unless it changes, or course) is October 5.
The big news on Windows 11 is new hardware requirements. It seems that Microsoft is constitutionally incapable of releasing a new Windows version without screwing it up somehow, and 11 is no exception. At first, an app called PC Health Check was released, allowing users to verify that their computers would be able to run the new version. Because the new requirements meant that many relatively recent PCs wouldn't qualify (including a few relatively recent Microsoft Surface devices), MS went back to the proverbial drawing board and eased some of the processor requirements, and withdrew the app until they can get their stuff together. As is often the case, a third party stepped into the breach with a free app called Whynotwin11 that's keeping pace with Microsoft's ongoing changes.
Right now, the sticking point is processors. The original requirement was at least a 10th generation Intel CPU, and Zen+ AMD processors. The AMD requirement hasn't changed, but now MS is saying that some processors going back to 7th generation will qualify. That still leaves a lot of functioning PCs in the lurch, including mine. I built a desktop PC in 2012 that has been humming along nicely since then, first with Window 8 and then on through all of the Windows 10 flavors since 2015. As I was already contemplating doing a hardware upgrade, I went ahead and replaced the motherboard, processor and RAM and added an SSD in place of the old mechanical hard drive. The SSD made a remarkable performance difference, btw. Cost of the upgrade was about US$500. If you have a proprietary desktop computer that doesn't qualify under the new requirements, you might not be able to upgrade it, and many older laptops will be left out in the cold as well.
Windows 10 will be supported until 2025 for those who choose to stick with it. Windows 8.1 will be supported until 2023, and support for Windows 7 ended in 2020. As with all new Windows versions, it will be interesting to see how business will react to the availability of Windows 11.
The big news on Windows 11 is new hardware requirements. It seems that Microsoft is constitutionally incapable of releasing a new Windows version without screwing it up somehow, and 11 is no exception. At first, an app called PC Health Check was released, allowing users to verify that their computers would be able to run the new version. Because the new requirements meant that many relatively recent PCs wouldn't qualify (including a few relatively recent Microsoft Surface devices), MS went back to the proverbial drawing board and eased some of the processor requirements, and withdrew the app until they can get their stuff together. As is often the case, a third party stepped into the breach with a free app called Whynotwin11 that's keeping pace with Microsoft's ongoing changes.
Right now, the sticking point is processors. The original requirement was at least a 10th generation Intel CPU, and Zen+ AMD processors. The AMD requirement hasn't changed, but now MS is saying that some processors going back to 7th generation will qualify. That still leaves a lot of functioning PCs in the lurch, including mine. I built a desktop PC in 2012 that has been humming along nicely since then, first with Window 8 and then on through all of the Windows 10 flavors since 2015. As I was already contemplating doing a hardware upgrade, I went ahead and replaced the motherboard, processor and RAM and added an SSD in place of the old mechanical hard drive. The SSD made a remarkable performance difference, btw. Cost of the upgrade was about US$500. If you have a proprietary desktop computer that doesn't qualify under the new requirements, you might not be able to upgrade it, and many older laptops will be left out in the cold as well.
Windows 10 will be supported until 2025 for those who choose to stick with it. Windows 8.1 will be supported until 2023, and support for Windows 7 ended in 2020. As with all new Windows versions, it will be interesting to see how business will react to the availability of Windows 11.
