If your existing Windows 10 PC is running Windows 10 20H1 or later and meets the minimum hardware specificationsit will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalized, but for most devices already in use today, we expect it to be ready sometime in early 2022. Not all Windows 10 PCs that are eligible to upgrade will be offered to upgrade at the same time. To see if your PC is eligible to upgrade, refer to our knowledge base for a list of tested systems. Once the upgrade rollout has started, you can check if it is ready for your device by going to Settings/Windows Updates. Similar to how end users are notified when updates are available in Windows 10, end users will see an indication in the notification areas of the taskbar in the bottom right, that the upgrade is available.
More information on how that is presented will be available at a later date. Additional desktop notification options may be also be added at a later date. If your existing Windows 10 PC is running Windows 10 20H1 or later and meets the minimum hardware specifications it will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. To see if your PC is eligible to upgrade, refer to the specifications here. Warren noted that he rarely used the Widgets panel or Microsoft Teams, citing that he preferred the weather display that later versions of Windows 10 offered, and didn't use Teams to communicate with his friends and family.
He also acknowledged the expansion of Microsoft Store to include more "traditional" desktop applications. Cunningham concluded that "as I've dug into and learned its ins and outs for this review, I've warmed to it more", but argued that the OS was facing similar "public perception" issues to Windows Vista and Windows 8. If your existing Windows 10 PC is running the most current version of Windows 10 and meets the minimum hardware specifications it will be able to upgrade to Windows 11.
Not all Windows 10 PCs that are eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 will be offered to upgrade at the same time. Apart from a fresh coat of paint and a few features, the operating system maintains most of the core functionality of Windows 10. Visually, Windows now has rounded corners, and the taskbar icons and the start menu have moved to the centre. One of the most jarring experiences for me has been getting used to the centred Start Menu. While the new start menu looks nice with pinned apps on the top and recent files below it, the sporadic movement of the Start button is a chore. In Windows 10 and previous versions of Windows, the left aligned start menu has been in the same spot as always.
In Windows 11, the menu is centred, and the addition of new icons tends to push icons away from each other on the centred plane. I was forced to look at the taskbar and understand where the icon moved to click on it. It would have been a better design decision to leave the start button to the left while only moving application icons to the centre. Fortunately, users can fix this problem by realigning all icons to the left. While Windows 11 is free for many Windows 10 users, there is a rite of passage for this version of Windows. Not all desktops and laptops may be able to use Windows 11, since the update comes with system requirements that might lock many Nepali systems out of the update.
More recent laptops would most likely have this TPM module, but many older and custom-made computers might not. Computers running older CPUs, mainly Intel 7th Generation and older, are locked out of the update, while Windows 11, at least in the early phases, did not play well with AMD CPUs due to a scheduler issue. Many workarounds for these requirements aren't official and may lock you out of future updates. Microsoft has also removed local user profiles for Windows 11 Home users, forcing people to connect to an online Microsoft account, which is for data collection and telemetry in all intents and purposes.
Windows 11 might be free, but you will be paying for it in data. Internet Explorer has been replaced by the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge as the default web browser, and Microsoft Teams is integrated into the Windows shell. Microsoft also announced plans to allow more flexibility in software that can be distributed via Microsoft Store, and to support Android apps on Windows 11 . Original equipment manufacturers can still ship computers without a TPM 2.0 coprocessor upon Microsoft's approval.
Some third-party software may refuse to run on unsupported configurations of Windows 11. In October 2019, Microsoft announced "Windows 10X", a future edition of Windows 10 designed exclusively for dual-touchscreen devices such as the then-upcoming Surface Neo. Legacy Windows applications would also be required to run in "containers" to ensure performance and power optimization.
Microsoft stated that it planned to release Windows 10X devices by the end of 2020. As before, Microsoft doesn't recommend installing Windows 11 on a device that doesn't meet the system requirements — though you can still do so. One thing to keep in mind is you might not get updates on a PC with an unsupported processor. When Microsoft first released Windows 11 on October 4th, the company said it expected it would offer the upgrade to all eligible devices by mid-2022.
The official, release version of Windows 11 is now available as a free upgrade to anyone who has Windows 10 and a PC that meets Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements. However, the Redmond software giant isn't pushing the upgrade to every eligible system at once. Some users will be offered the option to upgrade in their Settings menu on or around the October 5th official launch date while others may be waiting until 2022.
With its machine learning technology, Microsoft has determined further devices on which the Windows 11 update prompt should now appear automatically. The Redmond-based software company has not revealed any additional information on which exact PC configurations are included in this third group. However, manually triggering the Windows 11 update, which is how many tech enthusiasts probably installed Windows 11 in the past weeks, is no longer necessary on these PCs.
Users can simply check the regular Windows Update application in order to verify whether the Windows 11 upgrade is ready to download on their respective device. Instead of a longer flyout, the new menu has a broader feel with a search bar at the top, followed by pinned apps and recent files. The new start menu looks fresh and nice; pinned applications and recent files follow a nice long search bar on the top. Although the simplified start menu is a visual upgrade to Windows 10, it is far more simplistic with no live tiles or dynamic content.
Even the context menu for the taskbar has been simplified as right-clicking the bar only yields one result with the removal of essential options like the task manager or toolbars. Oh, and you can't move the taskbar at all in Windows 11—at the bottom is the only option. If the Microsoft Surface family of products isn't your style though, other brands like Dell, Asus and HP have all released pages online that specify what devices are Windows 11 ready. Note that many won't come with the new operating system installed, but as they all meet the minimum system requirements, you can simply buy the laptop or 2-in-1 as normal and then update it yourself.
A redesigned user interface is present frequently throughout the operating system, building upon Fluent Design System; translucency, shadows, a new color palette, and rounded geometry are prevalent throughout the UI. It's not imperative that you upgrade your system to Windows in the next couple of weeks, or even months. For many people, that's about the time to upgrade to a newer device, one that will come with Windows 11 already installed.
Windows 11 is a free upgrade, but the minimum system requirements are quite a bit higher than ever before. Microsoft calls Windows 11 the most secure Windows yet, and that tag comes at the cost of backward compatibility. Trusted Platform Module 2.0, aka TPM 2.0, is one of those requirements. There are ways to manually install Windows 11 on incompatible systems, but those include giving up on official future updates via Windows Update and/or modifying the Windows 11 ISO file to remove security checks.
Most Windows 10 PCs currently being sold will be able to upgrade to New Windows. For the PC to be able to upgrade to New Windows, it must meet the minimum hardware specifications and specific hardware is required for some features found here. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalised but is scheduled to begin late in 2021 and continue into 2022.
You can refer to our knowledge base for a list of tested systems to determine if your device eligible to upgrade to Windows -11. Many PCs that are less than four years old will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. They must be running 20H1 or later version of Windows 10 and meet the minimum hardware requirements to receive the Windows 11 upgrade. Citing security considerations, the system requirements for Windows 11 were increased over Windows 10.
While the OS can be installed on unsupported processors, Microsoft does not guarantee the availability of updates. Windows 11 also drops support for 32-bit x86 CPUs and devices which use BIOS firmware. For example, even though Windows 11 is available as a free optional update for Windows 10, the device must meet the new system requirements. You need to ensure that the Trusted Platform Module and Secure Boot are enabled on the computer. You also need to make sure the device has enough space and there are no problems before continuing with the upgrade. Furthermore, you want to create a backup in the case you need to roll back, check the activation status, and create installation media.
For new users, Windows 11 will seem like a good option with the new design. You get rounded corners, a departure from the sharp edges we've seen in Windows for a long time. The Start Menu is now cleaner, featuring pinned apps and a recommended tab that shows you files based on your recent usage. The desktop more or less stays the same, but the right-click menu gets a simplified look, with the most common options like cut, copy, paste, and rename, at the top in a grid.
All HUAWEI PCs with Windows 10 currently being sold on HUAWEI Consumer BG website will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. For the PC to be able to upgrade to Windows 11, it must meet the minimum hardware specifications and specific hardware is required for some features. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalized but is scheduled to begin late in 2021 and continue into 2022. All Dell PCs with Windows 10 currently being sold on dell.com will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. At least 16GB of RAM The basic system requirements of Windows 11 differ significantly from Windows 10. Windows 11 only supports 64-bit systems such as those using an x86-64 or ARM64 processor; IA-32 processors are no longer supported.
Thus, Windows 11 is the first ever consumer version of Windows not to support 32-bit processors and 16-bit software . The minimum RAM and storage requirements were also increased; Windows 11 now requires at least 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The compatibility list includes the Intel Core i7-7820HQ, a seventh-generation processor used by the Surface Studio 2, although only on devices that shipped with DCH-based drivers. Windows 11 SE was announced on November 9, 2021, as an edition exclusively for low-end devices sold in the education market, and a successor to Windows 10 S. It is bundled with applications such as Microsoft Office for Microsoft 365, Minecraft Education Edition, and Flipgrid, while OneDrive is used to save files by default. Windows 11 SE does not include Microsoft Store; third-party software is provisioned or installed by administrators.
As part of the minimum system requirements, Windows 11 only runs on devices with a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 security coprocessor. According to Microsoft, the TPM 2.0 coprocessor is a "critical building block" for protection against firmware and hardware attacks. In addition, Microsoft now requires devices with Windows 11 to include virtualization-based security , hypervisor-protected code integrity , and Secure Boot built-in and enabled by default. The operating system also features hardware-enforced stack protection for supported Intel and AMD processors for protection against zero-day exploits. To put it precisely, if your PC or laptop has a 7th Gen Intel Core or AMD Zen 1 processor and meets other hardware requirements, it will run the Windows 11 preview build. The stable build of Windows 11 will, however, not support these two CPU families, according to what Microsoft has necessitated at this moment.
But Microsoft may change its stance at the time of release depending on the feedback that it will get on the Windows 11 preview build. If you've been patiently waiting to install Windows 11 on your PC, Microsoft has good news. The company announced today it's increasing the pace of the operating system's rollout, and making it more broadly available. Provided your system is running version 2004 or later of Windows 10 and you recently installed the September 14th, 2021 servicing update Microsoft released, you can now upgrade directly to Windows 11. If you right-click on the taskbar, you now see just one option that lets you enter the taskbar settings, instead of the plethora of options in previous versions of Windows.
However, this means you cannot reposition the taskbar to either side or the top of your screen anymore with Windows 11, which is kind of a bummer. The Start button follows all the new design fundamentals of Windows 11 with rounded corners, colourful icons, pinned apps, and a huge search bar. The search button feels more useful and responsive compared to Windows 10's version.
If you hover over the icon, it will show you your most recent searches, which could save you some time. The Start Menu has been redesigned to list all of your apps in a more systematic and organized manner, and you can of course pin apps that you use frequently. There's a Recommended section, wherein you can find recently accessed files and folders. The Start Menu has been designed to be consistent with the frosted glass theme that you'll see throughout Windows 11, and it looks good. These were the animated squares you could see whenever you opened the Start menu in Windows 10. They were implemented to show you live updates for apps such as Weather, Calendar, etc, but that functionality has been moved elsewhere – more on that later.
If you haven't already received an alert prompting you to update, and your PC is compatible with Windows 11, you can use the Windows 11 Installation Assistant Tool to download and install the update onto your system. This will not erase any of your personal files and is similar to an OTA (over-the-air) update – however, it's always advisable to have backups. Similarly, you can create a bootable USB drive or a disk image to perform a clean install. For long-time Windows users, this update may cause a few annoyances. The start button resides in the center by default, although you can move it back to the left.
Also, the right-click menu hides away some menu options, like some app-specific functions you get with apps like Winrar, or some other Windows options like Troubleshoot compatibility. To see if your PC is eligible to upgrade, refer to our supported computer lists. Upgrades to Windows 11 will begin to roll out late in 2021 and continue into 2022.
During this time, we will be doing some behind the scenes testing and validating for your specific PC. Windows Update will provide an indication if and when your PC is eligible. In conclusion, yes, you can upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 for free. You might even be able to do it if you're using an older version of Windows. This is because Microsoft wants Windows to be as unified a platform as possible.
Is Windows 11 Free Upgrade Since it released Windows 10, we've often heard the company talk about how many devices are running the OS. It wouldn't make a ton of sense for the company to split its userbase again. However, Windows 11 has higher system requirements that not every PC will meet. In that sense, you could have to buy a new PC or upgrade some components to use it. If you're using Windows 10, installing Windows 11 will feel just like installing a Windows 10 feature update. Microsoft has said exactly that, which means the upgrade process should be pretty easy.
It's also been confirmed that Windows 11 will be a free update for Windows 10 users, as long as their PC is compatible. The free upgrade will start rolling out this holiday and it has no set end date yet, so you should be able to upgrade whenever you feel ready. Windows 11, the first major Windows release since 2015, builds upon its predecessor by revamping the user interface to follow Microsoft's new Fluent Design guidelines.
