Windows 11 Release Date, Price & New Features
Windows 11 is Microsoft’s latest desktop operating system. Few were predicting its arrival at the beginning of 2021, with Windows 10 previously described as “the last version of Windows”.
But Microsoft’s attitude seemed to change during the pandemic, which left people around the world relying on its software for everything from remote working to keeping in touch with friends and family. Some of these new trends appear to be permanent, so the company decided it was time for a fresh start.
Windows 11 represents a big shift in design, aiming to simplify the user experience and reduce clutter. Many elements are inspired by Windows 10X, the cancelled Windows 10 spin-off designed for touchscreen devices. These days, Microsoft appears intent on making Windows 11 a great OS for a variety of different devices and form factors.
All eligible laptops and PCs can now install Windows 11, either via Settings or downloading it manually. Aside from a Mac or Chromebook, almost every other 2022 laptop runs Windows 11, so there’s already plenty of choice.
But despite its simple design, there’s plenty of different elements to the Windows 11, many of which are worth exploring in more detail. This full guide aims to answer every question you might have about the OS, linking out to our extensive Windows 11 coverage.
What’s Windows 11 like?
Clearly wanting to avoid upsetting millions by making radical changes (as it ultimately did with Windows 8), Microsoft has kept the same basic layout, albeit with a significant redesign. You’ll also find rounded corners everywhere you look and a new centrally positioned Start Menu, although you can return the latter to the side if you’d prefer.
There’s a new widgets panel which can show the weather, stocks, news and other things – seemingly replacing the old Start Menu’s live tiles – and improved grouping and snapping of open Windows so you can focus more easily on what you’re trying to do.
Windows 11 on tablets is much improved thanks to the introduction of gestures and a new on-screen keyboard that much more similar to the one on your phone. You can even install and use Android apps via the Amazon Appstore, although a workaround lets you use the Google Play Store instead.
However, while there are lots of visual changes, Windows 11 should be an easy transition from Windows 10 for most people.
When did Windows 11 come out?
Initial release date: 5 October 2021
Free upgrade for all eligible Windows 10 PCs soon
All compatible devices can upgrade manually.
As Microsoft confirmed a month earlier, Windows 11 was officially released on 5 October 2021.
However, really the date that OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) can begin to release Windows 11 hardware. The blog post stated that ‘in-market devices’ which are eligible for the upgrade will be offered it later as part of a phased and measured approach.
In an official tweet just after the initial launch, the Windows Twitter account appeared to confirm that Windows 10 users be waiting until 2022 for the free upgrade:
Windows 11 is due out later in 2021 and will be delivered over several months. The rollout of the upgrade to Windows 10 devices already in use today will begin in 2022 through the first half of that year.— Windows (@Windows) June 25, 2021
However, an official blog post from January 2022 confirmed that this was ahead of schedule. Given Windows 11 entered “its final phase of availability” at this time, any outstanding devices should receive the update very soon.
You don’t have to wait until it’s delivered to your laptop or PC, though. If you’re happy to install it manually, a final version is available to download from the Microsoft website. Learn more in our separate guide – how to download Windows 11 now. This ISO file is also the way to go if you want to install it using a USB.
How much does Windows 11 cost?
Free for eligible PCs
New hardware pricing dependent on manufacturer
USB versions available from £128.99/$139
Pricing was always likely to be one of the big questions, but the good news is that it is free for eligible PCs. This will continue indefinitely, potentially for the duration of Windows 11’s lifespan.
However, it’s not as simple as all Windows 10 devices getting Windows 11 – as is explained below, Microsoft has updated the hardware requirements for its new OS.
Naturally, upgrading from Windows 10 isn’t the only way to get Windows 11. Plenty of new laptops and PCs are already running the operating system out of the box, with plenty more on the way. So far, it doesn’t seem like having Windows 11 pre-installed has affected the asking price.
However, you can also now buy Windows 11 as a standalone operating system. The easiest method is pre-loaded on a USB stick, which will cost you £104.48/ $139 for the most popular Home version. But at Amazon UK, you can also get a disc version for £128.99.
It’s worth reiterating that this isn’t necessary for most people, especially while the free upgrade from Windows 10 is available.
Wasn’t Windows 10 the last ever version of Windows?
That’s what Microsoft said when it announced Windows 10, yes. But apparently it changed its mind about that. The company could have rolled out these changes in a Windows 10 update, but it chose not to refer back to this statement during the launch event and might be hoping its customers have short memories.
Interestingly, Microsoft did reference this at its April 2022 hybrid work event. However, the company described the pandemic as the key driver of this change in strategy, adding that “how, when and where we work fundamentally changed overnight”.
But after spending a few months with Windows 11, it’s clear not much has really changed under the surface.
Will my current PC or laptop run Windows 11?
The minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11 are as follows:
1GHz dual-core processor
4GB RAM
64GB of storage
UEFI, Secure Boot capable
Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0
Graphics card compatible with DirectX 12
Display larger than 9in with 720p or higher resolution
Microsoft account + internet connection
Not sure if your device is compatible? Microsoft has a free ‘PC Health Check’ app, designed to help you do just that. It’s available to download from the bottom of the main Windows 11 page.
That storage requirement might be SSD-only from 2023, if data storage analysts Trendfocus (via Tom’s Hardware) are to be believed. However, Windows 11 devices using HDDs or eMMC storage aren’t expected to be affected.
For more information, check out our separate guide: Will my PC run Windows 11?
Microsoft doesn’t encourage it, but there is still a way to install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs. Indeed, you’ll probably see messages within Settings and on the desktop warning you that your device isn’t compatible. It doesn’t seem to affect performance and app compatibility, though.
The company accidentally released the 22H2 feature update to unsupported Windows 10 devices in June 2022, but that doesn’t make it any less risky. Like before, we’d only recommend trying this if you have a spare Windows 10 device lying around – not on your primary machine.
Windows 11 trailers
There are two key trailers for Windows 11 that are worth watching. First up, the official introduction video from 24 June:
Then, from 9 September, a shorter advert-style trailer. You may have seen a version broadcast on TV:
What new features does Windows 11 have?
There are too many to go into lots of detail here, but here are the main ones you need to know about.
First, there’s a significant visual overhaul. Windows 10 has maintained a similar look and feel throughout its lifespan, but that’s about to change with Windows 11.
A new taskbar moves icons to the centre, although this can easily be reverted to a more traditional layout. What can’t be changed is some of the functionality Microsoft removed compared to the Windows 10 version, but Microsoft is taking steps to rectify this. The February 2022 update will mean the time and date shows across all external screens, while drag-and-drop is expected to return in the 22H2 feature update.
The brand-new Start Menu isn’t necessarily lacking, although its brand-new design certainly isn’t for everyone. In fact, this aesthetic is similar to what Microsoft teased for the now-cancelled Windows 10X. Here’s what it looks like with dark mode enabled:
Image:Microsoft
It features a grid of customisable ‘Pinned’ icons, with separate ‘All apps’ section for everything else you have installed. The ‘Recommended’ heading below displays recently used files, apps and folders – including from cloud services such as OneDrive and Microsoft 365 – enabling you to quickly pick up where you left off, even if you last used a different device.
However, many people have been disappointed by this, especially the lack of customisation ability. However, Microsoft has since added the ability to choose the split between Pinned and Recommended sections. The official screenshots below give you an idea how it looks:
Image:Microsoft
One new feature that has gone down well is the new Snap Layouts multitasking functionality. Hovering over the maximise button allows you to choose the arrangement of apps on the screen, as you can see below.
Image: MarkHachman/IDG
Widgets haven’t been a major feature of recent versions of Windows, but that’s changed now. The panel slides in from the left, but can be customised to fill the whole screen if you’d prefer. It’s designed for quick glances at important information without distracting you from what you were doing before you opened it.
Image:Microsoft
Teams and chat are integrated into Windows 11, with future updates allowing you to share windows and toggle mute directly from the taskbar:
The Teams integration now extends to the Edge browser. It means individual tabs now show up within Task Manager, with GPU and crashpad data shown too. Tabs on the taskbar will also include the site, icon and topic name, although this is replaced by a generic icon during private browsing sessions.
Many stock apps have been redesigned, including File Explorer and the Microsoft Store. The latter includes Android app support via the Amazon Appstore, but you can also use the Epic Games Store if you’d prefer. There’s no indication the Google Play Store will be added to Windows 11, but a workaround allows you to do just that.
If you’d rather stick to official services, Google is also working on a dedicated Play Store Games app. This is expected to be compatible with Windows 11 and Windows 10 and released sometime in 2022.
The stock Photos app has also been redesigned, as is shown by Microsoft’s Panos Panay below:
Pumped to share another #Windows11 first look with you – the beautifully redesigned #PhotosApp is coming soon to #WindowsInsiders Panos Panay (@panos_panay) September 7, 2021
Windows 11 has a brand-new Action Center, splitting Quick Settings, Notifications and a music controller into separate sections. Its design is inspired by Windows 10X, making it easy to navigate using touchpad, mouse, pen or finger.
Windows 11 also has new Snipping Tool. It replaces Windows 10’s Snip & Sketch, but offers a lot more functionality than the legacy Snipping Tool found on earlier iterations of Windows.
Plenty of stock apps have also been redesigned to be more in keeping with Windows 11’s new design. They include Calculator, Clock, Notepad, Media Player and File Explorer, with the latter shown below:
Windows 11 also has a brand new startup sound. Check out the five-second clip below:
Nine years after the previous version was introduced, we also finally have an updated volume indicator. Here’s what you can expect:
Image:Microsoft
This has been designed to be in keeping with the rest of the Windows 11 UI. It supports both light and dark modes, with the same sliders appearing when changing brightness via the keyboard shortcuts. Other notable changes in this update include a new in-progress call window for the Your Phone companion app, more on-screen keyboard themes and the ability to uninstall the clock.
The Microsoft Teams integration has received mixed reviews, but it now also applies to the Edge browser. It means individual tabs now show up within Task Manager, with GPU and crashpad data shown too. Tabs on the taskbar will also include the site, icon and topic name, although this is replaced by a generic icon during private browsing sessions.
In the Task Manager, versions available since February 2022 support an ‘Eco mode’. This can be used to allocate more resources to specific apps by setting the priority of others to ‘low’. This stops resource-intensive apps from consuming too much of the CPU or GPU power, which should help improve performance and battery life.
Elsewhere, Windows 11’s Dynamic Refresh Rate feature is now available. On compatible devices (including Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio), this allows panels above 60Hz to automatically adjust their refresh rate depending on what you’re doing. It prevents power from being wasted unnecessarily.
The first major update for Windows 11 arrived in February 2022, adding several new features. They include redesigned Notepad and Media Player apps, new taskbar functionality and a public preview of native Android app support. However, the latter requires at least 8GB of RAM and an SSD – that’s stricter than Windows 11 itself.
Microsoft made it much harder to change the default browser when it introduced Windows 11, but the company mostly reversed that decision in March 2022. Starting with version KB50011563, there’ll be an option within Settings to set a browser as your default for HTTP, HTTPS, .HTML and .HTM files. However, you’ll still need to change where PDFs open separately.
Updates like these are 40% smaller than Windows 10 and applied in the background, meaning they shouldn’t shouldn’t interrupt your work. Windows 11 is also more power efficient, meaning battery life should be improved in the long run. which means it uses less power which means your laptop should last longer.
Upcoming Windows 11 features
Initially, Microsoft said Windows 11 would be shifting to annual feature updates, but it’s since become clear that the OS will be getting new features throughout the year. Several new features have already been added since Windows 11’s launch, with more on the way soon.
As Windows Central reports, many of these could arrive in the 22H2 update. These will supposedly be as follows, with all new functionality available to test soon:
App folders in Start
Drag and drop on Taskbar
Quick Settings / Notification Center improvements
Pinned files in File Explorer
Acrylic title bars – that’s something Windows Latest is also reporting
Snap Bar snapping
UX Gestures for Start/Quick Settings using touch
New live captions feature
In early March 2022, Microsoft announced Preview Build 22567, which includes more new features. Among them are new touchscreen gestures, accessibility-focused voice commands and and a redesigned ‘Open with’ dialog box. A tweet from Windows Central’s Zac Bowden appears to confirm they’ll arrive in the 22H2 update:
Not that this should come as a surprise, but this week’s Insider Preview build confirms the next release of Windows 11 will be “version 22H2” Zac Bowden (@zacbowden) March 4, 2022
A February 2022 Insider build had several features disabled, suggesting they may be added in a future update. These include the ability to hide the taskbar when using Windows 11 as a tablet, a new sustainability mode within Settings and stickers that can be pinned to the desktop wallpaper. Focus Assist will supposedly be known simply as ‘Focus’ and get a couple of new features, while Priority notification sessions will be easier to access.
In May 2022, Microsoft announced it was ‘reimagining’ many of Windows 11’s pre-installed apps and tools. Updates to the likes of Photos, Notepad, Media Player, Clock, Calculator, Paint and the Snipping Tool are already available, but there’s one more on the way. A refresh to Sound Recorder is being tested, including a new waveform view and support for changing recording device/file format within the app. Here’s a taste of how it’ll look:
Image:Microsoft
Windows 11 is already a popular OS for gaming, but Microsoft is testing another feature in the Windows Insider Program. With an Xbox controller connected to your computer, pressing the Xbox button will launch a new ‘controller bar’, which lets you quickly switch between recent games and games launchers. Here’s how it’ll look:
Image:Microsoft
It also looks like a web search bar will be available for the desktop, if a recent early build is anything to go by. Microsoft says it’s the first of many features like this, but it’ll only work with the company’s Edge browser. That means it’ll override any default browser you’ve already set. It’s not clear how useful this will be – the search function within the taskbar combines Edge results with locally stored files already.
But Microsoft is still working on the Widgets panel that it introduced in Windows 11. Based on screenshots from the Microsoft Store, Twitter user FireCube believes third-party apps could soon be supported here:
Information about third party widgets, publishing widgets and more. Looks like Microsoft is soon going to announce third party widgets officially. #Windows11 FireCube (@FireCubeStudios) January 16, 2022
Microsoft has since confirmed that the option will be coming to Windows 11 “later this year”. As The Verge reports, head of devices and Windows Panos Panay advertised the feature at Microsoft’s Build developer conference in May 2022. Any third-party widgets created will also need a companion app for Windows.
It’s already easy to search for apps and files on Windows 11, but Microsoft wants to simplify the process further. According to Windows Latest, the company is working on a search bar that’s built directly into the taskbar. This will offer similar functionality to the Windows 10 version, just with a design more in keeping with the rest of the operating system.
Image: Windows Latest / Microsoft
As the Microsoft Store’s influence continues to grow, Microsoft is making it easier to transfer all your installed apps to a new PC. As the company announced in a blog post, Windows 11 will soon let you restore apps from another device that uses the same Microsoft account. It’s also been pitched as a way for developers to retain their customers when you switch.
The company is also taking steps to improve the Windows Subsystem for Android, upon which Android app support is built. In another blog post, Microsoft announced it’ll be updated to Android 12.1 (or Android 12L) – the current version is thought to be based on Android 11. The updates intend to make Android apps feel more at home on the Windows desktop, offering full integration within permission and notification tools.
Other highlighted upgrades include instant resumption after your computer wakes up (rather than restarting) and a redesigned Windows Subsystem settings menu. You’ll also be able to manage smart home tech from the Android app on the desktop, rather than relying on your phone – provided it’s available in the Microsoft Store. Of course, there is an alternative that allows you to download Google Play Store apps instead.
It’s not clear if we’ll see all these features in Windows 11’s next major update – that’s expected in the coming months.. Here’s everything we know about the 22H2 update so far.
We discussed Windows 11 in depth on episode 86 of Fast Charge, our weekly podcast:
Tech Advisor’s guide to Windows 11
We have plenty of Windows 11 coverage on the site, answering all the key questions about Microsoft’s new operating system.
The basics
Tutorials
News
There’s plenty more where all that came from. Keep it locked to Tech Advisor for plenty more Windows 11 coverage over the coming weeks and months.
But Windows 11 is just one part of Microsoft’s prioritisation of accessibility. The Surface Adaptive Kit makes any laptop easier to use, while the new Adaptive Accessories help people who are unable to use a traditional mouse and keyboard. Combined, these tools make a big difference.
Microsoft Windows 11 Review
With Windows 11, Microsoft has taken a risk by changing up its operating system, though many of the changes amount to not much more than window dressing. Windows 11 is a response to competition from Apple and Google, both of which have been nibbling at the edges of the market-leading desktop operating system with slick new designs. Despite its drastically updated look intended to respond to the competition, Windows 11 functions much as Windows 10 does—with more polish and a few new features and conveniences. Coming after six years of ho-hum upgrades, this major overhaul to the look and feel of the world’s most popular desktop operating system is welcome news: Windows fans have something to get excited about.
Despite the OS's smooth new look, we were surprised that using it doesn't feel that different from Windows 10. It still runs all the same apps, and much of what's new amounts to reupholstering and rearranging the furniture. Sure, Windows 11 looks nicer with rounded corners for all windows, the Taskbar icons in the middle, simpler icons, and more elegant Settings dialogs, but it doesn't feel totally alien or require a whole new process the way Windows 8 did. The new interface is attractive, but if you prefer the more familiar Windows 10-style look, you might just want to stick with Windows 10.
Windows 11 is still a work in progress. As with Windows 10, you can let the company know what you'd like to see added to the software in a dedicated Feedback Hub app, and you may be surprised at how often it listens. Anyone can sign up for preview builds of the OS through the Windows Insider Program. This lets you experience new features before they're available for general release. The next major update, 22H2 (sometimes referred to by Windows analysts as Sun Valley 2) is expected to add more Start menu options, some redesigned stock apps, and machine-learning intelligence.
What Are the Requirements and How Do You Get Windows 11?
Windows 11 launched on Oct. 5, 2021. At first, the upgrade is coming to recent and new PCs, and then it will be offered free to Windows 10 systems on a rolling basis, based on validated hardware configurations. The rollout will be complete by mid-2022. The most recent survey from AdDuplex (February 2022) showed Windows 11 is in use on nearly 20% of PCs(Opens in a new window), which is not insignificant, considering 1.3 billion devices run Windows.
Pricing hasn't been announced for non-upgrades—that is, DIY PC builds, virtual machine installations, or non-Windows 10 computers. I expect pricing for standalone licenses to remain as they were for Windows 10—$139.99 for Home and $199.99 for Pro editions—but there's still no info from Microsoft on such an option, even months after the Windows 11 launch.
Much has been made over the system requirements for Windows 11, but they’re very low: 1GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage. A 64-bit processor will be required; there's no longer a 32-bit version of the OS. You’ll also need a computer with a TPM security chip and Secure Boot capability. Those are less of a problem than the internet is making them out to be, as they’ve been standard on most PCs for the last six or so years. The real limiter is the CPU model, which needs to be from about the last four years. Microsoft recently rereleased the tool that assesses your PC's ability to run Windows 11, the PC Health Check app(Opens in a new window), and the company announced more PCs will be able to upgrade to it.
Anyone with one of the newer chips should have no trouble installing Windows 11 via Windows Update. Microsoft made a downloadable ISO(Opens in a new window) disk image file for the beta Insider version available for installing Windows 11, allowing in-place upgrades or clean installations on a PC or in a virtual machine. A similar installation option is now available for the release version of Windows 11 via Microsoft's Download Windows 11 page(Opens in a new window). Some sources(Opens in a new window) have reported that installing the OS with the ISO installer bypasses the system's hardware requirements, but that's not advisable as you may not get future OS updates if you install it on unsupported hardware.
Another type of CPU that runs Windows 11 is Arm64. The company has shown commitment to this lower-battery-use, always-connected platform by producing a full set of development software for it as well as a hardware platform named Volterra, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU. That device features NPUs (neural processing units), which power AI and will become prevalent in computers, according to Microsoft execs. AI is already built into Windows with the Window ML component, and the company is testing features like Suggested Actions, that will, for example, suggest sending an email if you copy an email address. You can find other examples of machine learning AI in the Windows Developer Blog(Opens in a new window), including animal identification and photo enhancement.
As with Windows 10, there’s a Home and a Pro version of Windows 11. You need to sign in to an online Microsoft account to upgrade to Windows 11 Home, a fact that’s raised the ire(Opens in a new window) of some commenters, though I really don’t think it’s an issue worth getting worked up about. Those who are gung-ho about not setting up the OS are likely to be running the Pro edition, anyway. If you don't want to pay for that and you object to signing in with an online account for your operating system, may I suggest Ubuntu?
A final note about installation: you'll be able to roll back to Windows 10 for 10 days after upgrading if you prefer the older OS version. Microsoft has announced support for Windows 10 through 2025.
A New Look (and More) for Windows
Most of the work on Windows 11 went toward redesigning the interface rather than building wholly new features, so—as I mentioned above—the OS is more familiar than you may expect. It borrows ideas from Chrome OS, though you can still place app icons on the desktop background, which Google’s lightweight desktop OS doesn't allow.
Windowing and multitasking remain far more advanced in Windows, too. The interface gets rounded corners (like those in macOS) for all windows, which is not a significant change but does give the OS a smoother look. Microsoft's Fluent Design System, and that system's new Mica material(Opens in a new window) play a role in the redesign. This semi-transparent look is appearing in more and more included apps and utilities. Much of the new design brings a welcome new slickness and consistency to the Windows interface, but there are a few changes in Windows 11 I’m not a fan of, as you'll see below.
Taskbar, Start Menu, and File Explorer
For decades, the Windows Start button has lived in the lower-left-hand corner of the screen, so, small detail though it may be, getting used to it being at the left edge of centered icons could be one of the bigger adjustments you need to make. The issue for me is that the Start menu has heretofore always been in the exact same place. Now, however, if you run more programs, it moves a bit more to the left. Not having to think at all about the Start button’s position was a plus in Windows versions going back more than 20 years. Happily, a Taskbar alignment option lets you move the Start button back to its rightful position in the left corner.
I’m not especially crazy about the new Taskbar itself, with its smaller, less-informative buttons. With Windows 10, it’s totally clear which programs are running, as Taskbar buttons for running programs are wider if you choose not to combine them in Settings. Thankfully, you can still hover over the buttons to see a thumbnail of the app window and right-click to open the Jump List showing recent documents or other common actions for the app.
The Start menu gets a major overhaul in Windows 11. Pinned app buttons (they're larger than icons but smaller than Windows 10's tiles) are at the top of its panel. Recent and frequent apps and documents are in a section below them. The Start menu’s new mini-tiles are still good for touch input, but you lose info live tiles offer, annoying as those could sometimes be. Another quibble I have with the new Start menu is it's harder to get to the All Apps view than in Windows 10. With that version of Windows, you can see all installed apps as soon as you open the Start menu; they're in a list on the left while tiles for your pinned apps are on the right.
File Explorer is a good example of Windows 11’s new look, particularly its updated left panel controls and folder icons. Note the simplified ribbon along the top, which is far less busy and distracting than the previous File Explorer’s. The New button at the top left works for new folders or documents supported by your apps, and the same viewing options (list, details, differently sized icons) for files are available. The overflow menu offers file compression, selection, and Properties options, as well as the old Folder Options dialog. The right-click context menus, which have grown longer and longer over the years, get shorter, smarter, and clearer in Windows 11. They now show only the most often-needed options.
Widgets in Windows 11
Windows 11 has a Widget panel, which shows you tiles for news, weather, stock quotes, sports scores, and more. It’s not entirely new since the News and Interests Taskbar popup that arrived in Windows 10 recently is exceedingly similar, and a recent update made it even more similar, adding a weather indicator to the taskbar. In addition to Microsoft-produced first-party tiles in the Widgets panel, third-party developers will be able to offer content through Windows 11’s widgets later in 2022. Touch screen users can easily swipe in from the left to open them and you can full-screen the widget panel if you want a bigger view.
An Entertainment widget surfaces new movies and TV shows, and the Family widget is good for those who use Microsoft Family Safety parental controls tools. For more, read How to Use Widgets in Windows 11.
Notifications and Quick Settings
Notification Center (left), Quick Settings (middle), and Quick Settings customizations (right).
Microsoft has split the Windows 10 Action Center into two separate panels and tap targets. This resembles Apple's revamped macOS’s notification area, which used to be a clean, simple, single panel but is now a collection of smaller popups. The Windows 11 version isn’t quite as bad as the macOS one, but I still prefer the single Action Center panel for notifications and quick settings. I appreciate the circled number—like those on some mobile app icons—that shows how many notifications you have. Touch users can swipe in from the right to display the Notifications panel.
The Quick Settings panel opens when you click on or tap the Wi-Fi, speaker, or battery icon. By default, it shows buttons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Battery Saver, Focus Assist, and Accessibility, along with sliders for audio volume and screen brightness. A Pencil icon lets you customize what buttons appear, with a choice of Connect (for external displays and audio), Keyboard Layout, Nearby Sharing (like AirDrop for PCs), Night Light, and Project. You can still hover over each of the three icons in the Taskbar to see their status, but I prefer to have just sound settings pop up when I press the speaker and just Wi-Fi options when I press the Wi-Fi icon.
Settings
The new Settings interface is pleasantly redesigned, but some advanced dialogs still show elements of the old design.
One of the more irksome things about Windows 10 is its inconsistent settings windows and dialogs. Sometimes you uninstall a program in the new Settings app, sometimes in the antiquated Control Panel. That inconsistency goes away in Windows 11—almost entirely. For some detailed controls, such as sound devices, you still see the content in the old style, though the window uses the new design.
Light and Dark mode settings are still in the Personalization > Colors setting area, and the modes look much better than in Windows 10, particularly the dark mode, which uses transparency effectively. Dark mode can now hold its head up proudly when compared with that of macOS.
You can still change system sounds in Settings, but the new Windows 11 default set of sounds is slick, quick, and modern.
Snap Layouts and Multitasking
Windows has long surpassed macOS in the way it lets you arrange app windows on-screen, and the gap grows wider with Windows 11’s new Snap Layouts option. You get to this tool by hovering the cursor over the maximize button at the top right of any window—this seems a bit hidden to me, and I hope and expect Microsoft surfaces the capability more somehow. When you do hover over the maximize button, you see a choice of layouts—two windows side-by-side, three with one large and two small, and so on as shown below.
Snap Layouts appear as options in the Taskbar, so you can either open the group of apps or the single app. You also see layouts preserved when you open a group of apps on an external monitor multiple times.
The new Task view shows multiple desktops with different backgrounds.
Windows still offers multiple virtual desktops, something I find incredibly useful for separating work apps and websites from personal ones. I either press Ctrl–Windows Key–Arrow to move back and forth between them or the Windows Key–Tab keyboard shortcut to choose one from Task View. With Windows 11, you can now use a four-finger swipe to move back and forth, something Mac users have long enjoyed, though only via trackpad rather than right on the screen. Also new is the ability to set different desktop backgrounds (aka wallpapers) for each desktop.
A Better Screenshot Tool
Windows 10 introduced a terrific utility for taking screenshots, called Snip & Sketch. With a press of the Windows Key-Shift-S keyboard shortcut, it let you select an area (either rectangular or free-form), a window, or the entire screen and snap a screenshot you could paste from the clipboard or open in an image editor. Windows 11 instead has a new Snipping Tool. It's named after an earlier, less functional screenshot tool that had been a fan favorite among Windows enthusiasts. The Snipping Tool adds an optional timer delay before it takes a screenshot. There remain other ways to take screenshots in Windows 11, including using the tried-and-true PrtSc key, the Game Bar, third-party screenshot utilities, and so forth. Read my article How to Take Screenshots in Windows 11 for all the details.
The Link to Phone Connection
With everyone having small computers in their hands wherever they are these days, it's essential for any tech product to include a phone link, and that's exactly what Microsoft offers for Windows 11. Windows 10's Your Phone app has been enhanced and renamed Phone Link. It offers a truly powerful way to connect your phone to your Windows 11 PC. I used to be envious of the way Mac users could do SMS texting via an iPhone, but no more. Windows Phone Link goes way beyond that for Android users, with photos shot on the phone instantly appearing on the PC and the ability to run any app on the computer's screen. That's in addition to calling and texting from the big screen. You get desktop notifications from any app with messaging and can respond within the notification. Read how to make the connection in How to Connect Your Android Phone to Your Windows 11 PC.
Other interactions between phone and PC include Cloud Clipboard and the mobile version of the Edge browser, which lets you send open sites for the phone to the computer and vice versa.
Windows 11 on Tablets
Windows 11, unfortunately, ditches a couple of its best tablet- and touch-friendly features. Most importantly, you can no longer swipe in from the left to open the task-switching view, a gesture I use all the time on my Surface Go tablet. You can no longer swipe down from the top to close an app, either. This omission is less of a big deal because you can still press the X in the window’s upper right corner as you’d do in desktop mode.
Again, though, for a handheld device, the down-swipe is more direct and requires less dexterity. There are, however, new three-finger swipe gestures to show the Task View and to minimize (but not close) an app on the desktop. A sideways three-finger swipe switches you between running apps. You can use the Task View button in the Taskbar, but it's not as immediate as a swipe of the thumb. I’d argue switching tasks is more important to tablet users than accessing Widgets, which is what swiping your thumb now gets you.
On the plus side, Windows 11 tablet users get new stylus options and on-screen touch keyboard tricks. The new Surface Slim Pen 2 has haptic feedback—always a plus. This latest-generation pen (available on Surface Pro 8 and Surface Laptop Studio) buzzes in your hand, for example, when you delete previously written text and when you tap the Back button to open the Whiteboard app. In that app, you can experience the full digital inking experience, which has gotten to the point of feeling exactly like writing with ink. You can, for example, highlight text, write freehand (albeit sloppily), and sketch diagrams. You can even convert what you write to digital text. The on-screen keyboard supports swipe text entry and offers a healthy selection of emoji and gifs, and it now lets you choose custom backgrounds.
The old emoji are on the left and the new Fluent style ones are on the right.
Speaking of emoji, Microsoft released Fluent design-influenced emoji. On Windows 11, just as on its predecessor, you can tap Windows Key–. (period) to access a small panel with a generous selection of symbols, special characters, and emoji. Microsoft's Judy Safran-Aasen, Program Manager for the Windows Design Team, writes in a blog post(Opens in a new window) that the new emoji "would scale to the expansive set of Unicode emoji" and that they're "more modern and expressive emoji to use in your hybrid communications, allowing you to add fun, expression and personality to your communications." They do seem to convey more of an immediate feeling to me.
Voice typing (which is useful for both tablets and non-tablets) is the new name for Windows 10’s fantastic speech dictation tool. Windows’ voice-to-text feature has improved remarkably in recent years and now uses machine learning algorithms to correct its guesses and punctuation. As with the previous dictation feature, you press the Windows Key-H keyboard shortcut or press the on-screen touch keyboard’s mic icon to launch the tool. Then you simply dictate the text you want to enter in the on-screen text area.
New App Store With Android Support!
Like the rest of the interface, the Microsoft Store app (also known as Windows' app store), gets a slick design refresh. In addition to apps, the Store offers Movies and TV shows as well as games. For some ideas on what to install, read our roundup of the best apps for Windows 11. And Microsoft recently published its own list of best store app award winners(Opens in a new window).
A marquee feature is Windows 11's ability to run Android apps, though with some caveats. You have to install them either via the Amazon Appstore running inside of Windows’ Microsoft Store or as a sideloaded APK. Android apps are available on Windows 11 now but the feature is still considered to be in Preview.
Perhaps even more significant for the store is that developers no longer need to code with the UWP app type to be included. Even Microsoft's own gargantuan Visual Studio(Opens in a new window) development program is in the store now. Microsoft also announced that Progressive Web Apps, which are actually websites with some extra code that bestows app-like qualities, will also find their way into the Store.
Microsoft announced still more store news at Build 2022: You'll be able to restore all the apps you installed via the Store onto a new PC in one action; developers will be able to put ads in the store; store apps will show up in Windows Search; and old-school Win32 apps can now be submitted by any developer. PWAs also get some nice new capabilities, including Meta Quest VR support, URL protocol handling, and custom title bars.
Teams Chat Integration
Microsoft’s Teams chat and video conferencing app is prominently in the center of the Taskbar by default. This move makes sense in some ways: With the increasing importance of virtual meetings, maybe Microsoft can grab some of the video conferencing market. Teams grew phenomenally during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 20 million to 145 million active users, but it remains unclear as to if it can become as ubiquitous as Microsoft would like. Adding a Skype Meet Now button to Windows 10’s notification area didn’t have that effect. (Skype remains an excellent, highly capable communication tool, nevertheless.) But maybe once Window 11 becomes the dominant version, the operating system's ubiquity will accelerate Teams chat's adoption.
To get started, click the chat icon. A welcome experience prompts you to grant the app access to your Microsoft account and its contacts. When you subsequently tap the icon after this initial setup, you see a list of all your contacts. Click on one to start a chat. Your contacts are likely not using Teams chat yet, so the app sends along an invite to join Teams (it's free for personal use) along with that first message. One strange thing about the interface is that, once you're in a video chat, you see a second Taskbar icon for Teams along with the centered chat icon; this seems like an unnecessary duplication to me. A killer feature of Windows 11's Teams app, though, is letting you converse from your PC with anyone with a cellphone via SMS for free!
In addition to apps you can get in the Store, you also get standard apps like an updated Photos app, the new Media Player, Voice Recorder, two Paint apps (3D and a redesigned classic Paint), Mail, Calendar, and so on. We can hope for the last two mentioned to be greatly improved as Windows 11 development progresses. In the initial release, we still have the existing apps, albeit with rounded corners, but new versions will be based on the excellent Progressive Web App versions of
Microsoft has already started including the updated Paint app (though I've started to enjoy the modern Paint 3D), as well as new versions of Notepad (with a dark mode!) and Calculator. A new dedicated template-based video editing app called Clipchamp is also coming to Windows 11.
Both the legacy Windows Media Player and the Groove music player have recently been replaced by a new media player app. If you had music stored in Groove, your library and playlists will automatically migrate to the new Media Player when your PC gets the update. The new player does not replace the Movies & TV app, too, which is the default video player and catalog app for content bought through the Microsoft Store; Movies & TV also supports the cross-platform Movies Anywhere system.
The Chromium-based Microsoft Edge is the default browser, with Internet Explorer no longer existing as a standalone program, though companies that need IE functionality for their custom business apps can invoke it through Edge when enabled. Web pundits have panned Microsoft's decision to require Edge for some OS-related features like the news widget and the built-in search, but you can still use the browser of your choice as the default link opener. The company is also testing a Set Default Browser button to make switching easier.
Of special note is the updated Clock app, which now offers a way to help you complete tasks. It still offers alarms, timers, and a world clock, but its Focus Sessions feature integrates with Spotify to give you appropriate background music for your tasks, and with the To Do app, so you can check off those tasks upon completion.
When it comes to setting apps as the default for certain file types, Windows 11 makes things somewhat trickier: You now have to change the setting for each file type, rather than just choosing an app to handle, for example, all photo files.
Gaming and New Technologies
PC gamers are seldom left out in major new Windows updates, and Windows 11 is no exception. Two areas benefit: game selection and technologies. For the first, the Xbox app built into Windows 11 offers access to the Xbox Game Pass collection of video games. This includes titles like Halo Infinite, Twelve Minutes, and Age of Empires IV. The app also enables Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft’s streaming game platform. It basically puts PCs on a par with Xboxes, though with users in control of how much hardware power they want to throw at their games. PCMag gaming analyst Jordan Minor goes so far as to declare that with Windows 11, Microsoft Makes Every PC an Xbox.
As for new gaming technology, Windows 11 introduces Auto HDR and DirectStorage. The first expands the color space to reveal superior clarity even with non-HDR game titles. The second technology, DirectStorage (a subset of the Xbox Velocity Architecture) can speed up game loading times by bypassing the CPU and allowing graphics memory to load directly.
Other technical advances in Windows 11 include Dynamic Refresh, which can save laptop batteries by decreasing a screen’s high refresh rate when it’s not needed. The OS also supports the much faster Wi-Fi 6E standard. The requirements of TPM and Secure Boot are part of Microsoft’s beefing up the OS’s security technology, a topic worthy of a whole separate article. In fact, PCMag lead analyst Neil Rubenking has written one you should read, called Windows 11 Is Ultra-Secure: Don't Mess It Up!
In terms of raw performance on traditional synthetic benchmarks, the new OS is largely at parity with Windows 10. Our hardware team ran benchmark tests both for gaming performance and productivity performance on the same PC with Windows 10 and then again after upgrading to Windows 11. The team found Windows 11 performs just as well, and even showed some gains in frame rates and a slight edge in the productivity tests. In any case, you can still speed up Windows 11 with a few tricks if you notice it getting sluggish.
Beyond Accessibility
In a follow-up blog post to the one announcing the new OS, Microsoft detailed new accessibility features in Windows 11(Opens in a new window) to join existing ones like Narrator, Magnifier, Closed Captions, and Windows Speech Recognition, along with support for third-party assistive hardware and software. For example, Windows 11 has new Contrast themes, redesigned closed caption themes, and AI-powered Windows Voice Typing. The new OS also adds APIs for programming assistive apps, and even the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) now has accessibility options.
What’s Gone in Windows 11?
It only makes sense that some legacy features no longer fit in with the new approach of Windows 11. A couple of conveniences I like—but are apparently hardly used—are going away. Aero Peek and Aero Shake are turned off by default in Windows 11, but you can re-enable them in Settings.
The Cortana AI voice assistant isn't preinstalled on Windows 11 systems by default, but it's still available in the app store. Live tiles are gone, too, with Widgets now replacing their functionality. Tablet mode is replaced by what Microsoft calls "new functionality and keyboard attach and detach postures." Another casualty is the Windows 10 Timeline, although the Start menu's Recommended section still shows your recent documents and apps.
Time for a New Windows
Minor complaints aside, we like to see Microsoft giving its marquee software some attention. For the last few years, the company has focused more on its Azure cloud computing services—justifiably given that business's profitability. Windows 11 brings slick new looks, useful new tools, updated default apps, extra capabilities, and performance advances. Perhaps that's enough to lure away some Chrome OS users or Mac users. Regardless, it’s still early days for this new version of the desktop OS used on 1.3 billion PCs, so we look forward to Microsoft fine-tuning and perfecting Windows 11's design in future updates—and we've already seen this in action, with the Weather icon returning to the taskbar.
Windows 11 retains most of the vast feature set of Windows 10 and enhances the operating system with more attractive, modern interface touches and new conveniences like Snap Layouts and Widgets. For those reasons, despite some growing pains and the unfamiliarity it presents, Microsoft Windows 11 remains a PCMag Editors' Choice-winning desktop operating system, though at a slightly reduced score of four stars. We expect Microsoft to make a steady stream of improvements. The currently more polished Apple macOS is also a PCMag Editors' Choice winner.
Microsoft Windows 11 4.0 Editors' Choice (Opens in a new window) See It Visit Site at Microsoft Store (Opens in a new window) MSRP Free Pros Beautiful, more consistent new design
Great window layout options
Strong video gaming updates
Performance-improving features
Runs Android apps View More Cons Requires a recent CPU
Some interface changes like the new Start menu and Taskbar take getting used to
Useful tools gone, like Timeline, tablet gestures, and Action Center The Bottom Line A radically modernized, more consistent design for Windows belies what is really more of an evolutionary update to the world's most popular desktop operating system.
Windows 11: A guide to the updates
A Windows launch isn’t the end a process — it’s really just the beginning. As with Windows 10, Microsoft continually works on improving Windows 11 by fixing bugs, releasing security patches, and occasionally adding new features.
In this story we summarize what you need to know about each update released to the public for Windows 11. For each build, we’ve included the date of its release and a link to Microsoft’s announcement about it. The most recent updates appear first.
Note: If you’re still using Windows 10, see “Windows 10: A guide to the updates.” And if you’re looking for information about Insider Program previews for upcoming feature releases of Windows 11, see “Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build?”
Updates to Windows 11 original release
KB5014668 (OS Build 22000.778) Preview
Release date: June 23, 2022
This build adds IP address auditing for incoming Windows Remote Management (WinRM) connections in security event 4262 and WinRM event 91. This addresses an issue that fails to log the source IP address and machine name for a remote PowerShell connection.
The build also introduces search highlights — daily notable events and anniversaries and, for corporate customers, updates from your organization. Search highlights will roll out to Windows 11 customers over the next several weeks.
The build also fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that affected the Cloud Clipboard service and prevented syncing between machines after a period of inactivity. It also fixes a bug that failed to hide the Windows Sandbox startup screen after Sandbox starts to run.
There are two known issues in this update, one in which after installing the update, some .NET Framework 3.5 apps might have issues or might fail to open. In the other, after installing this update, IE mode tabs in Microsoft Edge might stop responding when a site displays a form or dialog box that requires the user to respond before continuing or interacting with other portions of the webpage or app.
(Get more info about KB5014668 Preview.)
KB5016138 (OS Build 22000.740)
Release date: June 20, 2022
This out-of-band build, which is only available for Windows devices that use Arm processors, fixes a bug that prevented Windows Arm-based devices from signing in using Azure Active Directory (AAD). Apps and services that use AAD to sign in, such as VPN connections, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Outlook, might also be affected.
This build has two known issues. In one, for IT admins, some .NET Framework 3.5 apps might have issues or might fail to open. In the other, for all users, Windows devices might be unable use the Wi-Fi hotspot feature. When attempting to use the hotspot feature, the host device might lose the connection to the internet after a client device connects.
(Get more info about KB5016138.)
KB5014697 (OS Build 22000.739)
Release date: June 14, 2022
This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
There is one known issue in this update, in which after installing this update, some .NET Framework 3.5 apps might have issues or might fail to open.
(Get more info about KB5014697.)
KB5014019 (OS Build 22000.708) Preview
Release date: May 24, 2022
This build introduces Windows spotlight on the desktop, which automatically displays new pictures on your desktop. It already exists for the lock screen. To turn it on, go to Settings > Personalization > Background > Personalize your background and choose Windows spotlight.
The build also fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused the Input app to stop working, another that caused some users to see a black screen when they sign in and sign out of Windows, and another that caused the Remote Desktop client application to stop working when you end a session.
There is one known issue in this update, in which after installing the update, some .NET Framework 3.5 apps might have issues or might fail to open.
(Get more info about KB5014019 Preview.)
KB5013943 (OS Build 22000.675)
Release date: May 10, 2022
This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the May 2022 Security Updates notes.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
There is one known issue in this update, in which after installing Windows updates released January 11, 2022 or later on an affected version of Windows, recovery discs created using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app in Control Panel might be unable to start. Recovery discs that were created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app on devices that have installed Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue and should start as expected.
(Get more info about KB5013943.)
KB5012643 (OS Build 22000.652) Preview
Release date: April 25, 2022
This build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including a memory leak issue that affected Windows systems that are in use 24 hours each day of the week, another that caused video subtitles to be partially cut off, and another that prevented you from using the minimize, maximize, and close buttons on a maximized app window.
There is one known issue in this update: after IT admins install the Windows updates released January 11, 2022 or later, recovery discs created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app in Control Panel might be unable to start. Recovery discs that were created with this app on devices running Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue.
(Get more info about KB5012643 Preview.)
KB5012592 (OS Build 22000.613)
Release date: April 12, 2022
This build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the April 2022 Security Updates notes.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
There is one known issue in this update, in which after installing the Windows updates released January 11, 2022 or later on an affected version of Windows, recovery discs (CD or DVD) created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app in Control Panel might be unable to start. Recovery discs that were created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app on devices that have installed Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue and should start as expected.
(Get more info about KB5012592.)
KB5011563 (OS Build 22000.593) Preview
Release date: March 28, 2022
This build allows Windows to display up to three high-priority “toast” (popup) notifications simultaneously for apps that send notifications for calls, reminders, or alarms using Windows notifications. It also fixes more than two dozen bugs, including one that crashed and another that affected and prevented Microsoft Outlook’s offline search from returning recent emails.
There is one known issue in this update, in which when after IT admins install the Windows updates released January 11, 2022 or later, recovery discs (CDs or DVDs) created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app in Control Panel might be unable to start. Recovery discs that were created by using the Backup and Restore (Windows 7) app on devices which have installed Windows updates released before January 11, 2022 are not affected by this issue and should start as expected.
(Get more info about KB5011563 Preview.)
KB5011493 (OS Build 22000.556)
Release date: March 8, 2022
This build fixes a bug that occurs when you attempt to reset a Windows device and its apps have folders that contain reparse data, such as Microsoft OneDrive or OneDrive for Business. When you select Remove everything, files that have been downloaded or synced locally from OneDrive might not be deleted.
It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the March 2022 Security Updates notes.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
(Get more info about KB5011493.)
KB5010414 (OS Build 22000.527) Preview
Release date: February 15, 2022
This build lets you share cookies between Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer mode and Microsoft Edge, and adds support for hot adding and the removal of non-volatile memory (NVMe) namespaces. It also adds a variety of other features, including the ability to instantly mute and unmute a Microsoft Teams call from the taskbar, and quickly share open application windows directly from your taskbar to a Microsoft Teams call.
It also fixes many bugs, including one that affected the Windows search service and occurred when you queried using the proximity operator, and one that prevented printing properly for some low integrity process apps.
(Get more info about KB5010414 Preview.)
KB5010386 (OS Build 22000.493)
Release date: February 8, 2022
The build fixes a bug that causes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) modify operation to fail if the operation contains the SamAccountName and UserAccountControl attribute. It also includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the February 2022 Security Updates notes.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
(Get more info about KB5010386.)
KB5008353 (OS Build 22000.469) Preview
Release date: January 25, 2022
The build fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one in which Windows’ audio service stopped responding on some devices that support hardware-accelerated Bluetooth audio, another that prevented icons from appearing on the taskbar of a secondary display, and another that prevented the touch keyboard from appearing on the lock screen when a device has a Microsoft account (MSA).
There is one known issue in this update, in which recent emails might not appear in the search results of the Microsoft Outlook desktop app. For a short-term fix, you can disable Windows Desktop Search, which will cause Microsoft Outlook to use its built-in search.
(Get more info about KB5008353.)
KB5010795 (OS Build 22000.438)
Release date: January 17, 2022
The out-of-band build fixes two bugs, one of which caused IP Security (IPSEC) connections that contain a Vendor ID to fail. VPN connections using Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) or IP security Internet Key Exchange (IPSEC IKE) could have also been affected. The other fixed bug prevented removable media formatted using the Resilient File System (ReFS) from mounting or caused the removable media to mount in the RAW file format. This issue occured after installing the January 11, 2022 Windows update.
There is one known issue in this update, in which some image editing programs might not render colors correctly on certain high dynamic range (HDR) displays.
(Get more info about KB5010795.)
KB5009566 (OS Build 22000.434)
Release date: January 11, 2022
The build fixes a bug in the Japanese Input Method Editors (IME), and includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the January 2022 Security Update notes.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
There is one issue in this update, in which after installing Windows 11, some image editing programs might not render colors correctly on certain high dynamic range (HDR) displays.
(Get more info about KB5009566.)
KB5008215 (OS Build 22000.376)
Release date: December 14, 2021
The build includes a wide variety of security updates. For details, see Microsoft’s Security Update Guide and the December 2021 Security Update notes.
What IT needs to know: Because this is a security update, it should be applied relatively soon. Over the next few weeks, check for reports about problematic issues, and if all seems well, apply the update.
There are no known issues in this update.
(Get more info about KB5008215.)
KB5007262 (OS Build 22000.348) Preview
Release date: November 22, 2021
This optional update can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog or by going to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Optional updates available.
This builds fixes a wide variety of bugs, including one that caused File Explorer to stop working after you closed a File Explorer window, and another that caused flickering when you hovered over icons on the taskbar if you’ve applied a high contrast theme.
There are no known issues in this update.
(Get more info about KB5007262 Preview.)
KB5007215 (OS Build 22000.318)
Release date: November 9, 2021
