Windows 11
Windows 11 exists despite a remark made at the 2015 Ignite conference. There, Microsoft employee Jerry Nixon said that Windows 10 would be the "last version of Windows". The system was to be treated as a service, with new builds and updates released over time. PC World later argued that the widely reported line was taken out of context. In its reading, the official transcript marks the comment only as a segue. Nixon, it suggested, simply meant that ten was the last version then in development.
On the 5th of October 2021, Microsoft released Windows 11 anyway, as the successor to Windows 10 from 2015. It came as a free upgrade for Windows 10 devices that met its requirements. It also came with the strictest hardware rules the company had ever enforced for a Windows release. Its new look was borrowed from a project Microsoft had already abandoned.
Three questions run through this story. Where did the redesign come from? Why did the requirements shut out so many working computers? And why did so many people decide to stay where they were?
In October 2019, Microsoft announced Windows 10X, a future edition of Windows 10 meant only for dual-touchscreen devices such as the then-upcoming Surface Neo. Its interface changed with context-sensitive "postures" for different screen layouts and uses. It also introduced a centered taskbar and a Start menu without Windows 10's live tiles. Older Windows applications would have been forced to run in "containers", to protect performance and power use. Microsoft said it planned to ship 10X devices by the end of 2020.
In May 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic under way, Panos Panay changed course. Panay was chief product officer for Windows and Office. He said the company needed to focus on "meeting customers where they are now". Windows 10X would launch first only on single-screen devices. Microsoft would "continue to look for the right moment, in conjunction with our OEM partners, to bring dual-screen devices to market".
By October 2020, reports described a separate effort. It was a user interface refresh for Windows 10, codenamed "Sun Valley", planned for a late-2021 feature update codenamed "Cobalt". Internal documentation said the goal was to "reinvigorate" the interface and make it more "fluid", with more consistent use of WinUI. In January 2021, a Microsoft job listing referred to a "sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows".
Pieces of the work reached testers early. By December 2020, Windows 10 Insider Preview builds carried new system icons, which swapped out shell resources dating back as far as Windows 95. Task View gained the option to set a different wallpaper on each virtual desktop. Builds also added x86-64 emulation on ARM, plus Auto HDR from the Xbox Series X.
On the 18th of May 2021, John Cable, Head of Windows Servicing and Delivery, confirmed that Windows 10X was canceled. Microsoft would be "accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company". Those salvaged ideas were about to be unveiled under a new name.
At the Microsoft Build 2021 developer conference, CEO and chairman Satya Nadella used his keynote to tease the next generation of Windows. He said he had been running it himself for several months. A week later, Microsoft sent invitations to a media event at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on the 24th of June 2021. On the 10th of June, the company had also posted an 11-minute video of Windows start-up sounds to YouTube. Many people guessed that both the event time and the video length pointed to the name Windows 11.
The name escaped on its own first. In June 2021, it appeared accidentally in an official Microsoft support document. On the 15th of June, leaked images of a purported beta desktop surfaced online, and the build itself leaked the same day. It resembled the canceled Windows 10X, and it showed a redesigned out-of-box experience with Windows 11 branding. Microsoft later confirmed it was genuine. Panay called it an "early weird build".
On the 24th of June 2021, Panay hosted a virtual event to announce Windows 11 officially. Nadella called it "a re-imagining of the operating system". A separate developer event the same day covered Microsoft Store updates, new Fluent Design guidelines, and the Windows App SDK, code-named "Project Reunion". Microsoft promised a release in "Holiday 2021", with a free upgrade for compatible Windows 10 devices through Windows Update. On the 28th of June, the first preview build and SDK went to Windows Insiders.
On the 31st of August 2021, Microsoft named the 5th of October as the release date. Windows 10 had arrived on the 29th of July 2015, so the gap was more than six years. That beat the previous record, the stretch between Windows XP on the 25th of October 2001 and Windows Vista on the 30th of January 2007.
Marketing started during the 2021 NFL Kickoff Game on the 9th of September, with the first television commercial. It was meant to convey a "feeling of immersion and fluidity", with imagery of the system and of Halo Infinite from Xbox Game Studios. On release day, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was lit with the Windows 11 logo and the default "Bloom" wallpaper, created by the Barcelona-based art studio Six N. Five. In New York City, the Mikey Likes It ice cream parlors handed out free cups of "Bloomberry" ice cream.
A support document had listed the 4th of October as the release date. Microsoft shipped on the 5th as an opt-in, in-place upgrade. People could use the Windows 11 Installation Assistant, which can also create an ISO image or USB install media. The other route was a phased rollout through Windows Update, with newer eligible devices first. Microsoft expected every eligible device to be offered the upgrade by mid-2022.
Boxed retail copies, a license key plus a USB flash drive, followed on the 9th of May 2022. Digital licenses arrived through the Microsoft Store on the 28th of July 2022. On the 20th of September 2023, Microsoft said Windows 7 and Windows 8 product keys would no longer activate Windows 10 or 11, though some reports in 2024 said they still worked under certain conditions. By then, the real fight was over the redesigned desktop itself.
Open Windows 11 and the first thing that stands out is a taskbar with its buttons centered by default. Unlike in earlier versions, it is permanently pinned to the bottom of the screen. Moving it to the top, left, or right requires manual changes to the registry. Clicking the date and time now opens the notifications sidebar. Volume, brightness, media playback, and Quick Actions toggles moved into a pop-up from the system tray.
The Start menu dropped the live tiles of Windows 8.x and 10. In their place sits a grid of pinned applications, with a list of recent applications and documents. A "Widgets" button opens a panel of Microsoft Start, a news aggregator with personalized stories. It builds on the "news and interests" panel from later Windows 10 builds. Microsoft Teams is integrated into the taskbar, and Skype is no longer bundled by default.
The visual language follows Microsoft's Fluent Design, with translucency, shadows, a new color palette, and rounded corners. One signature material is "Mica", described as an "opaque, dynamic material that incorporates theme and desktop wallpaper to paint the background of long-lived windows such as apps and settings". The Segoe UI font, in use since Windows Vista, became a variable font that scales better across display resolutions. File Explorer swapped its ribbon for a more traditional toolbar. Its context menus moved tasks such as copy and paste to a row along the top and hid other actions under an overflow menu.
Window management gained "Snap Layouts". Hovering over a window's maximize button shows preset arrangements for tiling several windows. A tiled arrangement can be minimized and restored from the taskbar as a "snap group". If a monitor is unplugged, its windows are minimized rather than shoved onto the main display. Plug the monitor back in, and they return to their prior positions.
Gaming borrowed from the Xbox Series X and Series S. Auto HDR and DirectStorage came to the PC, and DirectStorage needs a DirectX 12 graphics card and an NVMe solid-state drive. In June 2025, Microsoft unveiled Xbox mode for handheld gaming PCs. Much like SteamOS, it boots straight into the Xbox app and skips the Windows desktop. It was a timed exclusive to the ROG Xbox Ally and reached selected territories more widely in April 2026.
Windows 11 ships with the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge, chosen for compatibility with Google Chrome. It does not include Internet Explorer, the first Windows without it since the original retail release of Windows 95. The old MSHTML rendering engine stays for compatibility, and Edge can use it in "IE Mode" for whitelisted websites. To comply with the Digital Markets Act, Microsoft lets users in the European Economic Area remove Edge, the Bing search engine, and advertisements.
The redesigned Microsoft Store accepts Win32 programs and progressive web applications alongside Universal Windows Platform apps. Microsoft also announced plans to let third-party stores such as the Epic Games Store distribute their clients there. On the 21st of October 2021, the Windows Subsystem for Android reached Beta channel users in the United States. It could run Android apps from APK files, with an Amazon Appstore client available. Release channel users got it on the 15th of February 2022, in build 22000.527. It was built on Intel's Bridge runtime compiler. On the 5th of March 2024, Microsoft announced that support would end exactly a year later.
None of this could be installed on every machine, and the reason was a different kind of redesign.
Windows 11 is the first consumer version of Windows without a 32-bit build. It runs only on x86-64 and ARM64 processors, though it can still run 32-bit applications through the WoW64 subsystem used since Windows XP. Microsoft raised the floor to 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. It also required UEFI firmware, Secure Boot, and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0 for the first time.
Microsoft called the TPM 2.0 coprocessor a "critical building block" against firmware and hardware attacks. Virtualization-based security, hypervisor-protected code integrity, and Secure Boot are built in and on by default. Supported Intel and AMD chips also get hardware-enforced stack protection against zero-day exploits.
For the first time, Microsoft also checked the processor model before installation, against a whitelist. As of March 2025, the list included eighth-generation Intel Core chips, called Coffee Lake, and AMD Zen+ and later. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 850 and later were also on it. One exception was the Intel Core i7-7820HQ, a seventh-generation chip used by the Surface Studio 2. Even that applied only to devices that shipped with DCH-based drivers.
The consequences became clear before launch. Under the requirements Microsoft first published, up to 60% of existing Windows 10 PCs could not upgrade, and critics warned of electronic waste. Microsoft did not directly explain the cutoff. Observers noted that sixth and seventh generation Intel Core chips were hit by CPU-level flaws such as Meltdown and Spectre, which later CPUs mitigate better. A dozen solution providers told the IT outlet CRN they saw Windows 11 as a meaningful step up in security. Gartner's Stephen Kleynhans said Microsoft was looking at the entire stack, from hardware to applications, to make it work more securely.
The TPM rule caused confusion. Many motherboards lacked TPM support, or needed a module physically installed. Many newer chips include a firmware TPM that AMD calls "fTPM" and Intel calls "Platform Trust Technology". It may be switched off by default, so users sometimes had to change UEFI settings. By February 2025, Microsoft advised consumers to ignore its processor lists and use the PC Health Check app. It blamed confusion partly on erroneous reports from some news outlets.
Unsupported processors are not blocked outright. A clean install or an upgrade from an ISO works, but Windows Update will not offer the upgrade. Users must accept an on-screen disclaimer that they will not be entitled to updates and that warranty coverage does not apply. Unofficial methods to skip requirements such as TPM 2.0 exist, and so does an official bypass provided by Microsoft itself.
Software has its own opinions. Riot Games' kernel-level anti-cheat system, Vanguard, enforces the security requirements. It has covered Valorant, and League of Legends since May 2024. Both games refuse to run without Secure Boot and a TPM 2.0 coprocessor enabled.
In April 2024, Windows Insider builds of version 24H2 began to depend on the SSE4.2 and POPCNT instructions. That unofficially lifted the minimum to chips such as the AMD FX processors from 2011 and first-generation Intel Core i processors from 2008. Intel Core 2 and AMD K10 chips such as Phenom II were dropped. The same version requires ARMv8.1, which ruled out the Snapdragon 835 and older.
On the 22nd of May 2024, Microsoft announced lower requirements for the IoT Enterprise editions in version 24H2. For the first time since Windows 11 launched, the TPM and UEFI requirements were eliminated for those editions. Their minimum DirectX version fell to 10. The IoT Enterprise LTSC edition needs only 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, and legacy BIOS returned.
Windows 11 Home is for consumers. Windows 11 Pro adds networking and security features such as BitLocker, plus the ability to join a domain. Home may be restricted by default to verified software from the Microsoft Store, known as S Mode. First-time setup on Home requires an internet connection and a Microsoft account. Announced in February 2022, the same rule applies to Pro from version 22H2, unless it is for non-personal use. Microsoft has since blocked one of the last easy ways around it.
On the 9th of November 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 11 SE, built only for low-end devices sold into education. It succeeds Windows 10 S and competes mainly with ChromeOS. It is managed through Microsoft Intune. Educators' feedback shaped its limits: Snap Layouts never offer more than two apps, every app opens maximized, and Widgets are gone. It bundles Office for Microsoft 365, Minecraft Education Edition, and Flipgrid, and saves files to OneDrive. It omits the Microsoft Store, so administrators install software. Edge is set up to install extensions from the Chrome Web Store, to appeal to organizations leaving Google Chrome. In July 2025, Microsoft announced it will drop support for SE in October 2026.
For most other editions, little changed from their Windows 10 counterparts. Examples include Enterprise, Education, Pro for Workstations, and Team. Version 24H2 added two subscription variants of IoT Enterprise. As with Windows since XP, special "N" and "KN" editions satisfy antitrust law in the European Union and South Korea. They remove the built-in media players, and users are encouraged to download third-party software.
Languages changed too. Before Windows 11, 38 fully localized Language Pack languages existed. Windows 11 added five: Catalan, Basque, Galician, Indonesian, and Vietnamese, for a total of 43. The remaining 67 partially localized languages became self-service, added by users through the Microsoft Store and Settings.
Support follows Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy. Each annual feature update is supported for two years on Home and Pro, and three years on Education and Enterprise. Microsoft gives no lifecycle guarantee for machines below the minimum hardware requirements. Testers choose among the Insider program's Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels. Even supported machines hit trouble. Version 24H2 had a long list of known issues as of March 2025, from broken biometrics on some devices to old games such as Asphalt 8 failing. How did reviewers judge all this?
When Windows 11 was revealed, reception was positive, with critics praising the design and productivity features. At launch, reviews turned mixed. Andrew Cunningham of Ars Technica gave a cautiously positive review. He compared the Mica look to iOS and macOS and praised window management and performance on par with or better than Windows 10. He faulted the Widgets panel for supporting only Microsoft services, along with taskbar regressions. Changing the default browser also meant choosing it again for each file type. Still, he wrote that he had "warmed to it more". He said it faced a "public perception" problem like Vista and Windows 8, and advised the unsure to wait on Windows 10.
Tom Warren of The Verge compared Windows 11 to a house in the middle of renovations. After a few months of use, it felt less controversial than he expected. He liked the modern interface, a Start menu less cluttered than before, and Snap Assist. He rarely touched Widgets or Teams. He pointed to inconsistencies, such as dark mode and new context menus missing from some dialogs. Settings still fell back to old Control Panel applets. The taskbar could not be moved, and files could not be dragged onto its buttons. The clock appeared only on the primary display. Promised features such as dynamic refresh rate support and a universal microphone mute button were missing. His verdict was that he would not rush to upgrade, but would not avoid it either. Underneath, he wrote, "it's the same Windows we've had for decades".
Mark Hatchman of PC World was harsher. He argued the system "sacrifices productivity for personality, but without cohesion". He criticized the end of offline accounts on Home, a "functionally worse" Start menu, and the Teams integration. He saw privacy implications and an attempt to push users toward the service. He disliked File Explorer hiding common functions behind unclear icons. He said changing the default browser from Edge meant scrolling through many options. Anecdotally, it felt "less responsive, slower, and heavier" than Windows 10.
Gaming added a later complaint. As of 2024, critics found Windows 11 slower than Windows 10 for some games. Cyberpunk 2077 and A Plague Tale: Requiem ran 10% faster on Windows 10, reversing early profiling that favored Windows 11. In March 2025, Windows 10 gained 10% among Steam users, undoing a brief lead for Windows 11.
The launch of the ROG Xbox Ally, a handheld, sharpened the point. Valve's SteamOS performs faster than Windows 11 there, with a more cohesive interface. On the ROG Xbox Ally, swapping Windows 11 for Bazzite can raise Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 framerates by 32%. Whether customers would care enough to switch was a question about adoption.
PC Mag listed why people avoided the upgrade, saying that "Windows 10 does everything just as well, and in some cases even better." Microsoft leaned on what the source calls "annoying" ads and pop-ups to persuade Windows 10 users. Adoption stayed slow until early 2025, ahead of the end of life for Windows 10. Windows 11 passed Windows 10 in July 2025, about four years after launch and three months before that deadline. It stood at 50.24% that month, driven largely by enterprise upgrades rather than individual consumers. The pool of incompatible machines also coincided with Linux reaching 5% of desktop share.
PC gamers moved faster. By Valve's hardware and software survey, Windows 11 started overtaking Windows 10 among Steam users by August 2024. As of September 2025, a month before the deadline, it held 66 percent of Windows systems and 63 percent of all systems on Steam.
On the 14th of October 2025, Windows 11 became the only fully supported consumer-oriented version of Windows. By April 2026, it held 70% of worldwide Windows market share against 29% for Windows 10. Windows 7 had less than 1%. Among traditional PC operating systems, it was used by 38% of users.
Artificial intelligence became the next chapter. Later updates added live captions, background noise removal in video calls, and webcam auto-framing that follows the user. Bing Chat appeared in the taskbar search field. Following GPT-4 integration elsewhere at Microsoft, the company announced that by summer 2023 the new Microsoft Copilot would bring GPT-4 to the taskbar.
On the 20th of May 2024, Microsoft announced Recall, which uses a hardware AI accelerator to store local snapshots of user activity and lets people search them. It was exclusive to "Copilot+ PC" devices, which need an on-board AI accelerator, at least 256 GB of storage, and at least 16 GB of RAM. The first wave ran the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, and AMD Ryzen AI and Intel Core Ultra models were announced later that year. After security concerns, Microsoft delayed Recall in June 2024 for testing through the Windows Insider program. In July 2025 came Copilot Vision, which scans the screen and analyzes it with Copilot. In March 2026, a blog post said Microsoft would reduce the "unnecessary" presence of Copilot in certain basic apps.
Even maintenance can stumble. In May 2026, Microsoft released the KB5089549 security update, which then failed to install on various systems. Microsoft confirmed reports of a repeating "0x800f0922" error.
Up next
Updated
Common questions
When was Windows 11 released?
Microsoft officially released Windows 11 on the 5th of October 2021, as a free opt-in upgrade for eligible Windows 10 devices. A support document had briefly listed the 4th of October.
Why did Windows 11 leave so many computers behind?
It requires UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and a processor from a whitelist, starting with eighth-generation Intel Core, AMD Zen+, or Snapdragon 850. Microsoft cited security. Early requirements meant up to 60% of existing Windows 10 PCs could not upgrade.
Can Windows 11 be installed on unsupported hardware?
Yes, for unsupported 64-bit processors, by clean install or ISO upgrade. Users must accept a disclaimer that they get no update entitlement and no warranty coverage, and Windows Update will not offer the upgrade.
What was Windows 10X, and how does it relate to Windows 11?
Windows 10X was an edition for dual-touchscreen devices, announced in October 2019 and canceled on the 18th of May 2021. Its centered taskbar and redesigned Start menu influenced Windows 11.
When did Windows 11 overtake Windows 10 in market share?
In July 2025, about four years after launch. It stood at 50.24% that month, driven largely by enterprise upgrades.
All sources
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- 148NewsWindows 11 won't work without a TPM – What you need to knowLawrence Abrams — June 25, 2021
- 149Windows Server 2008 declared 32-bit's last hurrahJoel Hruska — May 18, 2007
- 150Make no bones about it: Server 2008 R2 is really Windows Server 7Jason Perlow — April 30, 2009
- 151Want Windows 11? Your PC better have these specsMark Hachman — October 5, 2021
- 152Microsoft: OEMs can still ship some Windows 11 PCs without TPMMayank Parmar — June 27, 2021
- 154AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AF ReviewSteven Walton — January 27, 2020
- 158NewsAsus is issuing BIOS updates to support Windows 11 on unsupported Intel CPUsPaul Lilly — September 9, 2021
- 160The latest Windows 11 update did not end support for older Intel chips. Here's the source of the confusion.Sean Endicott — 2025-02-19
- 161No, Microsoft is NOT dropping Windows 11 support for Intel 8th, 9th, and 10th Gen chipsMayank Parmar — 2025-02-16
- 162Asus Unleashes Swarm of Copilot+ PC Laptops With Fresh Intel, Qualcomm ChipsSeptember 4, 2024
- 163Microsoft won't stop you installing Windows 11 on older PCsTom Warren — August 27, 2021
- 164Windows 11 won't stop older PCs, but it might make you sign this waiverSean Hollister — September 21, 2021
- 165Microsoft is threatening to withhold Windows 11 updates if your CPU is oldSean Hollister — August 28, 2021
- 166How to Bypass Windows 11's TPM, CPU and RAM RequirementsAvram Piltch et al. — 2022-07-18
- 167Acronis backup, cloning app gets Windows 11 24H2 BitLocker support; won't work on old CPUsSayan Sen — December 17, 2024
- 168Microsoft blocks some PCs from Windows 11 24H2 — CPU must support SSE4.2 or the OS will not bootAaron Klotz — April 24, 2024
- 169Windows phones say goodbye to Windows 11 starting with version 24H2João Carrasqueira — May 6, 2024
- 172Microsoft Unveils Windows 11Paul Thurrott — June 24, 2021
- 173NewsWindows 11 system requirements are bad news for old laptops and PCsMatt Hanson — June 24, 2021
- 174How to upgrade to Windows 11, whether your PC is supported or notAndrew Cunningham — October 6, 2021
- 175Windows 11 update: TPM 2.0 and PC Health Check confusionChris Burns — June 24, 2021
- 176Asus releases Windows 11-ready BIOS updates with automatic TPM supportTom Warren — August 5, 2021
- 178NewsValorant leads the charge enforcing Windows TPM to perma-ban cheaters' hardware onRich Stanton — September 7, 2021
- 179A Hacker's Arrest Reveals Microsoft Can Track Users Via a Windows Device IDMichael Kan — July 6, 2026
- 180Microsoft admits Windows 11 has a GDID tracker with no off switch, first documented publicly in an FBI hacker complaintAbhijith M. B — July 10, 2026
- 181Windows 11 hands-on: A cleaner OS to keep you productiveDevindra Hardawar — June 29, 2021
- 182Will your PC run Windows 11? Even Microsoft can't say for sureEd Bott — June 25, 2021
- 183Windows 11 chaos, and how copying Apple could have helped Microsoft avoid itAdrian Kingsley-Hughes — July 1, 2021
- 184Windows 11 Will Leave Millions of PCs Behind, And Microsoft is Struggling to Explain WhyTom Warren — Vox Media — June 29, 2021
- 185Windows 11: Partners Say It's A 'Smart Play' By Microsoft To Put Security FirstKyle Alspach — September 9, 2021
- 186Windows 11: The Ars Technica reviewAndrew Cunningham — October 4, 2021
- 187Windows 11 review: a familiar home that's still being renovatedTom Warren — October 4, 2021
- 188Windows 11 review: An unnecessary replacement for Windows 10Mark Hachman — October 4, 2021
- 189Windows 10 is still the fastest OS for gamingFahd Temsamani — 5 August 2024
- 190Windows 10 has replaced Windows 11 as Steam's top OS againDamien Mason — 6 March 2025
- 191I switched from Windows 11 to SteamOS on my Asus ROG Ally, and I couldn't be happierRaghav Sethi — 20 June 2025
- 192Valve's SteamOS has already won the war on WindowsJoão Carrasqueira — 10 April 2025
- 19410 Big Reasons Not to Upgrade to Windows 1113 May 2024
- 195Microsoft is digging its own grave with Windows 11, and it has to stopChristian Guyton — 13 April 2025
- 196Windows 11 adoption grows as businesses finally get around to upgrading their devicesCraig Hale — 7 April 2025
- 197Windows 11 finally overtakes Windows 10July 4, 2025