Windows 11

Windows 11 (codenamed Sun Valley) is a personal computer operating system developed by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems to succeed Windows 10. It was formally announced at 11 a.m. on June 24, 2021. Windows 11 became available as a free upgrade to eligible customers on October 5, 2021.

Development
The UI of the project is codenamed "Sun Valley" and is based on the 21H2 Cobalt development cycle, done in the private, separate  branch. Online support documents that were published (and withdrawn) in early June 2021 indicated that internal testing of "Windows Sun Valley" was underway at Microsoft. On June 10, Microsoft teased the upcoming release of Windows 11 with a "slo-fi" video that runs exactly 11 minutes long.

Leak of developer build
A 4GB ISO of the Windows 11 installer for build 21996.1, compiled on May 29, 2021 according to the build number was leaked on June 15, 2021, after some screenshots were leaked on Chinese website Baidu on the same date. Configuration files included with the installer indicated that it could have been made freely available to owners of genuine licenses of Windows 7 and later. The build also includes an binary that allows it to be installed on smartphones that supported Windows 10 Mobile, but the feature set was otherwise incomplete.

Official preview releases
A Windows Preinstallation Environment build 22000.41 of Windows 11 was released on June 24, 2021 for selected members of the Windows Insider Program. The official preview build 22000.51 became publicly available on June 28. Updated previews of Office began being released to Insiders on July 7, 2021 with a new UI designed to match Windows 11. Starting on September 2, 2021, the Windows Insider channels began receiving different builds, as the beta channel was focused on the 21H2 Cobalt release for October 2021, while the dev channel was focused on the following 22H1 Nickel release for the first half of 2022. The Windows Subsystem for Android, which allows Android apps to run in Windows 11, became available for testing through the Windows Insider Program on October 20, 2021.

General availability
Microsoft announced on August 31, 2021 that Windows 11 would first become available as a free upgrade for customers with new eligible devices on October 5, 2021, though Android support was not ready in time for the first release. A phased rollout would make it available to all other eligible devices in the market by mid-2022.

Upgrade eligibility
Windows 11 became available for free through Windows Update to Windows 10 users that met the minimum system requirements. Users of Windows 7 to 8.1 need to update to 10 first to qualify for the free upgrade. Microsoft confirmed that Windows 11 would be available "this holiday", though tech websites observed dates ranging from October 6 to 20 in sample screenshots provided by Microsoft. Unlike early releases of Windows 10, there is no 32-bit version of Windows 11. An Intel Coffee Lake, AMD Zen 2, or later generation processor is required to support new security requirements. Users who choose to upgrade to Windows 11 are provided a 10-day period to decide whether to roll back to Windows 10 through. After this period has passed, users are on their own to back up their computer and perform a clean install of Windows 10.

Minimum system requirements

 * 1 GHz or faster 64-bit processor or with at least 2 cores
 * 4 GB or more RAM
 * 64 GB or larger internal drive
 * firmware that supports, 2.0
 * DirectX 12 compatible with support for WDDM 2.0 or later.
 * 720p or larger display
 * Internet access with a Microsoft account for activation

New features
Windows 11 will support Android apps through the Amazon Appstore. It also salvages some features from the cancelled Windows 10X project. The revised user interface reintroduces rounded window corners last seen in Windows 7 and a new startup sound. The updated Start Menu omits Live Tiles and is centered by default, though it can be set back to the bottom left corner of the screen. News and Interests, is now called widgets and is displayed as an icon rather than showing weather information.

Windows 11 adds support for DirectStorage and auto, which were first introduced in the Xbox Series X/S. DirectStorage is an API designed to take advantage of solid-state drives to improve application and game loading times. Auto HDR will automatically improve the displayed dynamic range of older games on supported monitors.

The updated Microsoft online store allows developers to implement their own payment systems and supports distribution of Android apps. Microsoft stated that they will take no cut of revenue from apps that implement their own payment system. This special deal does not extend to games, which will be subject to a 12% fee through Microsoft’s payment platform.

Deprecated apps
The following Windows apps are no longer included with new clean installs, though existing installations on upgraded computers will remain in place:


 * 3D Viewer
 * OneNote for Windows 10
 * Paint 3D
 * Skype

Future updates

 * Nickel: Tentatively referred to as Sun Valley 2, developer builds have entered beta testing. Nickel was originally planned to be part of the 22H1 release in the first half of 2022, but was reportedly pushed back to 22H2 later in the year as Microsoft is moving from a biannual to an annual release cycle for feature updates.
 * Copper: Early builds were documented as far back as May 2021. Copper was originally planned to be part of the 22H2 release in the second half of 2022, but was reportedly pushed back to 23H2 in 2023 as Microsoft is moving from a biannual to an annual release cycle for feature updates.

Articles

 * How to Make Windows 11 Look and Feel Like Windows 10 by Avram Piltch at Tom's Hardware (2021-07-17)