Windows 11 review
Our Verdict
Windows eleven refines what's good about Windows 10 without irresolute besides much about Microsoft'southward operating system in the process. Many of the new features tin help you be more productive — in one case you larn how to use them.
For
- Clean, attractive new look
- Improved tools for managing focus and screen infinite
- Simpler, more intuitive menus
- Cortana no longer included by default
Against
- Demanding arrangement requirements
- Native Android support and other features missing at launch
- Widgets add together little value
- Teams integration meaningless unless you love Teams
Tom's Guide Verdict
Windows 11 refines what's good nearly Windows 10 without changing besides much about Microsoft'due south operating arrangement in the process. Many of the new features can assist you be more than productive — once you larn how to use them.
Pros
- +
Clean, bonny new look
- +
Improved tools for managing focus and screen space
- +
Simpler, more intuitive menus
- +
Cortana no longer included by default
- +
Cons
- -
Demanding system requirements
- -
Native Android support and other features missing at launch
- -
Widgets add together little value
- -
Teams integration meaningless unless you lot love Teams
- -
Windows 11 has arrived, and with it comes Microsoft'south vision for the future of personal computing. This is a softer, more rounded Windows, ane that puts the Start menu front and center while doing abroad with some of the cruft that cluttered upward Windows 10.
But while Windows eleven does innovate some welcome improvements, many are and then subtle you probably won't notice them unless you're specifically looking. And even the changes that do catch your attention — similar the newly centered Start button — tend to fade into the background with remarkable speed.
Simply perhaps that's part of the plan. Microsoft is pitching Windows 11 every bit a safer, more performant Windows that's simple to use, with a welcoming design that's meant to make using your PC for work and play easier than ever. If moving from Windows 8 to Windows 10 was a modest revolution, moving to Windows 11 is a refinement.
And since just about every Windows x user with a qualifying machine volition accept the chance to upgrade for gratis, the only thing nearly of united states take to exercise is decide whether the revamped blueprint of Windows xi is worth the hassle of upgrading. To help yous make that decision for yourself, read on for our total Windows 11 review. And if you've already upgraded, you could check out our guide on how to speed upwards Windows 11.
Windows 11 review crook sheet
- Preview builds of Windows eleven are getting Start-card folders, a revamped Job Manager, new impact gestures and the return of folder previews in File Managing director and drag-and-drop abilities on the Taskbar.
- Windows eleven will get worse nigh nagging users on unsupported PCs, so expect to see more little warnings popping upward when your PC isn't upward to snuff.
- Windows 11 is finally getting more Android app support in February 2022, when Microsoft will roll out a preview of native Android apps to all Windows eleven users in the operating system's first major update.
- Windows xi has a more inviting and streamlined look, with rounded corners and a new Start menu that's front and center. Microsoft is continuing to update and streamline it -- the latest Windows xi update finally axes ugly book UI, for instance.
- New Desktops feature helps you gear up up multiple desktops for work and play.
- New Snap Assist and Layouts make information technology easier to manage multiple windows on your screen.
- Windows 11 widgets are fine if all you intendance about is the news, atmospheric condition and your calendar, but at launch there aren't many others available and what's here is barebones.
- Auto HDR and DirectStorage volition meliorate game performance — if yous accept uniform hardware.
- Steep organization requirements mean nearly PCs built before 2018 are out of luck.
- Native Android app support and other features missing at launch. However, Windows 11 users can now beta test Windows eleven Android app support — here's how.
- Google plans to launch a Google Play Games app for Windows 10 and xi in 2022, opening the door to all Android games on Windows 11.
- Windows xi is blocking Microsoft Edge blockers.
Windows 11 review: Toll and availability
- Windows 11 launches Oct. 5th, merely you may not be offered an upgrade 'til 2022
- Upgrading to Windows eleven from Windows x should be complimentary
Windows 11 officially arrived Oct 5. If you're buying a new copy, the update will be available in Home and Pro versions on Microsoft'south website and at select third-political party retailers, simply like Windows ten. It'due south worth noting that while Windows xi Home requires a Microsoft account and an Net connection to activate, Windows 11 Pro does not.
Beta versions of Windows 11 have been available to the public for some time, but October 5 is the official twenty-four hours that it goes on sale and free upgrades begin rolling out to qualifying Windows PCs via Windows Update.
If your PC qualifies, upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 will be gratis. And if yous've been beta-testing Windows 11 already and your PC meets the minimum requirements, y'all should be able to upgrade to the terminal version of Windows xi on launch day.
Withal, if you haven't been a beta tester you could exist waiting awhile to get the official offer to upgrade through Windows Update: Microsoft has said it plans to first rolling out Windows eleven to existing Windows 10 machines on October 5, but information technology's hard to say which PCs volition become the upgrade when. All we know so far is that Microsoft will prioritize PCs based on factors such as how sometime they are and how uniform they are with Windows eleven. Information technology'south likely that nearly Windows users won't have the selection to upgrade until next twelvemonth, given that Microsoft has set itself the goal of offer an upgrade to every uniform PC by mid-2022.
That said, you can install Windows 11 on your PC right now if you're willing to practise a make clean install of Windows eleven using an ISO file, merely that ways you'll have to download the .ISO file yourself and mount it as a bootable drive.
Maybe the most important thing to know about the release of Windows 11 is that we should expect information technology to change significantly over the adjacent few years. I've been using beta versions of Windows 11 for a month in the atomic number 82-up to writing this review, and it seems like every few days in that location's a minor new feature or redesigned app to check out. After Oct five, we'll likely see far fewer Windows updates than we did during the beta period, merely even at launch Windows 11 is missing promised features like Android app integration — Microsoft will instead beta-test Android support in the coming months. We may not see that feature fully realized in Windows until adjacent twelvemonth.
So if y'all take whatsoever trepidation well-nigh upgrading, there'southward no impairment in waiting — while Windows xi is, by my estimation, a completely decent and usable version of Windows with a slick new wait, it's not yet feature-consummate. Plus, most of the states won't accept the chance to upgrade for a while yet anyhow. And Microsoft has pledged to support Windows 10 into 2025, then there's little risk in holding off.
Windows 11 review: System requirements
- Steep system requirements mean most PCs built before 2018 are out of luck
- It'southward still possible to install Windows 11 on not-compliant PCs — for now
The minimum specs Microsoft claims your PC needs to install Windows xi have been controversial, to put it politely. Every bit of this writing, the Windows 11 arrangement requirements dictate that your PC must have the following:
- CPU: 1GHz or faster with two or more cores on a uniform 64-fleck processor or system on a chip (SoC)
- RAM: 4GB
- Storage: 64GB of larger
- Organisation firmware: UEFI, Secure Boot capable
- TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version ii.0
- Graphics menu: Compatible with DirectX 12 or afterwards with WDDM two.0 driver
- Brandish: High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9 inches diagonally, 8 bits per colour channel
- Net: Windows 11 Home edition requires net connectivity and a Microsoft account to complete device setup on starting time utilise. Windows 11 Pro edition does not.
These requirements are stringent plenty to make installing Windows eleven on fifty-fifty semi-recent PCs a job. Microsoft's list of CPUs compatible with Windows 11 is both remarkably complex and way too brusque, since information technology's limited importantly to CPUs released since 2018. And the requirement to have an active TPM 2.0 has proven even more frustrating, since most of us have no clue what a Trusted Platform Module is, or how to tell if we have one in our PC. Here are more details on what a TPM is and why information technology matters for Windows 11 as well as how to check if your PC has a TPM.
Windows ten, past comparing, has a much broader range of acceptable CPUs and does not crave you to have a TPM two.0 enabled. Microsoft claims the stricter arrangement requirements of Windows 11 are meant to go far a safer ecosystem by ensuring Windows xi PCs are more hardened confronting cyberattacks, just it'due south difficult to take that merits seriously when it seems easy enough to get around the Windows 11 system requirements, During the Windows 11 beta period, it'due south been possible to install Windows 11 on PCs that don't meet the minimum system requirements past installing from an .ISO file, rather than upgrading directly.
Windows 11 will warn you that your PC isn't upwards to snuff, but will otherwise let you lot deport on your merry way. You should exist able to circumvent the system requirements in this fashion (or others) even after the official launch of Windows 11, though Microsoft has regularly told us that systems running Windows 11 without meeting the minimum system requirements may non receive updates via Windows Update — including essential security updates.
Windows 11 review: Pattern
- Redesigned icons and menus to exist rounder and more than inviting
- Windows eleven looks nicer than Windows 10, out of the box
The biggest modify you'll notice when upgrading to Windows 11 is the new design. When yous launch Windows you're all the same greeted with a taskbar and desktop, but now there are some new buttons on the taskbar and they're all centered in the middle, rather than clustered in the left corner.
During the lead-up to launch, I regularly heard words like "calm," "focused," and "freedom" to describe how Windows' new look is intended to brand users experience. Microsoft seems keenly aware that most of us have spent the last 18 months enduring diverse forms of COVID-19 lockdown, and it's selling Windows xi as an operating organisation that can assistance you do more with your PC in a warmer, more than inviting way, whether you're using it for work or play.
Information technology's a dainty idea, and later on using Windows 11 (in various forms of beta) for over a calendar month, I tin can tell you that some of the new features incorporated into its design do piece of work well. They give me more tools for managing what I'one thousand paying attention to on my PC, and when.
Windows 11 review: Desktops
- Helps give yous more than control over how you focus your attending
- Optional and easily ignored, like many Windows xi features
Notably, there's a new Desktops feature which helps yous ready and manage multiple iterations of your desktop. It sounds complicated, only in practice it's simple. At that place'southward a new Task View push alongside the Start button which looks like two contrasting windows overlapping 1 some other. Hover your pointer over it, and you'll see a pocket-sized preview of all the desktops you have open, besides as the option to ready a new 1.
When you lot ready up a new desktop, it's effectively just a cosmetic difference. You can give a different name to each desktop, but they all access the aforementioned files on your PC and pull from the same Microsoft account. In my testing, I also found that desktop icons are shared across desktops, so if you delete your shortcut to Microsoft Edge from one desktop, it's gone from all desktops. However, apps and windows you have open in i desktop aren't duplicated in other desktops, and each desktop can also have its ain custom cosmetics like wallpaper and theme.
What this means, in practise, is that you can use desktops to silo your projects. If, like many of united states, y'all're using your Windows PC to both work from abode and pursue your ain personal projects, you could have one desktop named "Work" set with your work apps open and another named "Play" with Steam and the Xbox app set up to go.
I've been using Windows 11 this way for some time now, and information technology feels like a natural development of how I already split my attending betwixt work and personal stuff. When I'm using ii monitors, I'll have one earmarked for work apps (Slack, email, our CMS) and another set up to display my personal email, Twitter, and the like. Even when I'm using a single monitor, I tend to put browser windows side-past-side in Windows 10 and then that I can focus on work while keeping tabs on my personal social media feeds.
If you work in similar ways, I remember y'all'll observe Windows xi's expanded Desktop groups characteristic useful one time you spend some fourth dimension coming to grips with it. But if y'all don't intendance to, that's fine too — like many new features of Windows eleven, these desktop groups are optional and can hands be ignored. You tin even remove the push from the taskbar entirely, though you're still able to admission the Task View by hit the Windows fundamental + Tab.
Windows 11 review: Teams
- Teams is now integrated into Windows, which is adept for Teams power users
- If you don't use Teams, you can safely ignore it
Incidentally, at that place's another easily ignored new button on the Windows 11 taskbar: a little imperial Microsoft Teams icon. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic Teams saw a big boost in users, and now Microsoft has made it a more key component of Windows.
Yet if you never use Teams, yous don't have to offset now — you can remove the icon from the taskbar and uninstall Teams entirely without losing out on any meaningful features.
Windows eleven review: Snap Aid, Layouts and Groups
- Layouts give you more granular control over screen real estate
- Groups let you batch control groups of related windows
A more than notable new feature of Windows eleven is Snap Aid, which makes information technology easier to accommodate open apps on your desktop into Layouts and Groups. Like much of Windows 11, it'southward a more granular version of a Windows 10 characteristic —specifically, the way you can already "snap" windows into pre-configured layouts on Windows 10.
On Windows eleven, instead of having to elevate them into position (or know the keyboard shortcuts) you tin can but hover your pointer over the minimize/maximize button in the meridian-right corner of any app window. A trivial pop-upwardly window will quickly appear showing pictographs of unlike layout options: splitting the screen 50/50 betwixt two apps, for example, or 50/25/25 between three, or fifty-fifty giving 1 app two-thirds of the screen while a second app lies narrowly alongside information technology in the remaining 3rd.
One time you pick a layout (past moving your pointer to hover over your chosen layout, highlighting where you want the current app to go), Windows volition help you fill up in the residuum of it past serving up a card of apps yous currently take open up and letting yous assign them to different parts of the screen.
Windows 11 will also endeavor to automatically remember your layout equally a group, which means that if you minimize everything you tin quickly open all the same apps in the same arrangement by mousing over the minimized app's icon in the taskbar and selecting the Group option that pops up. It'due south very like to how Spaces works on macOS, and serves much the same office.
These are not bad features that amend upon the screen real manor management options already available in Windows 10. Absolutely, during testing I found myself rarely using snap assistance or groups, and the just layout I reliably used was the simple l/50 side-by-side view I've been using in Windows ten for years. Just if you're more than of a power user than I am, these new features should help y'all feel a little more productive in Windows xi.
At that place are countless other small changes lurking in the pattern of Microsoft's latest Bone that are too numerous to get into here, and in my experience, all of them are pretty easy to conform to once y'all spend a few hours getting to know Windows eleven. At that place'due south a new tiered notification menu that slides out of the right side of the screen, for example, and more granular options for controlling which notifications you see and when. Cortana is completely gone, though yous tin can still download it from the Microsoft Shop.
There are likewise newer, more streamlined context menus in many parts of Windows, so that when yous do something like right-click a file in File Explorer you lot now go a smaller carte du jour with fewer options that's crowned by icons for common tasks similar Cut, Rename, or Share.
At the same time, if you dig just a niggling bit behind the surface of Windows 11, y'all'll find the familiar face of quondam Windows there to greet you. In that location's typically an selection to "Show more options" at the bottom of those new, shorter context menus, for example, and if y'all hit it you'll run across the longer, messier context menus we know from Windows x. Mingling legacy components of Windows into Windows 11 like this has the potential to exist deeply confusing for casual users, but Windows vets may appreciate that the old ways of doing things even so (by and large) piece of work.
- Yes, it's in the centre now and yes, you can move it back to the left
- New design is simpler and more functional
Allow'due south focus on one of the nigh controversial changes coming with Windows 11 — the First button, which has been uprooted from its decades-long home in the bottom left corner of the taskbar and slid over the eye. So, too, take the row of pinned apps typically nestled next to the Outset button: at present they're all centered in the taskbar. When you hit the Start button a meaty rectangular card that looks a lot like Android'south app drawer opens above them.
This new Start Menu bears all the hallmarks of Microsoft'due south Fluent Blueprint language: it has rounded corners, centered text, and big, colorful icons. It also has a search bar prominently displayed across the top, which I think is great considering hitting the Start button and typing the name of whatsoever program, file, or menu you're later on is one of the fastest means to get around Windows.
The play a joke on is, at that place'due south no clear indicator you can do this on older Windows Start menus — you accept to read about information technology or just stumble into it by accident. Now that there'south a clear Search bar at the top of the Start menu, hopefully more people will have an easier time getting effectually Windows.
Below the Search bar, most of the Start menu of it is taken up by a 3 x 18 scrollable grid of pinned apps: this is where you put your most-used apps, and by default it'due south full of Microsoft standbys similar Border, Excel, Notepad, Word, the Microsoft Shop, and of course, Solitaire. There's also an "All apps" push in the tiptop right corner of the bill of fare which opens an alphabetical list of all programs and program folders you take installed.
Below the scrollable grid of apps is a "Recommended" section that shows a ii x three filigree of programs, files, or folders Windows thinks you might want to admission. As far as I can tell, the algorithm that determines what shows up in this lower section of the Offset carte predominantly cares most what you most recently used, and in my experience this "Recommended" department mostly shows the near recent apps and files you've used or downloaded.
It's a simpler, streamlined menu that's effectively a refinement of the existing Windows x Start menu. Gone are the Alive Tiles which used to haphazardly make full upwardly the right-hand side of the Win ten Start carte du jour. Gone likewise are the quick links to Settings, Pictures, and Documents, though these tin all be chop-chop accessed in Windows 11 by typing the relevant term while you have the Start menu open. You can access the aforementioned "underground" Start push button context menu as you tin can on Windows 10, also, with the same pull a fast one on: simply right-click the Windows 11 Kickoff button and you lot'll run across a uncomplicated listing of useful shortcuts to things like the Task Director, the Settings carte, your power options, and more than.
Just as a small aside, one of the nicest aspects of the new Kickoff menu is that after more than a month of using it, I've yet to find a single "Suggested" advert from Microsoft inserted without my knowledge. This is a nice change from Windows 10, which will oftentimes insert a link in the Start menu to advertise something to you lot (in my case, the Bing Weekly News Quiz) unless y'all specifically right-click said ad and tell Windows to plough off all suggestions.
- Widgets bachelor at launch are bland and unhelpful
- Nosotros need more than control over what headlines announced in Widgets card
One of the big new features Microsoft touts for Windows xi is Widgets. These are auto-updating tiles showing things like news headlines, weather condition, and your calendar, and the concept should not exist unfamiliar if you spend a lot of time staring at a mobile phone.
Windows 11 widgets as well aren't so far removed from the Desktop Gadgets we saw in Windows 8; instead of sitting on your desktop, though, Windows eleven Widgets reside in a subconscious tray that slides out from the left side of the screen when y'all striking the Widgets button. Speaking of that push, it's now embedded alongside the Start button on the taskbar.
It'south a groovy idea, and perhaps in the future I'll come up to rely on Windows eleven Widgets during my daily routine. But correct now, Widgets on Windows 11 are quite limited and easily forgotten. When Microsoft first announced they were coming to Windows eleven, we were shown demos of a Widgets panel that can be customized, expanded into total-screen mode, and rearranged to your liking.
Simply In the lead-upwards to the formal launch of Windows, 11 I've played around with Widgets and constitute them terribly rigid: there aren't many available notwithstanding, I tin can't customize much of what they show me, and at the time of writing this review, I couldn't resize the Widgets panel at all.
Of class, your experience could be completely different if Microsoft changes the mode Widgets piece of work by the time you read this. Simply here at the launch of Windows eleven, when I striking the Widget primal I'm greeted by a pane that slides out from the left. At the top of that pane are widgets that show data like the local weather, some electric current financial stock values, and my to-do list. I can move them around and change their size, remove them, or swap in new ones past opening the Widgets menu in the top-right corner, simply right now there are only 9 available.
Beneath the widgets is a Pinnacle Stories module listing six headlines from major media outlets I had no obvious mitt in choosing, and I can cull to see more or less stories from those outlets with piffling 3-dot menus on each headline. Beneath that Top Stories module is an endlessly scrollable list of rectangular tiles, each of which shows a headline and epitome from a curated list of media organizations I had zippo to practice with selecting. Each of these stories can exist removed by hitting a trivial "Ten" push in the corner, and they each have their ain piddling 3-dot menu push button which gives you lot options for seeing more or less stories from that outlet.
This news feed is tied into your Interests, which Microsoft introduced earlier this yr as function of Windows ten. You're asked to select some Interests when y'all start set Windows 11, and the main way of decision-making what appears in the news feed of your Widgets menu appears to exist changing your interests in the My Interests department of Microsoft'southward website.
Maybe that's useful for some, merely in my feel the widgets and news stories available in the Widgets menu are completely superfluous and hard to configure. I hope Microsoft makes some big changes to Windows 11 Widgets quickly, because I tin can't see why anyone would use them at this phase. At best, the Widgets carte appears to be a difficult-to-customize manner of catching up on news, atmospheric condition, and sports scores, all of which tin can be accomplished just as hands in a browser or on your phone.
Windows 11 review: New gaming features
- Auto HDR is dandy — if you have an HDR-capable display
- Besides, DirectStorage is nice if you have a uniform NVMe SSD
There are two new Windows 11 features that game enthusiasts will intendance about: Auto HDR and DirectStorage. Put simply, the former can make the lighting in games expect much better, while the latter can aid games load more apace. Nevertheless, both require specific hardware in order to work.
Automobile HDR is a feature which uses car learning to replicate the effect of high dynamic range lighting in DirectX 11/12 games which lack it. Information technology's hard to describe the difference HDR makes if you haven't seen it yourself, only in essence, lighting looks better thanks to an increase in the spectrum between the lightest and darkest parts of the film. Information technology works well on the Xbox Serial 10/S consoles, but less and then on Windows 10.
It's a dandy feature to take in Windows eleven, and information technology really makes the lighting in games pop, but to take reward of it you have to have one of the best monitors capable of displaying HDR content. HDR-capable monitors are nonetheless pretty rare, and HDR back up is as rare in laptop panels, so chances are the bulk of Windows users don't currently have displays which can take advantage of Auto HDR.
In dissimilarity, DirectStorage is all about cut down loading times by using some tricks to pipage game data direct to the graphics menu, rather than involving the CPU. That should make games load faster, but to use this characteristic, you've got to exist playing a game that takes advantage of the DirectStorage API on a PC with an NVMe SSD and a GPU that supports DirectX12 Ultimate.
Luckily, those two components are pretty common in new PCs these days, so as long equally your motorcar isn't too ancient, in that location'southward a good risk you'll see faster game load times on Windows 11. Anecdotally, I saw games like Forza Horizon 4, Control, and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind load quite speedily in Windows 11.
Windows 11 review: Native Android apps aren't hither nonetheless
- No native Android apps in the Microsoft Store at launch
- Microsoft hasn't said when it will be added
I hesitate to break into a carve up section for native Android support on Windows 11 because, quite bluntly, there's not a lot to say about this characteristic correct now other than that it's barely functional at launch.
Microsoft appear that Windows 11 will run Android apps during its June 2021 Windows 11 issue, and it did so past showing a version of TikTok available in the Microsoft Store for Windows. That TikTok app is still in the store, and you can download and run it on Windows 11, only it's a native web app, not a native Android app. Microsoft has delayed the larger rollout of Android apps on Windows 11 until it tin can do some more testing.
Then if yous're hopping into Windows 11 around launch, don't expect to notice a bumper crop of your favorite Android apps available for download. Microsoft has said information technology will exist partnering with Amazon to distribute Android apps from the Amazon Appstore to Windows xi users, and the Amazon Appstore — as well as other third-political party app storefronts like the Epic Games Store — will become available in the Microsoft Shop for Windows in the coming months.
One time that happens, yous should be able to download but about any Android app in the Amazon Appstore and run it on your Windows 11 PC thanks to Intel's Bridge Technology, which helps non-native apps run on x86 PCs. And no, Intel has said it'southward not express to Intel tech, and then if you have an AMD-equipped Windows 11 PC you lot should yet take no trouble running your favorite Android apps on it once they start showing up in the Microsoft Shop.
The real question is, will we see a broader variety of Android apps available in the Microsoft Store over time, or will we exist limited to whatever's in the Amazon Appstore? Because if all we ever become access to is Amazon's curated list, Windows 11 users — similar Amazon Fire tablet owners — will lack easy access to a wealth of great Android apps (including Google apps like YouTube and Gmail) in storefronts like the Google Play Store.
Windows xi is now blocking Edge blockers
Previously, Windows 11 Insiders got an early await at Microsoft's move to block users avoiding the Edge browser for certain functions. At present, the update has rolled out to everyone using Windows 11 in build 22000.376.
While Windows eleven makes it easier to change default browser functions, some functionality within the OS — such as the news and atmospheric condition widgets — are hardcoded to open in Microsoft Edge via "microsoft-edge://" links. Previously, apps like EdgeDeflector could redirect this to a browser of your choice, merely that loophole has now been closed.
Thankfully, in that location is a workaround via an app called MSEdgeRedirect, that can download from GitHub here. According to the app'southward description, it "filters and passes the command line arguments of Microsoft Edge processes into your default browser."
The main issue with this solution is that information technology has to exist running in the background at all times to office. At that place'south little doubt that Microsoft volition also cake this app from working. But for the moment, it's an option if y'all aren't a fan of Edge.
Windows eleven review: Known bug
In addition to missing advertised features, Windows xi has some known issues at launch that you should at to the lowest degree be aware of earlier you attempt to upgrade.
For example, Windows 11 ships with VBS (virtualization-based security) enabled by default, and that tin be bad news for gaming PCs (at to the lowest degree, pre-built ones) considering VBS uses upwardly resources in a fashion that tin negatively affect game performance.
Too, folks who reside in China are out of luck right now if they want to install Windows 11, because it requires TPM 2.0, and foreign-made TPM fries are currently banned in China.
Plus, at to the lowest degree out of the gate Windows 11 is negatively impacting the functioning of most AMD CPUs. It's a small but meaningful functioning striking (3 - 15% depending on what app you're running, co-ordinate to AMD) that will be nearly noticeable if you're trying to play games, and the outset Windows xi update (released x/12/21) has, if anything, actually made AMD CPU performance fifty-fifty slower. AMD and Microsoft have both promised to release patches near the end of October 2021 to address these problems.
At that place'southward also a File Explorer retention leak Windows 11 problems slowing some PCs down, only a fix is coming in a preview build rolling out to Windows Insiders in mid-October. If information technology goes well, hopefully the fix will roll out to all Windows 11 users by the end of the month.
For more up-to-date details, check out our guide to the latest Windows eleven problems and fixes.
And while information technology'south not an consequence per se, Microsoft seems adamant to promote its Edge browser in its latest operating system, which can get irritating.
Windows 11 updates
As part of a Windows eleven update, Windows Insiders become access to a bunch of new enhancements in the Notepad app, which volition exist coming to all users. The Notepad app at present has dark mode, which flips the traditional blackness text on white groundwork for a look that'south both visually appealing and something that should offer a flake less strain on the eyes.
In improver, 'Find and supervene upon' and the text search tool have been combined into a single floating bar, and there is now support for multi-level undo. We will be updating this review with other Windows xi updates as they are released.
A more recent update indicates that Microsoft seems to be pushing forward to migrating Control Panel features to the Settings app in Windows xi.
The upcoming Sun Valley ii (the start major Windows xi update of 2022) volition make using the Alt+Tab shortcut easier on the eyes and assistance you be more productive. Pressing Alt+Tab brings upward a small window showing your open windows. This happened previously, only the main difference now is that the background around the window is blurred. The shortcut works exactly every bit before, but the blurred background is decidedly more than aesthetically pleasing.
Windows 11 review: Verdict
It'southward hard to make a definitive judgment about Windows 11 because then much of it is still beingness built out in front of us. Native Android app support is MIA at launch, Widgets lack some advertised features, and during testing I ran into annoying (but not disquisitional) bugs in apps like Snipping Tool and Cortana. I expect Microsoft will address all of these issues before the end of the year, which means it should be a whole different Bone by the time many of united states of america get the offering to upgrade from Windows 10.
The Windows 11 you lot log into on your brand-new PC this month will exist different from the Windows xi I've been using for weeks, and they'll both await different than whatever Windows ten users see when they upgrade side by side year.
Just and so far, what's here is pretty skillful. Windows 11 refines what's good most Windows ten without losing likewise much in the process, and once you learn how everything works, the new operating system is rarely whatever harder to use. It's more customizable, and new tools like Desktops and Snap Aid give you more granular command over how yous carve up up your screen and your time.
Windows 11 is more streamlined and easier to navigate with a touchscreen, with bigger touch zones and simpler, rounder menus. In many ways, Windows 11 is more alike to competitors similar macOS, Android, and Chrome than always before — and I call up that'due south generally a good thing.
Nearly importantly, if you don't like the changes, most of them tin can be safely ignored or changed dorsum to the mode you like them — even the Start button can be slid back into the lower-left corner past clicking a button in the taskbar settings. And if you don't like the look of Windows xi, you can safely ignore it and keep using Windows 10 for years — though Microsoft volition eventually expect yous to upgrade.
But right now, every bit much as I like Windows 11, I don't recommend you upgrade unless yous're really excited about the new tools and revamped design. There just isn't a compelling reason to, and you'd exist well-served by giving Microsoft time to accost some of the bugs and build out the features a bit more.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/windows-11
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