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Windows 11 is a version of
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
's
Windows NT Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...
operating system, released on October 5, 2021, as the successor to
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
(2015). It is available as a free upgrade for devices running Windows 10 that meet the Windows 11 system requirements. A
Windows Server Windows Server (formerly Windows NT Server) is a brand name for Server (computing), server-oriented releases of the Windows NT operating system (OS) that have been developed by Microsoft since 1993. The first release under this brand name i ...
counterpart, Server 2022 was also released in 2021 and was updated to Server 2025 in 2024. Windows 11 is the first major version of Windows without a corresponding mobile edition, following the discontinuation of
Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Mobile is the fourth and final generation of Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system, succeeding Windows Phone 8.1. First released in 2015, it was marketed by Microsoft as being an Windows 10 editions, edition of its Per ...
. Windows 11 introduced a redesigned
Windows shell The Windows shell is the graphical user interface for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Its readily identifiable elements consist of the desktop, the taskbar, the Start menu, the task switcher and the AutoPlay feature. On some versions of ...
influenced by elements of the canceled
Windows 10X Windows 10X is a cancelled edition of Windows 10, a major release of the Microsoft Windows series of operating systems. Announced by Microsoft on October 2, 2019, it was initially developed as an operating system to support dual-screen devices, ...
project, including a centered Start menu, a separate "Widgets" panel replacing live tiles, and new window management features. It also incorporates gaming technologies from the
Xbox Series X and Series S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...
, such as Auto HDR and DirectStorage on supported hardware. The
Chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...
-based
Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is a Proprietary Software, proprietary cross-platform software, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft and based on the Chromium (web browser), Chromium open-source project, superseding Edge Legacy. In Windows 11, Edge ...
remains the default web browser, replacing
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...
, while
Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It offers features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with both Microsoft and third-party applicat ...
is integrated into the interface. Microsoft also expanded support for third-party applications in the
Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
, including limited compatibility with Android apps through a partnership with the
Amazon Appstore Amazon Appstore is an app store for Android-compatible platforms operated by Amazon.com Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. On August 20, 2025 the Amazon Appstore will be inaccessible on third party Android devices and apps bought from the Am ...
. Windows 11 introduced significantly higher system requirements than typical operating system upgrades, which Microsoft attributed to security considerations. The operating system requires features such as
UEFI Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, as an acronym) is a Specification (technical standard), specification for the firmware Software architecture, architecture of a computing platform. When a computer booting, is powered on, the UEFI ...
, Secure Boot, and
Trusted Platform Module A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a secure cryptoprocessor that implements the ISO/IEC 11889 standard. Common uses are verifying that the boot process starts from a trusted combination of hardware and software and storing disk encryption keys. ...
(TPM) version 2.0. Official support is limited to devices with an eighth-generation Intel Core or newer processor, a second-generation AMD Ryzen or newer processor, or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 or later system-on-chip. These restrictions exclude a substantial number of otherwise capable systems, prompting criticism from users and media. While installation on unsupported hardware is technically possible, Microsoft does not guarantee access to updates or support. Windows 11 also ends support for all
32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...
processors, running only on
x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
and
ARM64 AArch64, also known as ARM64, is a 64-bit version of the ARM architecture family, a widely used set of computer processor designs. It was introduced in 2011 with the ARMv8 architecture and later became part of the ARMv9 series. AArch64 allows ...
architectures. Windows 11 received mixed reviews upon its release. Pre-launch discussion focused on its increased hardware requirements, with debate over whether these changes were primarily motivated by security improvements or to encourage users to purchase newer devices. The operating system was generally praised for its updated visual design, improved window management, and enhanced security features. However, critics pointed to changes in the user interface, such as limitations on taskbar customization and difficulties in changing default applications, as steps back from Windows 10. As of May 2025, Windows 11 held approximately 43.23% of the desktop Windows market share, with Windows 10 still leading at 53.2%.


Development

At the 2015 Ignite conference, Microsoft employee Jerry Nixon stated that
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
would be the "last version of Windows". The operating system was considered to be a service, with new builds and updates to be released over time. ''PC World'' argued that the widely reported comment was however taken out of context, noting that the official event transcript marks it only as a
segue A segue ( , ; ) is a transition from one topic or section to the next. In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next section) without a pause''. The term ''attacca'' is used synonymously. For writ ...
rather than a core part of the talk. It argues that Nixon was referring to the fact that he could talk freely at the event because 10 was the last version in current development. In October 2019, Microsoft announced "
Windows 10X Windows 10X is a cancelled edition of Windows 10, a major release of the Microsoft Windows series of operating systems. Announced by Microsoft on October 2, 2019, it was initially developed as an operating system to support dual-screen devices, ...
", a future edition of Windows 10 designed exclusively for dual-touchscreen devices such as the then-upcoming
Surface Neo The Surface Neo is an unreleased dual-touchscreen 2-in-1 PC that was unveiled by Microsoft on October 2, 2019. Slated to be part of the Microsoft Surface family of devices, the Surface Neo was designed to be used in various "postures" for diff ...
. It featured a modified user interface designed around context-sensitive "postures" for different screen configurations and usage scenarios, and changes such as a centered taskbar and updated Start menu without Windows 10's "live tiles". Legacy Windows applications would also be required to run in "containers" to ensure performance and power optimization. Microsoft stated that it planned to release Windows 10X devices by the end of 2020. In May 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Panos Panay, Microsoft's chief product officer for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
Microsoft Office Microsoft Office, MS Office, or simply Office, is an office suite and family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. The first version of the Office suite, announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at CO ...
, stated that "as we continue to put customers' needs at the forefront, we need to focus on meeting customers where they are now", and announced that Windows 10X would only launch on single-screen devices at first, and that Microsoft would "continue to look for the right moment, in conjunction with our OEM partners, to bring dual-screen devices to market". In October 2020, reports emerged that Microsoft was working on a user interface refresh for Windows 10 codenamed "Sun Valley", scheduled to be included in a late-2021 feature update codenamed "Cobalt". Internal documentation stated that the aim for "Sun Valley" was to "reinvigorat the Windows user interface and make it more "fluid", with a more consistent application of
WinUI Windows UI Library (WinUI codenamed "Jupiter", and also known as UWP XAML and WinRT XAML) is a user interface API that is part of the Windows Runtime programming model that forms the backbone of Universal Windows Platform apps (formerly known as ...
, while reports suggested Microsoft planned to adapt UI elements seen in Windows 10X. In January 2021, it was reported that a job listing referring to a "sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows" had been posted by Microsoft. By December 2020, Microsoft had begun to implement and announce some of these visual changes and other new features on Windows 10 Insider Preview builds, such as new system icons (which also included the replacement of shell resources dating back as far as
Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
), improvements to
Task View Task View is a task switcher and virtual desktop system introduced in Windows 10 and is among the first features new to Windows 10. Task View allows a user to quickly locate an open window, quickly hide all windows and show the desktop, and to ...
to allow changing the wallpaper on each
virtual desktop In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP (computing), WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical ...
,
x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
emulation on ARM, and adding the Auto HDR feature from
Xbox Series X The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...
. On May 18, 2021, Head of Windows Servicing and Delivery John Cable stated that Windows 10X had been canceled and that Microsoft would be "accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company".


Announcement

At the Microsoft Build 2021 developer conference, CEO and chairman
Satya Nadella Satya Narayana Nadella (; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-born American business executive who is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. B ...
teased about the existence of the next generation of Windows during his
keynote speech A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
. According to Nadella, he had been self-hosting it for several months. He also teased that an official announcement would come very soon. Just a week after Nadella's keynote, Microsoft started sending invitations for a dedicated Windows media event at 11:00 a.m. ET on June24, 2021. Microsoft also posted an 11-minute video of Windows start-up sounds to
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
on June10, 2021, with many people speculating both the time of the Microsoft event and the duration of the Windows start-up sound video to be a reference to the name of the operating system as Windows 11. On June 24, 2021, Windows 11 was officially announced at a
virtual event A virtual event is an online event that involves people interacting in a virtual environment on the web, rather than meeting in a physical location. Virtual events are typically multi-session online events that often feature webinars and webca ...
hosted by
Chief Product Officer A chief product officer (CPO), sometimes known as head of product or VP of product, is a corporate title referring to an executive responsible for various product-related activities in an organization. The CPO is to the business's product what th ...
Panos Panay. According to Nadella, Windows 11 is "a re-imagining of the operating system". Further details for developers such as updates to the
Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
, the new
Windows App SDK Windows App SDK (formerly known as Project Reunion) is a software development kit (SDK) from Microsoft that provides a unified set of APIs and components that can be used to develop desktop applications for both Windows 11 and Windows 10 version ...
(code-named "Project Reunion"), new Fluent Design guidelines, and more were discussed during another developer-focused event on the same day.


Release and marketing

The Windows 11 name was accidentally released in an official Microsoft support document in June 2021. Leaked images of a purported beta build of Windows 11's desktop surfaced online later on June 15, 2021, which were followed by a leak of the aforementioned build on the same day. The screenshots and leaked build show an interface resembling that of the canceled Windows 10X, alongside a redesigned
out-of-box experience An out-of-box experience (OOBE ( )) is the experience an end-user has when taking a product after unboxing, or for digital distribution, runs the Installation (computer programs)#Installer, installer, and is preparing to first use it, as opposed t ...
(OOBE) and Windows 11 branding. Microsoft would later confirm the authenticity of the leaked beta, with Panay stating that it was an "early weird build". At the June 24 media event, Microsoft also announced that Windows 11 would be released in "Holiday 2021". Its release will be accompanied by a free upgrade for compatible Windows 10 devices through
Windows Update Windows Update is a Microsoft service for the Windows 9x and Windows NT families of the Microsoft Windows operating system, which automates downloading and installing Microsoft Windows software updates over the Internet. The service delivers sof ...
. On June 28, Microsoft announced the release of the first preview build and SDK of Windows 11 to Windows Insiders. On August 31, 2021, Microsoft announced that Windows 11 was to be released on October 5, 2021. The release would be phased, with newer eligible devices to be offered the upgrade first. Since its predecessor Windows 10 was released on July 29, 2015, more than six years earlier, this is the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows operating systems, beating the time between
Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...
(released on October 25, 2001) and
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
(released on January 30, 2007). The first television commercial for Windows 11 premiered during the
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
NFL Kickoff Game on September 9, 2021; it was intended to showcase a "feeling of immersion and fluidity", with imagery of operating system features and
Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...
' ''
Halo Infinite ''Halo Infinite'' is a 2021 first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Xbox Game Studios. It is the sixth mainline installment in the ''Halo'' series, following '' Halo 5: Guardians'' (2015). The game's campa ...
''. Other promotional campaigns on release day included the
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...
in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
being illuminated with imagery of the Windows 11 logo and default "Bloom" wallpaper, and Mikey Likes It ice cream parlors in New York City distributing free cups of "Bloomberry" ice cream. Though a support document listed October 4, 2021, as the initial release date, Microsoft officially released Windows 11 on October 5, 2021, as an opt-in, in-place upgrade through either the Windows 11 Installation Assistant application (which can perform the upgrade, or generate an
ISO image An optical disc image (or ISO image, from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media) is a disk image that contains everything that would be written to an optical disc, disk sector by disc sector, including the optical disc file system. IS ...
or USB install media), or via Windows Update in a phased rollout; Microsoft anticipated that Windows 11 would be available via Windows Update to all eligible devices by mid-2022. New installations of Windows 10 on eligible hardware may present an option to upgrade during the OOBE. Retail copies of Windows 11 (consisting of a license key and
USB flash drive A flash drive (also thumb drive, memory stick, and pen drive/pendrive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and u ...
) were released on May 9, 2022, and digital licenses became available via
Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
on July 28, 2022. On September 20, 2023, around two years after the release date of Windows 11, Microsoft announced that users would no longer be able to use Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 product keys to activate Windows 10/11. However, as of 2024, there are some reports that they still work, under certain conditions.


Features

Windows 11, the first major Windows release since 2015, builds upon its predecessor by revamping the user interface to follow Microsoft's new
Fluent Design Fluent Design System (codenamed "Project Neon") is a design language developed in 2017 by Microsoft. Fluent Design is a revamp of Metro (design language), Microsoft Design Language 2 that includes guidelines for the designs and interactions u ...
guidelines. The redesign, which focuses on ease of use and flexibility, comes alongside new productivity and social features and updates to security and accessibility, addressing some of the deficiencies of
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
. The
Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
, which serves as a unified storefront for apps and other content, is also redesigned in Windows 11. Microsoft now allows developers to distribute
Win32 The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is the foundational application programming interface (API) that allows a computer program to access the features of the Microsoft Windows operating system in which the program is running. Programs can acces ...
,
progressive web application A progressive web application (PWA), or progressive web app, is a type of web app that can be installed on a device as a standalone application. PWAs are installed using the offline cache of the device's web browser. PWAs were introduced from 2 ...
s, and other packaging technologies in the Microsoft Store, alongside
Universal Windows Platform apps Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (formerly named Windows Store apps, Metro-style apps and Modern apps) are applications that can be used across all compatible Microsoft Windows devices. They are primarily purchased and downloaded via the ...
. Microsoft also announced plans to allow third-party
application store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not in ...
s (such as
Epic Games Store The Epic Games Store is a video game digital distribution service and storefront operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as a software client, for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and online storefront. Android and iOS versions of t ...
) to distribute their clients on Microsoft Store. Windows 11 supports
x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
software emulation on ARM-based platforms. The collaboration platform
Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It offers features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with both Microsoft and third-party applicat ...
is integrated into the Windows 11 user interface, and is accessible via the taskbar.
Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...
will no longer be bundled with the OS by default. In early 2023, the Phone Link app gained limited support for
iMessage iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms – including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS – as part of Apple ecosystem, Apple's approach t ...
. Microsoft claims performance improvements such as smaller update sizes, faster web browsing in "any browser", faster wake time from sleep mode, and faster Windows Hello authentication. Windows 11 ships with the
Chromium Chromium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6 element, group 6. It is a steely-grey, Luster (mineralogy), lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium ...
-based
Microsoft Edge Microsoft Edge is a Proprietary Software, proprietary cross-platform software, cross-platform web browser created by Microsoft and based on the Chromium (web browser), Chromium open-source project, superseding Edge Legacy. In Windows 11, Edge ...
web browser (for compatibility with
Google Chrome Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, an ...
web browser), and does not include or support
Internet Explorer Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecation, retired series of graphical user interface, graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were u ...
. Its rendering engine MSHTML (Trident) is still included with the operating system for backwards compatibility reasons, and Edge can be configured with
Group Policy Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems (including Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11) that controls the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides centralized mana ...
to render whitelisted websites in "IE Mode" (which still uses IE's rendering engine MSHTML, instead of Blink layout engine). Windows 11 is the first version of Windows since the original retail release of
Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
to not ship with Internet Explorer. To comply with the
Digital Markets Act The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is an EU regulation that aims to make the digital economy fairer and more contestable. The regulation entered into force on 1 November 2022 and became applicable, for the most part, on 2 May 2023. The DMA aims t ...
, Microsoft is allowing users in the
European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...
to remove the Microsoft Edge browser,
Microsoft Bing Microsoft Bing (also known simply as Bing) is a search engine owned and operated by Microsoft. The service traces its roots back to Microsoft's earlier search engines, including MSN Search, Windows Live Search, and Live Search. Bing offers a ...
search engine, and advertisements to comply with users' interests. The updated Xbox app, along with the Auto HDR and DirectStorage technologies introduced by the
Xbox Series X and Series S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...
, will be integrated into Windows 11; the latter requiring a graphics card supporting DirectX 12 and an
NVMe NVM Express (NVMe) or Non-Volatile Memory Host Controller Interface Specification (NVMHCIS) is an open, logical-device interface specification for accessing a computer's non-volatile storage media usually attached via the PCI Express bus. The in ...
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a type of solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuits to store data persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-state device, or solid-state disk. SSDs rely on non- ...
.


User interface

A redesigned user interface is present frequently throughout the operating system, building upon the
Fluent Design System Fluent Design System (codenamed "Project Neon") is a design language developed in 2017 by Microsoft. Fluent Design is a revamp of Metro (design language), Microsoft Design Language 2 that includes guidelines for the designs and interactions u ...
; translucency, shadows, a new color palette, and a rounded geometry are prevalent throughout the UI. A prevalent aspect of the design is an appearance known as "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". Much of the interface and start menu takes heavy inspiration from the now-canceled Windows 10X. The Segoe UI font used since
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
has been updated to a variable version, improving its ability to scale between different display resolutions. The
taskbar The taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running computer program, programs. The taskbar and the associated Start menu, Start Menu were ...
's buttons are center-aligned by default, and it is permanently pinned to the bottom edge of the screen; it cannot be moved to the top, left, or right edges of the screen as in previous versions of Windows without manual changes to the registry. The notifications sidebar is now accessed by clicking the date and time, with other Quick Actions toggles, as well as volume, brightness, and media playback controls, moved to a new settings pop-up displayed by clicking on the system tray. The "Widgets" button on the taskbar displays a panel with Microsoft Start, a
news aggregator In computing, a news aggregator, also termed a feed aggregator, content aggregator, feed reader, news reader, or simply an aggregator, is client software or a web application that aggregates digital Content (media), content such as online newsp ...
with personalized stories and content (expanding upon the "news and interests" panel introduced in later builds of Windows 10).
Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It offers features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with both Microsoft and third-party applicat ...
is similarly integrated with the taskbar, with a pop-up showing a list of recent conversations. The Start menu has been significantly redesigned, replacing the "live tiles" used by Windows 8.x and 10 with a grid of "pinned" applications, and a list of recent applications and documents.
File Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application and default desktop environment that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user i ...
was updated to replace its ribbon toolbar with a more traditional
toolbar The toolbar, also called a bar or standard toolbar (originally known as ribbon), is a graphical control element on which on-screen icons can be used. A toolbar often allows for quick access to functions that are commonly used in the program. Some ...
, while its
context menu A context menu (also called contextual, shortcut, and pop up or pop-up menu) is a menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) that appears upon user interaction, such as a right-click mouse operation. A context menu offers a limited set of choic ...
s have been redesigned to move some tasks (such as copy and paste) to a toolbar along the top of the menu, and hide other operations under an overflow menu.
Task View Task View is a task switcher and virtual desktop system introduced in Windows 10 and is among the first features new to Windows 10. Task View allows a user to quickly locate an open window, quickly hide all windows and show the desktop, and to ...
, a feature introduced in Windows 10, features a refreshed design, and supports giving separate wallpapers to each
virtual desktop In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP (computing), WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical ...
. The window snapping functionality has been enhanced with two additional features; hovering over a window's maximize button displays pre-determined "Snap Layouts" for tiling multiple windows onto a display, and tiled arrangement of windows can be minimized and restored from the taskbar as a "snap group". When a display is disconnected in a
multi-monitor Multi-monitor, also called multi-display and multi-head, is the use of multiple physical display devices, such as Computer monitor, monitors, Television set, televisions, and Video projector, projectors, in order to increase the area available fo ...
configuration, the windows that were previously on that display will be minimized rather than automatically moved to the main display. If the same display is reconnected, the windows are restored to their prior location. In June 2025, Microsoft unveiled a new user experience for Windows 11 designed for handheld gaming PCs such as the then-upcoming ROG Xbox Ally; similarly to SteamOS, it can boot directly into the Xbox app and bypass the Windows desktop entirely, reducing resource consumption and providing a more
console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
-like interface. The task switcher and lock screen also have optimizations for
gamepad A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles. Features Some common additions to the standar ...
input. The new mode will initially be available the ROG Xbox Ally, and become available to other devices in 2026.


Windows Subsystem for Android

On October 21, 2021, Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) became available to Beta channel builds of Windows 11 for users in the United States, which allowed users to install and run Android apps on their devices. Users could install Android apps through any source using the APK file format. An
Amazon Appstore Amazon Appstore is an app store for Android-compatible platforms operated by Amazon.com Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. On August 20, 2025 the Amazon Appstore will be inaccessible on third party Android devices and apps bought from the Am ...
client for Microsoft Store was also available. The Windows Subsystem for Android and Amazon Appstore became available to Release channel users in the United States on February 15, 2022, in Windows 11 Release build 22000.527. On March 5, 2024, Microsoft announced deprecation of WSA with support ending on March 5, 2025. WSA was based on the Intel Bridge runtime compiler; Intel stated that the technology was not dependent on its CPUs, and would also be supported on x86-64 and ARM CPUs from other vendors.


Setup

Home and Pro (since version 22H2) edition installation requires internet connection and Microsoft account login (only if for personal use on Pro) is mandatory unless manually bypassed to create a local user. However, Microsoft has since blocked one of the last remaining easy bypass methods that allowed local account creation during initial setup, complicating the bypass process further. All other editions are excluded from this requirement.


System security

As part of the minimum system requirements, Windows 11 only runs on devices with a
Trusted Platform Module A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a secure cryptoprocessor that implements the ISO/IEC 11889 standard. Common uses are verifying that the boot process starts from a trusted combination of hardware and software and storing disk encryption keys. ...
2.0 security coprocessor, albeit with some exceptions, see for details. According to Microsoft, the TPM 2.0 coprocessor is a "critical building block" for protection against
firmware In computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, h ...
and hardware attacks. In addition, Microsoft now requires devices with Windows 11 to include virtualization-based security (VBS), hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI), and Secure Boot built-in and enabled by default. The operating system also features hardware-enforced stack protection for supported Intel and AMD processors for protection against zero-day exploits. Like its predecessor, Windows 11 also supports
multi-factor authentication Multi-factor authentication (MFA; two-factor authentication, or 2FA) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more distinct types of evidence ...
and
biometric authentication Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...
through Windows Hello.


Artificial intelligence

In subsequent updates, Microsoft added several features based on
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
(AI), like live captions, background noise removal in videoconferencing, webcam auto-framing that follows the user's movements, and AI-powered Bing Chat in the taskbar's search field. Following the integration of
GPT-4 Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) is a multimodal large language model trained and created by OpenAI and the fourth in its series of GPT foundation models. It was launched on March 14, 2023, and made publicly available via the p ...
in Microsoft's other products, the company announced that by summer 2023, the newly released
Microsoft Copilot Microsoft Copilot (or simply Copilot) is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft. Based on the GPT-4 series of large language models, it was launched in 2023 as Microsoft's primary replacement for the discontinued C ...
would add GPT-4 integration to the Windows taskbar. On May 20, 2024, Microsoft officially announced Recall, a feature that uses a hardware
AI accelerator A neural processing unit (NPU), also known as AI accelerator or deep learning processor, is a class of specialized hardware accelerator or computer system designed to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications, inc ...
to locally store snapshots of the user's activity (including content transcribed using live captions), and which allows users to search through them. This feature is exclusive to devices certified under the "Copilot+ PC" branding. Following concerns over the security implications of Recall, Microsoft announced in June 2024 that it would delay the release of the feature to allow for testing and feedback via the Windows Insider program.


Editions

Windows 11 is available in two main editions; the Home edition, which is intended for consumer users, and the Pro edition, which contains additional networking and security features (such as
BitLocker BitLocker is a full volume encryption feature included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with Windows Vista. It is designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. By default, it uses the Advanced Encryption Standard ...
), as well as the ability to join a domain. Windows 11 Home may be restricted by default to verified software obtained from Microsoft Store ("S Mode"). Windows 11 Home requires an Internet connection and a
Microsoft account A Microsoft account or MSA (previously known as Microsoft Passport, .NET Passport, and Windows Live ID) is a single sign-on personal user (computing), user account for Microsoft customers to Login, log in to consumer Microsoft services (like Ou ...
in order to complete first-time setup. This restriction is also applied to Windows 11 Pro since version 22H2 as it was announced in February 2022, although a Microsoft account isn't required if it's not for personal use. Windows 11 SE was announced on November 9, 2021, as an edition exclusively for low-end devices sold in the education market; it is intended as a successor to Windows 10 S, and also competes primarily with
ChromeOS ChromeOS, sometimes styled as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is an operating system designed and developed by Google. It is derived from the open-source operating system and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user ...
. It is designed to be managed via Microsoft Intune. Based on feedback from educators, Windows 11 SE has multiple UI differences and limitations, including Snap Layouts not containing layouts for more than two applications at once, all applications opening maximized by default, and Widgets being removed. It is bundled with applications such as
Microsoft Office Microsoft Office, MS Office, or simply Office, is an office suite and family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. The first version of the Office suite, announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at CO ...
for
Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 (previously called Office 365) is a product family of productivity software, collaboration and Cloud computing, cloud-based Software as a service, services owned by Microsoft. It encompasses online services such as Outlook.com, One ...
, '' Minecraft Education Edition'', and Flipgrid, while
OneDrive Microsoft OneDrive is a file-hosting service operated by Microsoft. First released as SkyDrive in August 2007, it allows registered users to store, share, back-up and synchronize their files. OneDrive also works as the storage Frontend and backe ...
is used to save files by default. Windows 11 SE does not include Microsoft Store; third-party software is provisioned or installed by administrators. To target organizations migrating from Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge is configured by default to enable the installation of extensions from the Chrome Web Store.


Other editions

Other editions include Pro Education, Pro for Workstations, Education, Enterprise, Enterprise multi-session, IoT Enterprise, Enterprise LTSC, IoT Enterprise LTSC, Home Single Language, and Team; along with regional variations. These editions remain fundamentally the same as their Windows 10 edition counterparts. Two new edition variants called IoT Enterprise Subscription and IoT Enterprise Subscription LTSC have been introduced in version 24H2.


Supported languages

Before the launch of Windows 11, OEMs (as well as mobile operators) and businesses were offered two options for device imaging: Component-Based Servicing lp.cab files (for the languages to be preloaded on the first boot) and Local Experience Pack .appx files (for the languages available for download on supported PCs). The 38 fully-localized Language Pack (LP) languages were available as both lp.cab and .appx packages, while the remaining 72 partially-localized Language Interface Pack (LIP) languages were only available as .appx packages. With Windows 11, that process has changed. Five new LP languages were added — Catalan, Basque, Galician, Indonesian, and Vietnamese — bringing the total number of LP languages to 43. Furthermore, these 43 languages can only be imaged using lp.cab packages. This is to ensure a fully supported language-imaging and cumulative update experience. The remaining 67 LIP languages that are LXP-based will move to a self-service model, and can only be added by Windows users themselves via the Microsoft Store and Windows Settings apps, not during the Windows imaging process. Any user, not just admins, can now add both the display language and its features, which can help users in business environments, but these exact options for languages (both LP and LIP) still depend on the OEM and mobile operator.


Updates and support

Like Windows 10, Windows 11 follows Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy. Each annual feature update has its own support lifecycle: two years for the Home and Pro editions, and three years for the Education and Enterprise editions. Microsoft has stated that Windows 11 provides no lifecycle guarantee if it has been installed on a machine that does not meet its minimum hardware requirements. Windows 11 receives annual major updates, though Microsoft sometimes adds major features in mid-cycle releases. Starting in 2022, in the Enterprise and Education editions, major features added in yearly releases will be turned off by default until the next yearly release, though these features can be manually enabled as a
group policy Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems (including Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11) that controls the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. Group Policy provides centralized mana ...
.


Preview releases

The Windows Insider program carries over from Windows 10, with pre-release builds divided into "Dev" (unstable builds used to test features for future feature updates), "Beta" (test builds for the next feature update; relatively stable in comparison to Dev channel), and "Release Preview" (pre-release builds for final testing of upcoming feature updates) channels.


Versions


Known issues

Version 24H2, notably, has a longer than usual list of known issues. Some require updated drivers or reesoftware updates to fix, while others have yet to be fixed as of March 2025. E.g., broken biometrics and camera support on a limited number of devices, and some older games and applications not functioning properly or not working at all; e.g., Asphalt 8 and Dirac audio improvement software (if cridspapo.dll is utilized).


System requirements


Official

The basic
system requirements To be used efficiently, all computer software needs certain hardware components or other software resources to be present on a computer. These prerequisites are known as (computer) system requirements and are often used as a guideline as opposed ...
of Windows 11 differ significantly from Windows 10. Windows 11 only supports
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, a ...
systems such as those using an
x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
or
ARM64 AArch64, also known as ARM64, is a 64-bit version of the ARM architecture family, a widely used set of computer processor designs. It was introduced in 2011 with the ARMv8 architecture and later became part of the ARMv9 series. AArch64 allows ...
processor;
IA-32 IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ''i386'') is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the i386, 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarn ...
and
ARM32 ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for computer processors. Arm Holdings develops the ISAs and lice ...
processors are no longer supported. Thus, Windows 11 is the first consumer version of Windows not to support 32-bit processors (although
Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2, codenamed "Windows Server 7" or "Windows Server 2008 Release 2", is the eighth major version of the Windows NT operating system produced by Microsoft to be released under the Windows Server brand name. It was release ...
is the first version of
Windows Server Windows Server (formerly Windows NT Server) is a brand name for Server (computing), server-oriented releases of the Windows NT operating system (OS) that have been developed by Microsoft since 1993. The first release under this brand name i ...
to not support them). The minimum RAM and storage requirements were also increased; Windows 11 now requires at least 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. Also for the first time, TPM 2.0 is now required, however, Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) can still ship computers without TPM 2.0 enabled upon Microsoft's approval. S mode is only supported for the Home edition of Windows 11. In addition, for the first time, Microsoft enforces a processor model check before installation (although not on all editions, e.g., some IoT editions are excluded), where the processor model is checked against a Microsoft
whitelist A whitelist or allowlist is a list or register of entities that are being provided a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. Entities on the list will be accepted, approved and/or recognized. Whitelisting is the reverse of ...
. As of March 2025, the officially supported lists of processors includes eighth generation Intel Core CPUs ( Coffee Lake) and later, AMD
Zen+ Zen+ is the name for a computer processor microarchitecture by AMD. It is the successor to the first gen Zen microarchitecture, and was first released in April 2018, powering the second generation of Ryzen processors, known as Ryzen 2000 for mai ...
CPUs/
APUs Apus is a small constellation in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere, southern sky. It represents a bird-of-paradise, and its name means "without feet" in Greek language, Greek because the bird-of-paradise was once wrongly believed to lack feet. ...
and later (which include the "AF" revisions of Ryzen 1000 CPUs, which are underclocked Zen+ CPUs that supplant Ryzen 1000 parts that could no longer be manufactured due to a change in
process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...
), and Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 and later. The Intel compatibility list also includes the Intel Core i7-7820HQ, a seventh-generation processor used by the Surface Studio 2, although only on devices that shipped with DCH-based drivers. The processor compatibility lists Microsoft provides are cumulative, e.g., all processors listed as compatible with version 21H2 are also compatible with version 24H2. However, newer version lists (post version 21H2) may omit older processor models, as these lists are primarily intended for use by OEMs, for newly manufactured devices. Regardless, as of February 2025, Microsoft now recommends that
consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...
s simply ignore these lists and instead verify processor compatibility via the Microsoft PC Health Check app. This change was due to previous consumer confusion, initially perpetuated by erroneous reports from some news outlets. On May 20, 2024, Microsoft announced "Copilot+ PC"—a brand of Windows 11 devices that are designed to support enhanced artificial intelligence features. Copilot+ PCs require an on-board
AI accelerator A neural processing unit (NPU), also known as AI accelerator or deep learning processor, is a class of specialized hardware accelerator or computer system designed to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning applications, inc ...
, at least 256 GB of storage, and at least 16 GB of RAM. The first wave of Copilot+ PCs run the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite system-on-chip. x86-64-based Copilot+ PCs began to be announced later in the year, which are based on AMD Ryzen AI and Intel Core Ultra CPUs.


Unofficial

Devices with unsupported 64-bit processors are not blocked from installing or running Windows 11; however, a clean install or upgrade using ISO installation media must be performed as Windows Update will not offer an upgrade from Windows 10. Additionally, users must also accept an on-screen disclaimer stating that they will not be entitled to receive updates, and that damage caused by using Windows 11 on an unsupported configuration are not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. In addition, various unofficial methods to bypass other Windows 11 official requirements, such as, but not limited to, TPM 2.0 exist; furthermore there also exists an official bypass method provided directly by Microsoft (whereas the installation itself remains unofficially supported). In April 2024, Windows Insider version 24H2 builds began to have a dependency of the SSE4.2 and POPCNT CPU instructions (corresponding to the x86-64 v2 microarchitecture level), increasing the unofficial minimum compatibility to Bulldozer microarchitecture-based processors like the AMD FX (2011) processors and first-generation Intel Core i (2008) processors.
Intel Core 2 Intel Core 2 is a processor family encompassing a range of Intel's mainstream 64-bit x86-64 single-, dual-, and quad-core microprocessors based on the Core microarchitecture. The single- and dual-core models are single- die, whereas the quad-co ...
(like the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad), AMD K10 CPUs (such as
Phenom II Phenom II is a family of AMD's multi-core 45 nm central processing unit, processors using the AMD K10 microarchitecture, succeeding the original AMD Phenom, Phenom. Advanced Micro Devices released the Socket AM2+ version of Phenom II in Dece ...
and Athlon II) and older are no longer supported. Finally, version 24H2 now requires ARMv8.1, dropping unofficial support for ARMv8.0, e.g., the
Snapdragon 835 The Qualcomm Snapdragon suite of System on a chip, systems on chips (SoCs) are designed for use in smartphones, Tablet computer, tablets, laptops, 2-in-1 PCs, smartwatches, and smartbooks devices. Before Snapdragon SoC made by Qualcomm before ...
and older are no longer supported.


Firmware compatibility

Legacy
BIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization d ...
is no longer officially supported; a
UEFI Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, as an acronym) is a Specification (technical standard), specification for the firmware Software architecture, architecture of a computing platform. When a computer booting, is powered on, the UEFI ...
system and a
Trusted Platform Module A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a secure cryptoprocessor that implements the ISO/IEC 11889 standard. Common uses are verifying that the boot process starts from a trusted combination of hardware and software and storing disk encryption keys. ...
(TPM) 2.0 security coprocessor is now officially required. The TPM requirement in particular has led to confusion as many motherboards do not have TPM support, or require a compatible TPM to be physically installed onto the motherboard. Many newer CPUs also include a TPM implemented at the CPU level (with AMD referring to this as "fTPM", and Intel referring to it as "Platform Trust Technology" TT, which might be disabled by default and require changing settings in the computer's UEFI firmware, or a UEFI firmware update that changes the default settings to reflect these requirements. ARM64 version of Windows 11 requires the
UEFI Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, as an acronym) is a Specification (technical standard), specification for the firmware Software architecture, architecture of a computing platform. When a computer booting, is powered on, the UEFI ...
firmware with
ACPI Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) is an open standard that operating systems can use to discover and configure computer hardware components, to perform power management (e.g. putting unused hardware components to sleep), auto con ...
protocol. Starting with version 24H2, IoT Enterprise editions have officially reintroduced legacy BIOS support and eliminated the requirement for a TPM.


Third-party software

Some third-party software may refuse to run on configurations of Windows 11 that do not comply with the hardware security requirement. After the release of Windows 11,
Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on to develop ...
' kernel-level anti-cheat system Vanguard—used in ''
Valorant ''Valorant'' is a 2020 First-person shooter, first-person tactical shooter, tactical hero shooter video game developed and published by Riot Games. A free-to-play game, ''Valorant'' takes inspiration from the ''Counter-Strike'' series, borrow ...
'' and since May 2024 by ''
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
''—began to enforce the operating system security requirements, and will not allow the games to be run on the OS if secure boot and a TPM 2.0-compliant coprocessor are not enabled.


IoT Enterprise editions

While IoT Enterprise editions have always had slightly reduced official requirements compared to other Windows 11 editions, notably starting with version 24H2, minimum requirements were further reduced and now differ significantly. These updated 24H2 requirements were announced on May 22, 2024, for both LTSC and non-LTSC editions. For the first time since Windows 11 release, Microsoft has officially eliminated a TPM and
UEFI Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, as an acronym) is a Specification (technical standard), specification for the firmware Software architecture, architecture of a computing platform. When a computer booting, is powered on, the UEFI ...
minimum requirement for all systems running these editions and dropped the minimum
DirectX Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct" ...
version down to 10 (version 12 was previously required on 23H2). Finally, the IoT Enterprise LTSC edition further drops the minimum required RAM to 2 GB and storage space to 16 GB.


Reception


Pre-release

Reception of Windows 11 upon its reveal was positive, with critics praising the new design and productivity features. However, Microsoft was criticized for creating confusion over the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. The increased system requirements (compared to those of Windows 10) initially published by Microsoft meant that up to 60% of existing Windows 10 PCs were unable to upgrade to Windows 11, which has faced concerns that this will contribute to
electronic waste Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronics, electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined ...
. Microsoft has not specifically acknowledged this when discussing the cutoff, it was also acknowledged that the sixth and seventh generation of
Intel Core Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...
processors were prominently afflicted by CPU-level security vulnerabilities such as Meltdown and Spectre, and that newer CPUs manufactured since then had increased mitigations against the flaws. Speaking to IT news outlet CRN, a dozen solution providers all felt that they "believe Windows 11 will be a meaningful step up in security, and they agree with Microsoft's strategy of putting security first." Research Vice President of
Gartner Gartner, Inc. is an American research and advisory firm focusing on business and technology topics. Gartner provides its products and services through research reports, conferences, and consulting. Its clients include large corporations, gover ...
Stephen Kleynhans felt that Microsoft was "looking at the entire stack from the hardware up through the applications and the user experience and trying to make the entire stack work better and more securely.


Launch

Andrew Cunningham of ''
Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
'' gave a mixed but overall cautiously positive review of Windows 11 upon its release. He praised the improvements to its visual design (describing the new "Mica" appearance as reminiscent of the visual appearance of
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and
macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
, and arguing that Microsoft had " adea serious effort" at making the user-facing aspects of Windows 11 more consistent visually. He also praised window management, performance (assessed as being equivalent to if not better than Windows 10), other "beneficial tweaks". Criticism was raised towards Widgets' lack of support for third-party content, thus limiting it to Microsoft services only, regressions in taskbar functionality and customization. He also noted the inability to easily select default applications for common tasks such as web browsing, as it requires the user to select the browser application for each
file type A file format is a standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary or open. Some file formats ...
individually. Apart from the user interface, system requirements and Microsoft's unclear justification for its processor compatibility criteria remained a major sticking point for him. While some of the system requirements have brought greater public attention to hardware security features present on modern PCs, he argued that these could already be employed on Windows 10, albeit optionally. Cunningham concluded that "as I've dug into indows 11and learned its ins and outs for this review, I've warmed to it more", but argued that the OS was facing similar "public perception" issues to
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
and
Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...
. However, he noted that 11 did not have as many performance issues or bugs as Vista had upon its release, nor was as "disjointed" as 8, and recommended that users who were unsure about the upgrade should stay on Windows 10 in anticipation of future updates to 11. Tom Warren of ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'' described Windows 11 as being akin to a house in the middle of renovations, but that "actually using Windows 11 for the past few months hasn't felt as controversial as I had expected"—praising its updated user interface as being more modern and reminiscent of
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and
ChromeOS ChromeOS, sometimes styled as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is an operating system designed and developed by Google. It is derived from the open-source operating system and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user ...
, the new start menu for feeling less cluttered than the
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
iteration, updates to some of its stock applications, and Snap Assist. Warren noted that he rarely used the Widgets panel or
Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It offers features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with both Microsoft and third-party applicat ...
, citing that he preferred the weather display that later versions of
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
offered, and did not use Teams to communicate with his friends and family. He also acknowledged the expansion of the
Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
to include more "traditional" desktop applications. However, he felt that Windows 11 still felt like a work in progress, noting UI inconsistencies (such as dark mode and new
context menu A context menu (also called contextual, shortcut, and pop up or pop-up menu) is a menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) that appears upon user interaction, such as a right-click mouse operation. A context menu offers a limited set of choic ...
designs not being uniform across all dialogues and applications, and the UWP Settings app still falling back upon legacy Control Panel applets for certain settings), regressions to the
taskbar The taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running computer program, programs. The taskbar and the associated Start menu, Start Menu were ...
(including the inability to move it, drag files onto taskbar buttons to focus the corresponding application, and the clock only shown on the primary display in
multi-monitor Multi-monitor, also called multi-display and multi-head, is the use of multiple physical display devices, such as Computer monitor, monitors, Television set, televisions, and Video projector, projectors, in order to increase the area available fo ...
configurations), and promised features (such as dynamic refresh rate support and a universal microphone mute button) not being present on the initial release. Overall, he concluded that "I wouldn't rush out to upgrade to Windows 11, but I also wouldn't avoid it. After all, Windows 11 still feels familiar and underneath all the UI changes, it's the same
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
we've had for decades." Mark Hatchman of ''
PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online-only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...
'' was more critical of Windows 11, arguing that it "sacrifices productivity for personality, but without cohesion", commenting upon changes such as the inability to use local "offline" accounts on Windows 11 Home, regressions to the
taskbar The taskbar is a graphical user interface element that has been part of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95, displaying and facilitating switching between running computer program, programs. The taskbar and the associated Start menu, Start Menu were ...
, a "functionally worse" start menu,
Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is a team collaboration platform developed by Microsoft as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It offers features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with both Microsoft and third-party applicat ...
integration having privacy implications and being a ploy to coerce users into switching to the service,
File Explorer File Explorer, previously known as Windows Explorer, is a file manager application and default desktop environment that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user i ...
obscuring common functions under unclear icons, forcing users to scroll through many options to discourage changing the default web browser from Microsoft Edge, and that the OS "anecdotally feels less responsive, slower, and heavier than Windows 10". He concluded that Windows 11 "feels practical and productive, but less so than its predecessor in many aspects", while its best features were either "hidden deeper within", required specific hardware (DirectStorage, Auto HDR) or were not available on launch (Android app support).


Longer term views

Windows 11 was slow to be adopted, with Microsoft relying on "annoying" ads and pop-ups to convince Windows 10 users to upgrade. Adoption remained slow until early 2025, ahead of the end-of-life for Windows 10. '' PC Mag'' commented that "Windows 10 does everything just as well, and in some cases even better." Critics have also noted that as of 2024, Windows 11 was slower for gaming than Windows 10. Some games, such as ''
Cyberpunk 2077 ''Cyberpunk 2077'' is a 2020 action role-playing game developed by CD Projekt Red and published by CD Projekt. Based on Mike Pondsmith's ''Cyberpunk (role-playing game), Cyberpunk'' tabletop game series, the plot is set in the fictional metrop ...
'' and '' A Plague Tale: Requiem'', ran 10% faster on Windows 10 than on Windows 11. This was a reversal of early profiling which suggested an advantage for Windows 11. Adoption briefly overtook Windows 10 among
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
users in early 2025, only for this to be dramatically reversed that March with a 10% rise in Windows 10 users. This may be related to consumer changes in China.


Market share

, Windows 11, accounting for 38% of Windows installations worldwide, is the second most popular Windows version in use, with its predecessor Windows 10 still being the most used version in virtually all countries (with
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being an exception, where Windows 11 is the most used), having over 2 times the market share globally. Windows 11 has an estimated 23% share of all PCs (the rest being other Windows editions and other operating systems such as
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and
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), and an estimated 8.6% share of all devices (including mobile, tablet and console) are running Windows 11.


See also

* List of operating systems


Notes


References


External links

*
Windows 11 release information
from Microsoft
Windows Roadmap
from Microsoft {{Windows 11 version history 11 2021 software Android (operating system) ARM operating systems Proprietary operating systems Tablet operating systems X86-64 operating systems Microsoft Windows