Microsoft just announced Windows 11 is available as of October 5, 2021. The question is, is your device compatible with the latest operating system for Windows?
Is Your Device Windows 11 Compatible?
One of the biggest issues about Windows 11 is the system requirements. When Microsoft writes, “If your device does not meet these requirements, you may not be able to install Windows 11 on your device and might want to consider purchasing a new PC,” it could be a problem.
Times being what they are, a new PC purchase is not on the budget for many small business owners. But considering Microsoft will support Windows 10 until October 2025, you will have plenty of time to make that purchase if your current PC doesn’t meet the requirements. So, what are the requirements? Take a look at the tables below for the specifics.
What is New in Windows 11?
A New UI: The new interface looks like that of a Mac with a clean design, centered Start menu and Taskbar, and pastel colors. The Start menu has been simplified by removing the Live Tiles of widget information. Another change to the UI is the rounded edges.
Microsoft Teams Integration: Pinned on the Windows 11 Taskbar, Teams is now much easier to access. Teams supports audio and video calling, meetings, and screen sharing, and you’ll be able to access it from Windows, Mac, Android, or iOS.
Integrated Android apps: You will be able to access Android apps on Windows natively. This will take place through the Amazon Appstore and within the updated Microsoft Store Android apps in Windows 11.
Widgets: You can access widgets from the Taskbar directly and personalize them to improve your workflow.
Virtual Desktop Support: Setup virtual desktops for your personal, school, work, business, and even gaming with greater ease.
Other new features are:
- Improved and simplified system tray with notification center in Windows, volume flyouts, and network controls.
- Improved transition between different devices and even monitors.
- Use multiple desktops on a single monitor
- Better touchscreen interactions
- Xbox features to PC including Auto HDR, DirectStorage API, and it enables Game Pass subscribers to stream games from the cloud through its xCloud technology.
Availability
Windows 11 is the first major OS update since 2015 by Microsoft. The update is going to be available for free to all existing Windows users. However, the rollout will depend on your device. The upgrade will go to new and eligible devices first. This will be followed by everyone else based on different factors including hardware and the age of your device between October and mid-2022.
When Windows 11 is available for your device, Windows Update will send you a notification to let you know. If you have Windows 10 installed on your system you can check manually by downloading the updated Windows PC Health Check app for free.
System Requirements for Windows 11
These specs are readily available for most PC manufactured in the past 4 or 5 years depending on the configurations. However, there are some other feature-specific requirements for Windows 11 if you want to take full advantage of the new OS. This includes everything from 5G support to intelligent video conferencing, Microsoft Teams, touch, Wi-Fi 6E, and much more. Here are the requirements for those features.
Feature-Specific Requirements for Windows 11
Feature Deprecations and Removals
During this update and installation, some features may be deprecated or removed. These are some of the key features that will be impacted by the update.
You can get more information along with some FAQs on Microsoft’s How to Get Windows 11 page.
Image: microsoft
I’m sure there will be some learning curve, but I prefer staying out of the Apple ecosystem so I’ll learn how to make Windows 11 work for me.