Microsoft Officially Announces Windows 11

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
• Microsoft officially announced Windows 11 Thursday, June 24.
• The new Windows 11 is the first major Windows upgrade since the year 2015.
• Along with a new glassy look, the new Windows brings a handful of productivity "hacks"
• Windows 11 will run all your favourite Android apps out of the box. RIP in advance to BlueStacks 😒.
• If you are on Windows 10, you will be able to upgrade to this new version at no extra cost.

At the third Ignite conference which held in Amsterdam in 2015, a senior engineer at Microsoft by the name of Jerry Nixon was quoted stating that Windows 10 would remain the “last version” of the Windows OS — a statement that Microsoft later confirmed was in line with their view.

After several months of leaks and speculations, we can now expect a new version of Windows, which would be officially called Windows 11. This is the first major update to the OS since 2015 when we first saw Windows 10.

Every corner is now rounded, and Microsoft has brought back the glass-like backgrounds from Windows 7. Similar to the Mac OS, the Start button and taskbar icons have been moved to the center.

Windows 10 & 8 were both very disappointing with their super limited theme customization, and this is still considered a major setback by the Windows community. Fortunately, Windows 11 will present you with more ways to customize the theme to your taste.

We’ve already seen Windows 11 in action, but the version that leaked is an incomplete build. It gives us a glimpse of the visual overhaul that’s on the way with the new OS, but it’s still missing key components.

Below is a video by Windows Central which attempts to break down everything that’s new in Windows 11 build 21996

Although the above video doesn’t reflect exactly how Windows 11 will look when it’s officially released, it still gives us a first glimpse of what to expect in the new operating system.

Windows 11 will run Android apps

It’s true: Android apps are finally coming to Windows 11 and you’ll be able to search and discover apps in a revamped Microsoft Store.

People have been trying to get Android apps running on Windows PCs for a decade, which explains why an app like BlueStacks was developed. Now, the apps will either live right alongside your native Windows apps in your Start menu or integrated into the new taskbar.

Windows running the Tiktok Android app

Windows 11 will natively run Android apps using Intel’s Bridge technology. “A runtime post-compiler that enables applications to run natively on x86-based devices, including running those applications on Windows,” Intel said in its related Windows 11 announcement.

Basically, instead of Microsoft trying to get Android developers to convert their apps for Windows as it had in the past, Microsoft has taken a more straightforward approach by teaming up with Intel to just make android apps work in Windows 11 with no changes necessary to the codebase.

When will Microsoft Release Windows 11?

Windows 11 will be available as an early beta download next week, and as a public beta in July. There is no official release date as of yet, but we expect the free upgrade to begin to roll out to eligible Windows 10 PCs around November 2021, and will continue into 2022. 

What do you think about the new Windows 11?