When Microsoft announced Windows 10 in 2014, it was said from Redmond that the last major version of Windows was ready, which will only be updated every six months as part of Windows-as-a-Service. Microsoft has now adopted the plan and introduced Windows 11. That was not surprising after a week earlier an ISO file that was not intended for publication was circulating on the Internet.
Tiles are now called widgets, have a frosted glass look and should be easy to prepare for the developers of news content. Something similar had already been heard about the Windows 8 tiles, but they never caught on – on the contrary, users found them annoying.
So it was not the name of the new operating system that was the focus of the Microsoft livestream. With Windows 11, Microsoft is saying goodbye to the unloved tiles and rearranging the taskbar. Changes have also been announced for the previously sparsely used store. Visually, there is a slightly more frosted glass look and a more pleasing appearance. Updates should be up to 40% smaller (technical details on how this works do not yet exist) and run in the background.
In the future, Teams will be integrated directly into Windows – this is not unexpected, because Teams has become one of the most important Microsoft tools within a year. Windows 11 is also bringing back widgets: customizable little windows that can display news, a weather report, stock prices and the like. However, unlike the widgets introduced in Windows 7, they do not live permanently on the desktop; you have to display them consciously. Despite their name, they are more of a successor to the live tiles in the menu, but with more space and greater configurability.
Store
Major changes are imminent in the Microsoft Store: In the future, not only UWP apps (Universal Windows Platform) should be available there, but practically everything that runs under Windows: This includes not only traditional Win32 programs, but also .NET and Java – or Atom applications. In addition, Windows 11 will contain an Android emulation, for which the store will also provide the appropriate apps. Microsoft is cooperating with Amazon and taking over its app catalog. Microsoft did not tire of emphasizing the idea that Windows was intended as a platform – for playing, learning and working.
Microsoft wants a developer Entry in the Windows blog offer a new button that you can integrate on your website: if a user clicks on it, the store should open as a pop-up and automatically download and install the desired application. In addition, from July 28th, developers will be able to process payments with the payment platform of their choice and will no longer have to pay any commission to Microsoft.
Try out
Installation images to download and try out will not be available until the beginning of next week. As Microsoft announced, these will not include all new features immediately. The final release is planned for Christmas 2021. In the course of the evening Microsoft wants to present further details for private users, companies and developers.
You can use the health check to find out if your PC is ready for Windows 11.
If you want to find out if your PC is ready for Windows 11, use the Microsoft PC Integrity Checker. However, their output should still be treated with caution, the tool seems to judge PCs rather overcautiously – in our tests and in experiments by readers it often found incompatible systems, even though they were lavishly equipped. This tool also reveals the price for the upgrade: Windows 11 is free as an upgrade.
The live stream at Microsoft keeps dropping out. If you want to see the original stream, Microsoft recommends the Stream via Twitter.
This article will be updated regularly throughout the evening.
(jam)
