Six years after saying that Windows 10 was the “final” version of Windows, Microsoft released Windows 11 on October 5, 2021. Although some people say it’s only Windows 10 with a new coat of paint, Windows 11 adds some new features, and removes some It changes the look and feel of Windows in some subtle ways. These tips help you work with the latest version of Windows, Windows 11.
Windows 11 also brings these big changes to your PC:
- Taskbar. For many people, the biggest difference in Windows 11 is the taskbar. All the icons are now centered on the taskbar, instead of lined up from left to right. No longer living in the lower-left corner of the screen, the Start button is now the leftmost icon on the centered taskbar.
- Start menu. The Start menu no longer includes live tiles: square icons that served as constantly updating marques to display the current news, weather, mail, and other information. Instead, the Start menu shows three rows of icons along its top half, with icons for frequently used apps on the bottom half.
- Widgets: To make up for the Start menu’s lack of live tiles, Microsoft took the concept and created the Widgets panel: A strip of tiles that update to show the latest news, traffic information, your newest photos, and other information.
- Teams Chat: In an effort to cash in on the Zoom video chatting craze from the pandemic, Microsoft built a video chat program into Windows 11. Called Teams Chat, it lets you hold video chats and exchange messages with friends, family, and coworkers.
- Updates: Microsoft treated Windows 10 as an ongoing service, and it released two big updates to Windows 10 each year. That relentless pace slows with Windows 11, thankfully. Microsoft pledges to update Windows 11 only once a year.
- Apps: Microsoft updates some of Windows 11’s apps on a daily or weekly basis, adding new features, removing unpopular ones, and fixing problems. The updates arrive automatically through the Microsoft Store app. That spares you the trouble of searching for the latest updates, it also brings surprises: Sometimes your apps no longer look and behave like they did the day before.
- Stringent hardware requirements: In a huge break from the past, Windows 11 requires a powerful PC built within the past two or so years. Chances are you won’t be able to upgrade your old Windows 10 PC, and certainly not your Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC.
- Cortana. Once baked directly into the Windows 10 Start menu and taskbar, Microsoft has completely detached Cortana from Windows 11. If you don’t like Cortana, this will be welcome news. If you miss the ol’ sport, click the Start button, type “cortana,” and the digital assistant will rise to do your bidding.
- No Tablet mode. Windows 11 no longer includes a Tablet mode, which made Windows behave differently on touchscreens. Instead, Windows 11 looks and behaves the same on both desktop PCs, laptops, and tablets.
If your Windows PC is powerful enough to run Windows 11, it will likely update automatically through Windows Update in late 2021 or early 2022. If it’s not powerful enough, Windows 10 will continue to run until October 2025. At this point, Microsoft will stop releasing security patches for Windows 10, and start bothering you to buy a new PC.
