Windows 11: Ars Technica review

Microsoft wanted everyone to use Windows 10.

In the face of the slow adoption of Windows 8 and the stubborn popularity of Windows 7, Microsoft has made Windows 10 a free upgrade for anyone using either version. The offer technically expired years ago, but to this day older Windows 7 and 8 product keys still activate Windows 10 without protest. The operating system was touted as a return to form that would appeal to those put off by Windows 8’s touchscreen-oriented interface while still retaining touch functionality for people who had purchased a tablet PC or laptop with a display. tactile.

Windows 10 is said to have a long lifespan as well. Some in the company touted it as “the latest version of Windows” – a large, stable platform that would simultaneously appease users reluctant to change, the huge computer stores that would have kept using Windows XP forever if they had been authorized to do so, and software developers. who would no longer have to worry about supporting several very different generations of Windows at once. Windows could still change, but a new twice-a-year maintenance model would keep that change at a slow but consistent pace that anyone could keep up with.

Microsoft actually achieved its primary goal with Windows 10: by all accounts, it is the most popular and universally accepted version of Windows since XP. Statcounter claims that nearly 80% of all Windows systems in the world are running Windows 10; Steam Hardware survey rates Windows 10 usage at 90% or more, suggesting an even higher level of acceptance among enthusiasts.

These frontline numbers require some context. Microsoft has released a dozen separate versions all of which are called Windows 10, and the latest version of Windows 10 is at least as different from the version released in 2015 as (say) Windows 7 was from Windows Vista. But in theory, almost any computer that has Windows 10 installed will eventually be updated to the latest version, giving Microsoft a bigger and more consistent platform than it has had for a long time. long time.

The problem for Microsoft is that achieving one goal – the same version of Windows running on almost every PC – hasn’t necessarily had the results Microsoft intended. Make Windows 10 big enough, it was thought, and developers would be more willing to migrate from their old Win32 apps to the new Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps and easy distribution through the Microsoft Store. And since UWP apps could run not only on PCs, but also on Xbox and Windows Phone, the rapid adoption of Windows 10 in the Windows-dominated PC industry would set off a virtuous circle that would bolster other hardware efforts and Microsoft software.

This part never really happened. UWP apps have never taken off, and Microsoft’s new game to make the Microsoft Store relevant is to allow developers to submit any kind of app they want to it. The Xbox, while successful, remains narrowly focused on gaming and media streaming. And Windows Phone is dead, murdered by a combination of user and developer disinterest driven by messy messaging and bewildering corporate neglect.

And that’s at least part of the reason why, after a release that saw widespread adoption as its primary focus, Microsoft is releasing a brand new version of Windows that isn’t even supported on computers over. 3 or 4 years. “Windows Everywhere” was ambitious, but the dream is dead. Microsoft has focused on delivering solid versions of its apps on iOS and Android, and even modern Microsoft phones run a Microsoft-flavored version of Android rather than anything Windows-related. The new version of Windows is more concerned with where Windows already is and is likely to stay: low-risk, cash-rich, and security-conscious businesses. There are of course many changes for the user, but PCs that run Windows 11 (at least officially) need to support a range of hardware and firmware level security mechanisms that are fully supported but optional in Windows 10.

(The more cynical view is that the new requirements are meant to boost sales of new PCs, an interpretation made all the more plausible by PC parts shortages and price increases due to the pandemic. Personally, I find Microsoft’s security logic to be convincing, but there is no no evidence to support this more nefarious reading of the company’s intentions.)

We will focus on these security features and system requirements in this review, while also covering the new design and outlines of new and updated applications and other changes Microsoft has made to Windows under the hood. We also expect separate coverage on a few specific areas of the operating system, including games, new features in the Linux subsystem, and its operation on older “unsupported” hardware; we’ll link those pieces here as they go live.