Microsoft Officially Launches ‘Windows 11’

Microsoft Officially Launches ‘Windows 11’

• Microsoft officially launched its new Windows operating system ‘Windows 11’ on June 24, 2021. It is being called as the “next generation” of Windows.
• The release comes nearly six decades after the current latest Windows Operating System ‘Windows 10’ was launched in July 2015.
• Windows 11 is special because it focuses on a new user interface, a new Windows Store, and improvements to performance, including centre-aligned Taskbar and Start button.
• One of the unique feature of Windows 11 is that it will support Android apps via Amazon’s app store.
• It will work better in touch mode as well.
• Windows 11 operating system (OS) will be available as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users in late 2021, as long as user have a compatible PC that meets the requirements of Microsoft’s new operating system.
• Windows 11 OS will work on PCs having processor that has two or more cores and a clock speed of 1GHz or higher.
• PCs having Intel’s sixth and seventh-generation processors will not be eligible to use Windows 11.

Hardware requirements for Windows 11

Component	Minimum (Hard Floor)	Recommended (Soft Floor)
Processor	A compatible 64-bit processor (x86-64 or ARM64) with 1 GHz clock rate and 2 or more cores	Supported Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors
Memory (RAM)	4 GB
Storage space	64 GB or larger storage device
System firmware	UEFI
Security	Secure Boot, enabled by default
	Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 1.2	Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
Graphics card	Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
Display	High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel
Internet connection and Microsoft accounts	Internet connection and Microsoft account required to complete first-time setup on Windows 11 Home.

Additional requirements for optional functionality

Feature	Requirements
5G support	5G capable modem
Auto HDR	HDR capable monitor
BitLocker to Go	USB flash drive (available in Windows 11 Pro and higher editions)
Client Hyper-V	Processor with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities (available in Windows Pro and above editions)
Cortana	Microphone and speaker and is currently available on Windows 11 for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States.
DirectStorage	NVMe SSD to store and run games that uses the “Standard NVM Express Controller” driver and a DirectX 12 Ultimate GPU with Shader Model 6.0 support
DirectX 12 Ultimate	Available with supported games and graphics chips
Presence	Sensor that can detect human distance from device or intent to interact with device
Intelligent Video Conferencing	Video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output)
Multiple Voice Assistant (MVA)	Microphone and speaker
Snap	Three-column layouts require a screen that is 1920 effective pixels or greater in width
Mute/Unmute from Taskbar	Video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output). App must be compatible with feature to enable global mute/unmute.
Spatial Sound	Supporting hardware and software
Teams	Video camera, microphone, and speaker (audio output).
Touch	Screen or monitor that supports multi-touch
Two-factor Authentication	Use of PIN, biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities
Voice Typing	Microphone
Wake on Voice	Modern Standby power model and microphone
Wi-Fi 6E	New WLAN IHV hardware and driver and a Wi-Fi 6E capable AP/router
Windows Hello	Camera configured for near infrared (IR) imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Devices without biometric sensors can use Windows Hello with a PIN or portable Microsoft compatible security key.
Windows Projection	Display adapter which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.0 and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct
Xbox (app)	Xbox network account, which is not available in all regions