Windows 11 Will Hit 'General Availability' On October 5

Windows 11 will be hitting "general availability" come Oct. 5, according to a report by Engadget.

Furthermore, Oct. 5 will also be the day when the Windows 11 free upgrade for eligible PCs will start rolling out. And lastly, it will also be when the OS starts getting pre-loaded onto new prebuilt desktops and laptops from Dell, Lenovo, and other major system integrators.

What people should know is that this won't be a beta test. It's going to roll out like past Windows 10 updates since Microsoft is taking a measured approach with the early rollout of their upcoming OS. This means that when it's time for you to upgrade to Windows 11, you won't see a lot of bugs and other experience-breaking issues.

Either way, you won't be getting a "beta" version of Windows 11. Much of the features shipping on the Oct. 5 rollout have already been beta-tested by the Windows Insider program participants.

The only catch is that new devices will be seeing the option to upgrade first. All other remaining systems will get the update a little bit later, based on the metrics set by Microsoft themselves. All devices will be judged by hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, and even age. So, if you have a system that's close to 10 years old, you might be disappointed. When the time comes, Windows Update will send you a notification for the upgrade.

It's worth noting that during the initial reveal for Windows 11, people were a little confused (while some were even outraged) at the system requirements for the new OS. The basic hardware requirements are reasonable, but the TPM 2.0 spec made a lot of people fear they won't be able to run the latest Windows. Fortunately, it's quite easy to know if your PC does have TPM enabled.

Lastly, people who have these specific Windows 10 devices (Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360, Microsoft Surface Pro 7, Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro) will be eligible for a later upgrade to Windows 11, reports CNBC.

Windows 11 Early Adopters: What Can They Expect?

First off, the most obvious change that you'll notice is in the OS's overall layout. It more or less resembles MacOS X in terms of design motif. Window corners are now rounded, and there's a new design for the Start Menu, and a lot more. If you want to see almost all of the redesigned features in detail, you can watch this YouTube video from Linus Tech Tips:

Microsoft has also partnered with other big tech names to bring native Android app support to Windows 11. Among these are Amazon and Intel.

What About Gamers?

Since gaming has gone through a renaissance due to the pandemic (people stuck at home had to enjoy themselves aside from watching TV, anyway), Microsoft went big into saying that they built Windows 11 for gamers. Features such as DX12 direct integration, Auto HDR, DirectStorage, and even Xbox Game Pass were at the forefront of the June presentation. How these features translate into actual gaming performance, though, no one can say until the OS releases.

Users have limited time to roll back to Windows 10 if they don't like how 11 runs.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce