Remember When Microsoft Said Windows 10 Was the Last Version? Just Kidding!

Microsoft did learn something from Windows 10 – don’t mess with their cash cow. They will continue to work on Windows 10 for the enterprise with a new release in the fall and cumulative updates for years.

But for consumers eager for the next new shiny object – Windows 11, here we come. For early adopters, it will be available on the ‘dev’ channel next week with a release in the fall.

I am not sure if Microsoft has run out of things to do with Windows, but they are touting Win 11 features like rounded corners, colorful icons, new animations and UI controls. With new features like that, you can see why enterprises are likely to stick with Windows 10.

Of course, improving stability, memory management and task scheduling are not sexy – but very important to the enterprise. Getting rid of that 25 year old code that is still in Windows – nah!

I don’t know; maybe I will become a believer after I see it, but so far, I am not impressed.

It seems like they are tweaking at the margins. Some new features include:

In addition to the user interface refresh, Windows 11 also introduces many new features, including a redesigned floating and centered Start Menu, a revamped windows snapping feature called Snap Groups, a new and improved Windows Clipboard, modern disk management, redesigned settings screen, and much more.

Finally, they ARE killing off some of that 25 year old code. Companies that still run apps that require Internet Explorer will NOT be able to run Windows 11 except with Edge compatibility mode. Given that IE is a hacker’s delight, removing that is good.

Credit: Bleeping Computer

Windows 11’s file explorer boasts rounded corners and new icons, but will it crash less? They aren’t saying.

They are finally adding a way to manage your webcam without having to install third party apps. That is nice.

They are also adding support for DNS over HTTPS, a nice security feature.

Credit: Bleeping Computer

Now here is an interesting feature. Apparently, Windows 11 will have an Android emulator* so that you can run any Android app (no, not iPhone apps, Apple probably would get upset if they did that). That means all sorts of games and productivity apps that people run on their phones will run on your PC too.

* The emulator is really not an emulator but a post compiler that allows apps to run natively . If this is true, that means that app performance should be good.

Credit: Bleeping Computer

Some things will be going away in Windows 11, although you may be able to load them from the app store if you insist, including:

IE, Timeline, Tablet mode, Wallet, 3d viewer Paint 3D, One Note, Skype, Cortana, Windows 10 S mode and others.

Not going to miss any of these.

Credit: Bleeping Computer

by