The date that millions of Microsoft fans have been waiting for is finally here with the all-new Windows 11 operating system launching today October 5. This blockbuster update from the US technology firm features a whole swathe of changes including a refreshed look, upgrades to the Start Menu, better compatibility with Teams plus info-packed and fully interactive widgets. The Microsoft Store – which offers access to games, applications and more – has also been completely redesigned from the ground up making it easier to find the things you want.
The release date means that most new PCs being sold in stores will now come pre-loaded with Windows 11 which is great news if you are thinking that it’s time to buy a new laptop.
Sadly, if you’re perfectly happy with your current hardware you might need to be very, very patient. Microsoft has confirmed that the rollout of Windows 11 to current Windows 10 users will be staged over a period of months meaning not everyone will get it on launch day.
In fact, some might not see the changes until next year! Yes, you did read that correctly.
Explaining more, Microsoft said on its Windows 11 blog: “If your existing Windows 10 PC is running the most current version of Windows 10 and meets the minimum hardware specifications it will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. The upgrade rollout plan is still being finalised, but for most devices already in use today, we expect it to be ready sometime in early 2022. Not all Windows 10 PCs that are eligible to upgrade to Windows 11 will be offered to upgrade at the same time.”
There is another thing that you need to be aware of as not all machines that are currently running Windows 10 will be able to upgrade to Windows 11.
That’s because this new software needs something called a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip to work. This piece of hardware makes things far more secure and it seems Microsoft wants Windows 11 to be safer for people to use.
TPMs work by offering an additional layer of security on the PC itself and, with cyber attacks on the rise, it makes sense for Microsoft to beef up protection for its billions of users.
As Microsoft explains, “Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology is designed to provide hardware-based, security-related functions. A TPM chip is a secure crypto-processor that is designed to carry out cryptographic operations. The chip includes multiple physical security mechanisms to make it tamper resistant, and malicious software is unable to tamper with the security functions of the TPM.”
To double check if your current device can run Windows 11, you can download Microsoft’s PC Health Check App – which will let you know if your device can install and run the OS update.
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