Windows 11

Windows 11
Version of the Windows NT operating system
Windows 11 Logo
Screenshot of Windows 11, showing the Start menu and centered taskbar, with the Search box open[1]
DeveloperMicrosoft
Written in
OS familyMicrosoft Windows
Source model
General
availability		October 5, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-10-05)[8]
Latest release24H2 (10.0.26100.2161) (October 24, 2024; 17 days ago (2024-10-24)[9]) [±]
Latest preview
Release Preview Channel

24H2 (10.0.26100.2161) (October 24, 2024; 17 days ago (2024-10-24)[10][11]) [±]

Beta Channel

23H2 (10.0.22635.4445) (November 8, 2024; 2 days ago (2024-11-08)[12]) [±]

Dev Channel

24H2 (10.0.26120.2222) (November 8, 2024; 2 days ago (2024-11-08)[13]) [±]

Canary Channel
10.0.27744.1000 (November 6, 2024; 4 days ago (2024-11-06)[14]) [±]
Marketing targetPersonal computing
Available in88 languages[15][16]
List of languages
  • Afrikaans - Afrikaans
  • Azərbaycan - Azerbaijani
  • Bosanski - Bosnian
  • Català (Espanya, valencià) - Catalan (Spain, Valencian)
  • Català (Espanya) - Catalan (Spain)
  • Čeština - Czech
  • Cymraeg - Welsh
  • Dansk - Danish
  • Deutsch - German
  • Eesti - Estonian
  • English (United Kingdom) - English (United Kingdom)
  • English (United States) - English (United States)
  • Español (España) - Spanish (Spain)
  • Español (México) - Spanish (Mexico)
  • Euskara - Basque
  • Filipino - Filipino
  • Français (Canada) - French (Canada)
  • Français (France) - French (France)
  • Gaeilge - Irish
  • Gàidhlig - Scottish Gaelic
  • Galego - Galician
  • Hrvatski - Croatian
  • Indonesia - Indonesian
  • Íslenska - Icelandic
  • Italiano - Italian
  • Latviešu - Latvian
  • Lëtzebuergesch - Luxembourgish
  • Lietuvių - Lithuanian
  • Magyar - Hungarian
  • Malti - Maltese
  • Māori - Maori
  • Melayu - Malay
  • Nederlands - Dutch
  • Norsk bokmål - Norwegian Bokmål
  • Norsk nynorsk - Norwegian Nynorsk
  • O‘zbek - Uzbek
  • Polski - Polish
  • Português (Brasil) - Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Português (Portugal) - Portuguese (Portugal)
  • Română - Romanian
  • Runasimi - Quechua
  • Shqip - Albanian
  • Slovenčina - Slovak
  • Slovenščina - Slovenian
  • Srpski - Serbian (Latin)
  • Suomi - Finnish
  • Svenska - Swedish
  • Tiếng Việt - Vietnamese
  • Türkçe - Turkish
  • Ελληνικά - Greek
  • Беларуская - Belarusian
  • Български - Bulgarian
  • Қазақ тілі - Kazakh
  • Македонски - Macedonian
  • Русский - Russian
  • Српски (ћирилица, Босна и Херцеговина) - Serbian (Cyrillic, Bosnia & Herzegovina)
  • Српски (ћирилица, Србија) - Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)
  • Татар - Tatar
  • Українська - Ukrainian
  • ქართული - Georgian
  • Հայերեն - Armenian
  • עברית - Hebrew
  • ئۇيغۇرچە - Uyghur
  • اردو - Urdu
  • العربية - Arabic
  • فارسی - Persian
  • አማርኛ - Amharic
  • कोंकणी - Konkani
  • नेपाली - Nepali
  • मराठी - Marathi
  • हिन्दी - Hindi
  • অসমীয়া - Assamese
  • বাংলা - Bangla
  • ਪੰਜਾਬੀ - Punjabi
  • ગુજરાતી - Gujarati
  • ଓଡ଼ିଆ - Odia
  • தமிழ் - Tamil
  • తెలుగు - Telugu
  • ಕನ್ನಡ - Kannada
  • മലയാളം - Malayalam
  • ไทย - Thai
  • ລາວ - Lao
  • ខ្មែរ - Khmer
  • ᏣᎳᎩ - Cherokee
  • 한국어 - Korean
  • 中文 (简体) - Chinese (Simplified)
  • 中文 (繁體) - Chinese (Traditional)
  • 日本語 - Japanese
Update method
Package manager.exe, APPX, appxbundle and APK-based (deprecated in March 2024, scheduled for removal in March 2025)
Platformsx86-64, ARM64 (ARMv8.1)[17]
Kernel typeHybrid (Windows NT kernel)
UserlandNative API
Windows API
.NET Framework
Universal Windows Platform
Windows Subsystem for Android
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Default
user interface		Windows shell (graphical)
LicenseProprietary
Preceded byWindows 10 (2015)
Official websitewww.microsoft.com/windows/windows-11 Edit this at Wikidata
Support status
Supported
See § Updates and support for more details.
Part of a series of articles on
Windows 11
Siblings
Related

Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released on October 5, 2021. It succeeded Windows 10 (2015), and is available for free for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 system requirements.

Windows 11 features major changes to the Windows shell influenced by the canceled Windows 10X, including a redesigned Start menu, the replacement of its "live tiles" with a separate "Widgets" panel on the taskbar, the ability to create tiled sets of windows that can be minimized and restored from the taskbar as a group, and new gaming technologies inherited from Xbox Series X and Series S such as Auto HDR and DirectStorage on compatible hardware. Internet Explorer (IE) has been replaced by the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge as the default web browser, like its predecessor, Windows 10, and Microsoft Teams is integrated into the Windows shell. Microsoft also announced plans to allow more flexibility in software that can be distributed via the Microsoft Store and to support Android apps on Windows 11 (including a partnership with Amazon to make its app store available for the function).

Citing security considerations, the system requirements for Windows 11 were increased over Windows 10; Microsoft only officially supports the operating system on devices using an eighth-generation Intel Core CPU or newer (with some minor exceptions), a second-generation AMD Ryzen CPU or newer, or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 ARM system-on-chip or newer, with UEFI and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 supported and enabled. Although, there are some exceptions to these requirements (see § System requirements for details). While the OS can be installed on devices with unsupported configurations, Microsoft does not guarantee the availability of updates. Furthermore, Windows 11 completely removes support for 32-bit CPUs, including both 32-bit x86 and 32-bit ARM processors, ensuring compatibility only with 64-bit x86-64 and ARM64 processors.

Windows 11 received a mixed reception at launch. Pre-release coverage of the operating system focused on its stricter hardware requirements, with discussions over whether they were legitimately intended to improve the security of Windows, or as a ploy to upsell customers to newer devices, and over the e-waste associated with the changes. Upon release, it was praised for its improved visual design, window management, and stronger focus on security, but was criticized for various modifications to aspects of its user interface that were seen as worse than its predecessor; some were seen as an attempt to dissuade users from switching to competing applications.[18] Additionally, some users have pointed out disadvantages such as the removal of features like the ability to move the taskbar and increased system requirements that may exclude older devices.[19]

As of November 2024, Windows 11, at 35% worldwide,[20] is the second most popular Windows version in use, with its predecessor Windows 10 still being the most used version in virtually all countries (with Guyana being an exception, where Windows 11 is the most used[21]), with it globally at over 2 times the market share. Windows 11 has an estimated 23% share of all PCs (the rest being other Windows editions and other operating systems such as macOS and Linux), and an estimated 8.6% share of all devices (including mobile, tablet and console)[22] are running Windows 11.

To comply with the Digital Markets Act, Microsoft is allowing users in the European Economic Area to remove the Microsoft Edge browser, Microsoft Bing search engine, and advertisements to comply with users' interests.[23][24][25]

  1. ^ Warren, Tom (June 15, 2021). "Windows 11 leak reveals new UI, Start menu, and more". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 18, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  2. ^ Poloboc, Alexandru (May 11, 2023). "Rust is now up and running in Windows 11 kernel". Windows Report. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  3. ^ Claburn, Thomas (April 27, 2023). "Microsoft is busy rewriting core Windows code in memory-safe Rust". The Register. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  4. ^ Tung, Liam. "Programming language tools: Windows gets versatile new open-source terminal". ZDNet. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  5. ^ "Microsoft is open-sourcing Windows Calculator on GitHub". ZDNet. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  6. ^ "GitHub – microsoft/Windows-Driver-Frameworks". GitHub. Archived from the original on January 14, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  7. ^ "windows forms". Microsoft. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  8. ^ Panay, Panos (October 4, 2021). "Windows 11: A new era for the PC begins today". Windows Experience Blog. Archived from the original on October 4, 2021. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "October 24, 2024—KB5044384 (OS Build 26100.2161) Preview". Microsoft Support. Microsoft.
  10. ^ "Releasing Windows 11 Build 26100.2152 to the Release Preview Channel". Windows Insider Blog. October 10, 2024.
  11. ^ "October 24, 2024—KB5044384 (OS Build 26100.2161) Preview". Microsoft Support. Microsoft.
  12. ^ "Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4445 (Beta Channel)". Windows Insider Blog. November 8, 2024.
  13. ^ "Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2222 (Dev Channel)". Windows Insider Blog. November 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "Announcing Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 (Canary Channel)". Windows Insider Blog. November 6, 2024.
  15. ^ "Available Language Packs for Windows 11". Microsoft Learn. January 7, 2022.
  16. ^ "Language Packs for Windows 11". Microsoft Support.
  17. ^ "Windows 11 Minimum Hardware Requirements" (PDF). Microsoft. June 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  18. ^ Warren, Tom (August 18, 2021). "Microsoft is making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11". The Verge. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  19. ^ Raymond, Daniel (January 21, 2024). "Top 10 Disadvantages of Windows 11". ProjectManagers.net. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  20. ^ "Desktop Windows Version Market Share Worldwide". StatCounter Global Stats. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  21. ^ "Desktop Windows Version Market Share Guyana". StatCounter Global Stats. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
  22. ^ "Operating System Market Share Worldwide". StatCounter Global Stats. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  23. ^ No Bing, no Edge, no upselling: De-crufted Windows 11 coming to Europe soon
  24. ^ The EU will finally free Windows users from Bing
  25. ^ Microsoft will let users uninstall Edge, Bing, and disable ads on Windows 11 as it complies with the Digital Markets Act