That's a trend seen in browsers like Google Chrome with grouped tabs. People can group apps and websites, and then open the group from the Taskbar, rather than minimizing and maximizing windows. What are Windows 11 Snap Layouts and Snap Groups?Īs ZDNet sister site CNET highlights, Snap Layouts should help multitasking by organizing apps and windows for easier access. However, Windows 11 is gaining a Microsoft Teams chat button that replaces the Skype button. And also gone is the cross-device desktop wallpaper.Īpps that won't be pre-installed include Windows 3D Viewer, OneNote for Windows 10, Paint 3D, and Skype.
Also on the trash pile is the Windows 10 Timeline feature. The enhanced widgets are a star player now that Microsoft has decided to cut out Windows 8-era Live Tiles that were its answer to Apple's iPad design. Some of the big new features in Windows 11 include Mac-inspired consumer features, as well as Taskbar widgets, easier virtual desktop switching, pen haptics for sketching, and snapping gestures.
And Home and Pro editions of the 21H2 update will get 18 months of support, while Enterprise and Education editions will get 30 months. The next Windows 10 feature update after 21H2 will arrive in the second half of 2022. In a nutshell, Windows 10 feature updates will come once a year, not twice a year as of 21H2. On November 16, Microsoft started to roll out Windows 10 21H2, also known as the Windows 10 November 2021 Update. The company released Windows 10 version 21H2 in mid-November, 2021 – and it finally came clean on its plans for future Windows 10 feature updates.
While Microsoft believes the update is going well for most users with eligible hardware, it has put a compatibility hold on releasing Windows 11 for devices with certain versions of hardware drivers for Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel SST), which is causing a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error. As more users adopt the latest version, the companies have a chance to fix bugs that are discovered by users. Apple frequently has problems with iOS and macOS updates.
Is it a good idea to install Windows 11 yet?Įvery major operating-system update ships with glitches. Microsoft notes that if you install an Insider Preview build in one channel, and you want to switch to a different channel, you might need to do a clean install of Windows and reset your Windows Insider settings on that device – one indication that running previews is only for test machines and the technically minded. If you want something "extremely stable", you can try the latest version of Windows, but with ongoing advanced quality updates and key features in the Release Preview Channel. People who want to try Microsoft's latest experiments can hop into the Dev Channel, but this channel includes bleeding-edge updates. Then you can "Start flighting" – Microsoft's term for running Windows Insider Preview Builds on a device. To register, you must sign in with your Microsoft account or work account in the Azure Active Directory.
You can then join the Windows Insider Program or sign into your Windows Insider account. To install Windows Insider Preview Builds, you must be running a licensed version of Windows on your device. Testers can give feedback on the builds that goes directly to Microsoft's engineers working on the project. How do I get to preview Windows 11?Īssuming you still want to test out the latest Windows 11 preview features on a test device, you can join the Windows Insider Program, which Microsoft describes as "a community of millions of Windows' biggest fans who get to be the first to see what's next". They're there for testing but don't come with any commitment from Microsoft as to when features will be released. Its Dev channel preview versions are not tied to a specific version of Windows 11.
The Beta and Release Preview channels offer admins and users a sneak peek at the end of the month of non-security updates that will arrive in the Patch Tuesday update, which falls on the second Tuesday of every month. It only tests the latest version of Windows with members who participate in the Windows Insider Program in the Dev, Beta and Release Preview channels. Microsoft continues to test new features and improvements after Windows 11 was released.