Upgrading to Windows 11 - see what to expect

Windows 11 is the latest version of Windows from Microsoft and as with all Windows updates, you can get it for free. It's been out a while now and if you've not upgraded on your existing PC or you're looking at buying a new one, here's what to expect.

Big changes to Windows have proven not to go that well for Microsoft in the past. Windows 8 being one of the worst with widespread dislike among users and experts alike. However, since Microsoft have started issuing smaller updates on a much more regular basis, it means that bigger changes have less of an impact. That said, Windows 11 has gone through a significant change to its look and feel but most of the common features still exist and work in a similar way.

The new operating system has been out for around a year now and any bugs have been ironed out and it seems this change has not made the mistakes of the past - too much too quickly.

One particularly important change however is part of the under-the-bonnet security system which, while offering better security, means that some slightly older PCs won't be able to run it. Any new ones will be found and although some still ship with Windows 10 they are easily upgradable. If you buy from us, we'll do all that for you.

New look!

The Taskbar icons are now cantered and smaller like in Chrome OS, but the Start button is still to the left of the other app icons. It may take some time for the cantered look to win you over, however, since it doesn't require you to move the mouse cursor across a full screen to launch an app from the Start Menu.

More subtle are the transparency, animations, and clean icon design that represent an evolution of the design, which, though promised, never fully took over in Windows 10. Dark mode, too, looks more consistent, and these materials change to reflect that mode.

Widgets are back

Widgets have made a comeback! Apple bolstered widgets in iOS 14 and iPadOS15, and Microsoft played with bringing back desktop widgets with the News and Interests panel in Windows 10. But Windows 11 widgets further the idea. The new widgets deliver a personalised feed of news, weather, traffic, sports, and stock market data, powered by AI for customisation and Edge for rendering. You can expand the Widgets panel to fill the whole screen, and third-party content providers will be able to take advantage of this new feature.

Another new feature is Snap Layouts which let you choose from a selection of window layouts (see above), easily populating them with app windows of your choice. Maybe even more important than the extra layout choices is that these layouts are saved and accessible from the app taskbar icons so you don’t have to re-create them after doing something else on the PC.

Your favourite apps

Most of the old favourites in Windows — Paint, Photos, Notepad, Media Player, Mail, etc — have been updated for the new look (with some coming later) and in some cases get new features. This is demonstrated well with the humble clock app, which Windows 11 now gives a super productivity feature called Focus Sessions. With Focus Sessions, you set boundaries for when you want undistracted time for getting stuff done.

The Photos app is new more capable not only for organising and editing photos, but also for video editing with titles, transitions, effects, and more. The Photos app includes face recognition, auto-generated albums, and integrated maps for photos with location data — features that even some paid photo applications lack. New for Photos is an edge-to-edge photo view, multi-image view, and an improved cropping interface, along with the Fluent Design updates.

Better settings

Settings have been re-designed and now features a left menu. It saves you from having to back out of nested settings to quickly get to another group. Otherwise, you get most everything found in Windows 10's Settings.

There are now many more options for colour schemes and layouts. You can set a different background for each virtual desktop which is good for telling which one you're working in - one for work one for personal use for example. Each desktop can also use the Snap Layouts mentioned above.

If you use an external monitor with your laptop, Windows 11 will remember the last layout you used when it was plugged in so it will return to that state when you return to your desk. The term ‘tablet mode’ is no longer used as the whole of the operating system is just adaptive to different situations and devices. This comes as a response to a much more flexible way of working being used now.

Teams integration

Microsoft Teams has grown massively in popularity mostly during the pandemic and is now much more integrated into Windows. The new taskbar button gives easy access to Teams in Windows 11. The feature has two parts: Teams Chat and Teams videoconferencing. When you start a message to someone who doesn't have an account, they get an invitation to sign up for the free service.

App store features

The app store has been improved and you can now run Android apps on your PC! This is still a bit in development so no doubt there will be lots of changes to come in this area. Thanks to the Phone Link app you can now also use your Android phone directly from your Windows desktop. It offers many of the features of your phone and is a nice simple way to get to your photos or check messages.

Gamers have also not been left out. You can run Xbox Game Pass games on Windows 11, and Xbox Cloud Gaming is supported in the Xbox app on Windows 11. That means every PC can also function as an Xbox as well as a PC. There have been some improvements to game performance however Windows 10 did handle this quite well so there are no significant changes here. DirectStorage speeds uploading times for games from storage to the graphics card and Auto HDR produces a far richer image quality with more colour range and depth.

Our conclusion

So our opinion is that this latest offering from Microsoft is nothing to be afraid of. It is a least as good as Windows 10 and, once you get used to the layout changes, offers some significant improvements. It's definitely the most reliable, secure and feature rich Windows edition to date.

It’s a great time to buy a PC

We have a large range of laptop and desktop PCs on our website and we can set it up with all the things you want. Take a look at our range:

If you need help choosing a new Windows 11 laptop, feel free to give us a call and we can help find the right option for you. If you just want to upgrade an existing one, that's no problem either - we'll help you every step of the way.

Computer FX - independent, reliable IT services - 01653 694500