Here are our favourite new features in Windows 11

Windows 11 was previewed in June this year and showcased a redesign that Microsoft said focuses on "productivity, creativity and ease".

According to Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer of Windows + Devices, the company worked to simplify the design while making it modern, fresh, and clean.

Said to be arriving during "the holiday period this year", Windows 11 is currently in beta testing with those who have signed up for the Windows Insider program.

Upgrading to Windows 11 will be free for Windows 10 users who are running the most current version of Windows 10 and meet the minimum hardware specifications to upgrade.

You can check to see if you have the latest updates for Windows 10 in Settings/Windows Update. We also included a guide with some links to help you determine if your PC will be able to run Windows 11.

As Windows 11 is still in beta, the features that follow were those announced during the preview launch of the OS and in some of the beta releases since then.

There are other new features like Teams Integration and Changes to the Store for developers but I won't be covering those for now.

Better visuals

Calling Windows 10 ugly is unfair. But after years of images drawn from Bing as a wallpaper, the redesign is a breath of fresh air.

Visually it is such an improvement and just looks so much better. From the moment you log in, you are treated to a modern, fresher, and certainly cleaner look. It certainly looks neat and close to what Mac users have been looking at for a while.

Live tiles are gone, and the start button and new taskbar are in the centre of the screen making it easier to find what you need. Plus rounded corners are back too.

Better data integration

No matter what you were doing, even if you were working on an Android or iOS device, as long as they were cloud-connected then Microsoft 365 can call up the last file worked on using the power of OneDrive and Microsoft 365.

So far this is free and all you need is an app and the Internet.

This is handy simply from a productivity point of view. While there were workarounds like using third-party apps like Box or DropBox, being able to use Microsoft 365 across multiple devices and pick up where you left off without extra steps just seems easier.

Android app support

This was a shock when it was announced. Android apps on Windows! You’ll be able to access Android apps in the new Microsoft Store via Amazon's Appstore, so you’ll need to download that first.

But once you do so, you’ll be able to search and use free or paid apps just like you would on a smartphone. There will also be Movies and TV programs in addition to the apps. You can also integrate Android apps into the Start bar.

I am concerned about security though. Windows has always been targeted by cybercriminals due to its popularity and although the Amazon App Store is said to be safe, I will be waiting and keeping an eye on things for a while before I install anything.

Virtual Desktops

With virtual desktops, you can create something that reflects you in different states. For example, one in the morning for work and one that is more gaming-focused for use at home on your own PC.

These virtual desktops can be customised with even wallpapers to suit the task of the desktop itself. So when you're swapping between them, you can visually see what you're changing to.

This can be useful if you use one or more PCs for work and personal use. During work use, all your work and productivity apps can be at the front and centre for easy access.

Then when work is done, you can swap to a game or home desktop where all of your video streaming apps or games are at your fingertips.

Revamped app store

Compared to Apple, Microsoft's store just seemed so messy and distracting with things yelling for attention. I've heard some use the term "dysfunctional" for it, and that wasn't far from the truth. 

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Now, Microsoft has redesigned the store to make it faster to find what you need. There is a UI overhaul that makes it look neater and cleaner, in line with the new visuals for Windows 11.

This has given more space for content while keeping the user experience simple and responsive. It certainly looks neater and less cluttered.

They are also introducing Stories to the Store as shown in the image above.

These add editorial content to keep you informed about the app you're looking at and could also include ways for you to use the app to do more. 

Better gaming integration

With all the effort Microsoft has put into building out its gaming subscription service Game Pass, tighter integration between the two. With Windows 11, Game Pass will be built into the OS through the Xbox app so gamers will have hundreds of titles at their fingertips ready to play.

Not only that, but they could look even better with Microsoft building a series of improvements into Windows 11 to enhance the gaming experience. Better colours and contrast will be coming with AutoHDR.

DirectStorage from Xbox is also coming to Windows 11, so games load faster, and DirectX 12 Ultimate, which can enable breathtaking, immersive graphics at high frame rates. 

Widgets

Like those found in iOS and macOS, widgets are now coming to Windows 11. I suppose they could be considered the new Live Tiles of Windows 11 but Microsoft hopes, more personalised and thus offering more value.

They were designed to allow users to take a quick break and view the information they need at a glance without needing to search for things. 

To access the widgets menu, click on the widgets button (blue rectangle with rounded white and cyan rectangles) on the taskbar for it to pop up.

Some default apps are there like the Weather, Calendar, To-Do, Traffic, and Photos. Whether or not third-party widgets will be allowed remains to be seen. 

The information from Widgets is personalised by the user and powered by Microsoft Edge and AI. Get news, weather information, your appointments, and more through a slide-out screen that can take up half or all of your display.

Snap layouts

In Windows 10 we used Snap Assist to organise the space on our screens more effectively. you could snap up to four Windows to the sides or corners per monitor using the mouse, keyboard, and touch without the need to resize and position them manually.

Windows 11 takes this a step further with Snap Layouts. Hovering your mouse over an opened Window will call up several layouts you can use to position your opened Windows. They can even be in different widths.

For example, you can have Word in the middle of two search Windows where you have referenced information so you can see what you're typing as your notes and search results frame it for easier report creation.

If you use an external display, Snap Layouts set to it will move back to the primary display until reconnected when it will "snap" back in and Layout saved.  

Snap Groups

Snap Groups are actually the groups that are saved when you create a layout via the Snap layouts. Hovering over a Snap Layout in the Taskbar will bring up a preview of the apps within that layout as they are.

You can minimise or access the group all at once. Plus, having all the Snap Layouts in the Taskbar helps clear clutter on the screen.   

Can your PC run Windows 11?

Much has been made of Microsoft saying that the system requirements for Windows 11 are much higher than before and that it won’t run on unsupported systems.

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Unlike Windows 10, which was specifically designed to run on older hardware, Windows 11 requires relatively new hardware and will not install on older PCs.

Say bye-bye to 32-bit support, make sure you have more than a two-core CPU, get more RAM etc.

But if your PC isn’t more than two years old, you should be able to run Windows 11.

To make things easier, Microsoft has an online guide with the requirements as well as a PC Health Check App to access the compatibility of devices already running Windows 10.

These are:

Processor	1GHz or faster with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM	4GB RAM
Storage	64GB or larger storage device
System firmware	UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM	Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
Graphics card	DirectX 12 compatible graphics / WDDM 2.x
Display	More than nine-inch with HD resolution (720p)
Internet connection and Microsoft accounts	Microsoft account and Internet connectivity required for setup for Windows 11 Home

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.