Windows 11 will be released on October 5th
Finally Windows 11 has an official launch date: Microsoft itself has announced that the new version of the operating system will arrive on October 5th. Also confirmed that the update will be free, as it was for Windows 10, as long as the PC in question meets the minimum requirements for installation.The free update for compatible Windows 10 PCs it will start from 5 October but, exactly as in the previous updates, it will not be received by all users at the same time, but will be released in different phases. The first PCs that can be updated will be the most recent and higher-end ones, so we will switch to mid-range desktops and notebooks and then close, in the following months, with entry level products that meet the specifications.
“We've learned our lesson with Windows 10, so we want to make sure we're providing the best experience possible,” said Aaron Woodman, general manager of Windows marketing at Microsoft. "We expect all Windows 11 compatible PCs to be upgraded for free by mid-2022."
As we reported in the morning, on PCs with Windows 10 on which the update is possible, Windows Update will alert users to the availability of Windows 11. If you are still not sure if your PC supports Windows 11, you can quickly check the PC Health Check app, accessible to users enrolled in the Windows Insider program from this address.
However, it seems that Windows 11 will not be released in full version on October 5: according to the information, in fact, there will not be all the features announced during the presentation event. An example? The Android applications, which will run on Windows 11 thanks to the joint work of Microsoft, Amazon and Intel, will not be available immediately. Subscribers to the Insider program will be able to try the feature in preview in the coming months, as happens with all the new features of the operating system, but it is likely that it will not be launched until next year.
If you don't want to wait for the next 5 October (or shortly after) to try Windows 11, we remind you that you can already install it by downloading the ISO image. Using this method also allows you to Install it on unsupported hardware, however we advise you to pay attention: if installed on PCs that are not compatible with Windows 11, it may not receive any updates, not even security ones, leaving your system (and your data) exposed to possible attacks.
Microsoft will release Windows 11 on October 5th
Microsoft is announcing that Windows 11 will be released on October 5th. The new operating system will be available as a free upgrade for eligible Windows 10 PCs, or on new hardware that ships with Windows 11 pre-loaded.
The free upgrade to Windows 11 will start rolling out on October 5th, but like many Windows upgrades in the past, it will be available in phases. New eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first, and then Windows 11 will become available for more in-market devices in the weeks and months following October 5th.
“Following the tremendous learnings from Windows 10, we want to make sure we’re providing you with the best possible experience,” explains Aaron Woodman, general manager of Windows marketing at Microsoft. “We expect all eligible devices to be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 by mid-2022.”
On existing Windows 10 PCs, Windows Update will let people know when the upgrade is available for Windows 11. You can also check to see if your device is eligible for the Windows 11 upgrade through Windows Update, or Microsoft’s dedicated PC Health Check app (currently in preview).
While Windows 11 will be launching on October 5th, not all of the announced features will be available. Microsoft is bringing Android apps to Windows 11 in partnership with Amazon and Intel, but this feature won’t be available on October 5th. A preview of Android apps on Windows 11 will be available for Windows Insiders in the coming months, suggesting that it likely won’t launch to all Windows 11 users until 2022.
Microsoft clarified its minimum system requirements for Windows 11 last week, but also revealed a workaround for those who don’t meet them. You can install Windows 11 on any hardware using an ISO method, as long as the PC has a 64-bit 1GHz processor with two or more cores, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a TPM 1.2 chip. But if you use the workaround, your PC will be in an unsupported state. This means an unsupported Windows 11 PC might not get access to Windows Update, and even security patches.
If your PC isn’t fully compatible with Windows 11, Microsoft is still supporting Windows 10 until October 14th, 2025. It’s not clear how many major updates Microsoft will release for Windows 10 over the next four years, though. A 21H2 update is arriving for Windows 10 users later this year that includes GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Windows Hello improvements, and WPA3 H2E Wi-Fi security support.