In what has been the worst kept secret in the world, Microsoft finally lifted the lid on the soon to be released Windows 11 after leaks and teasers before the official announcement.
Funnily enough, the leaked build (which I did download) revealed most of what Microsoft had in store for Windows 11, and they still had some tricks up their sleeves.
Admittedly, this is the nicest Windows I have seen. From the corners to the newly centred start button, redesigned and simplified logo and use of translucency: Windows 11 looks beautiful. It’s very much inspired by macOS and ChromeOS and I am all for it.
Perhaps the biggest announcement of all was the fact Android apps are coming to Windows, sorta.
Thanks to some help from Intel and its Intel Bridge tech, it effectively emulates Android apps and allows them to work on Windows. How performant this will be remains to be seen.
For years people have been wanting to see Windows support apps from other operating systems. So when Microsoft announced Windows Subsystem for Linux that allows you to run a Linux installation inside Windows, people were shocked and blown away. Microsoft has ventured far from its monopolistic ways of the nineties.
Seeing Intel work more closely with Microsoft shouldn’t be a surprise since Apple started manufacturing its own chips (the M1) and moving away from its reliance on Intel. In many ways, we see a return to the early 2000s when Mac’s ran non-Intel chips, and Intel dominated on PC.
With Android support, Microsoft is going into ChromeOS territory. I wonder if Google will be bothered by this or see it as a boon for Android venturing into new markets? Considering Microsoft is also partnering with Amazon to use their Appstore apps and not Google, something tells me Android apps that rely on Google services will not be supported. It’ll be interesting to see if Google tries making it harder for Android apps to work in Windows.
It might sound like a silly thing to say about an operating system, but I am excited. Even if Windows 11 is largely a cosmetic update over Windows 10, it will be free for existing Windows 10 users, and I think it’s time Microsoft started speaking their Fluent design language they’ve been working on for the last few years (which we finally see in their OS).
I have mixed feelings about this.
For one, people tend to forget that Microsoft defined Windows 10 as the last:
https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8568473/windows-10-last-version-of-windows
https://www.quora.com/Is-Windows-10-the-last-version-of-Windows-1?top_ans=16253801
(Yes, I’m aware of the language ambiguity, and still that was the message).
I’d really like to see substantial core improvements (security, OS features, performance) rather than UI ones. UI upgrades can be done via Windows Update packages a-la “Creator’s Update”, “Anniversary” etc.
Moving the start menu to the center, making windows half-transparent and rounded corners don’t justify a version upgrade. Support for Android does (albeit I can’t tell if it technically necessitates a whole new version) but the presentation seems to have been aimed towards everyday users rather than sophisticated ones. I’d really love to see an abbreviated version with the core improvements only.