Microsoft Has Officially Announced The Release Date Of Windows 11

The wait is over as Microsoft has officially announced the launch date of Windows 11. It will be made available to the public from 5th October 2021. All the eligible devices will start receiving Windows 11 on the same day. New devices with Windows 11 preloaded will be available for purchase soon.

windows 11 teams chat

The free upgrade to Windows 11 will be carried out like the last few Windows 10 updates, which means the latest devices will get the update first, followed by the older PCs. Microsoft confirmed today that all eligible devices will receive the free upgrade by mid-2022.

Take note that not every Windows 10 device will receive an upgrade due to Microsoft’s drastically increased system requirements.

windows 11 Devices

You will be notified once Windows 11 is available for your device. However, you can check through Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.

 

 

Minimum System Requirements and your PC

These are the minimum system requirements your PC must meet to help enable a great computing experience: 

Processors/CPUs (Central Processing Units): 1 Ghz or faster with 2 or more cores and appearing on our list of approved CPUs. The processor in your PC will be a main determining factor for running Windows 11. The clock speed (the 1 Ghz or faster requirement) and number of cores (2 or more) are inherent to the processor design as it was manufactured and are not considered upgradable components.

Important: The list of approved CPUs was recently expanded to include some earlier Intel processors that shipped with modern drivers. Because these are recent changes to the approved CPU list, the tools to verify eligibility (such as the PC Health Check app) are being updated in the weeks leading up to Windows 11 availability to account for the changes.  

RAM: 4 GB. If your PC has less than 4GB of memory, there are sometimes options for upgrading to get additional RAM. You may want to consult your PC manufacturer’s website or with a retailer to see if there are easy and affordable options to meet the minimum requirements for Windows 11.  

Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device. If your PC does not have a large enough storage drive, there are sometimes options for upgrading the drive. You may want to consult your PC manufacturer’s website or with a retailer to see if there are easy and affordable options to meet the minimum requirements for Windows 11.   

System Firmware: UEFI (for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, a modern version of the PC BIOS) and Secure Boot capable. If your device does not meet the minimum requirements because it is not Secure Boot capable, you may want to read this article to see if there are steps you can take to enable this. Secure Boot can only be enabled with UEFI and this article helps you understand potential options to change settings to make this possible. 

TPM: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0. If your device does not meet the minimum requirements because of TPM, you may want to read this article to see if there are steps you can take to remediate this. 

Graphics Card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver.

Display: High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel. If your screen size is less than 9”, the intended user interface of Windows may not be fully visible. 

Internet Connectivity and Microsoft Accounts: Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account to complete device setup on first use. 

Windows Version for Upgrade:  Your device must be running Windows 10, version 2004 or later, to upgrade through Windows Update. Free updates are available through Windows Update in Settings > Update and Security.