Home windows 11 cheat sheet: Every little thing it’s worthwhile to know

Microsoft unveiled on June 24, 2021 its latest working system, Home windows 11—nearly six years after Home windows 10 debuted. Home windows 11 will provide a number of updates and new options, together with a less complicated design meant to extend productiveness, ease of use and creativity, methods to hook up with folks quicker, higher PC gaming experiences, quicker methods to get info you want, an all-new Microsoft Retailer, and a extra open ecosystem that unlocks new alternatives for builders and different creators.

This Microsoft Home windows 11 cheat sheet particulars the working system’s predominant options, lists system necessities for the OS, explains how and when to get it and extra. (Obtain the free PDF model of this Home windows 11 cheat sheet.) We’ll replace this Home windows 11 information when new info is launched.

SEE: Home windows 11: Tips about set up, safety and extra (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

What’s Home windows 11?

Home windows 11 is Microsoft’s latest main launch of its working system and the successor to Home windows 10. The OS options an all-new simplified, but modernized, interface and was designed to encourage productiveness and creativity.

Home windows 11 launched

As of October 5, 2021, Microsoft Home windows 11 is out there as a normal launch to the general public. Assuming it’s October 5 or later and assuming your private laptop meets the prerequisite necessities together with set up of Home windows 10 1909 or later, you possibly can improve to Home windows 11 by navigating to the Replace & Safety settings display screen.

Customers might also reap the benefits of the Windows 11 Installation Assistant to bypass the Home windows 10 Replace & Safety display screen and improve to Home windows 11 straight.

Whereas the March 2022 Windows 11 Patch just isn’t labeled as a “characteristic replace” to the working system by Microsoft (a full characteristic replace is scheduled for late 2022), the patch does include just a few unannounced new options. For instance, should you run Home windows 11 with Widgets turned on, you’ll discover a brand new icon within the decrease left nook of the desktop that gives a abstract of your native climate situations. Microsoft has additionally up to date Notepad and rebranded the Groove media participant.

SEE: Home windows 11 cheat sheet: Every little thing it’s worthwhile to know (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Pre-release updates of Home windows 11

As of July 29, 2021, a preview version of Windows 11 is out there for evaluate to members of the Home windows Insider Beta Channel; earlier than that date, preview variations of Home windows 11 had been solely out there to members of the Dev Channel. So, to put in Home windows 11 Model 22000.100 or higher on a legitimate Home windows 10 PC, activate the Home windows Insider Beta Channel on the Replace & Safety Settings display screen in Home windows 10 after which click on the Test For Updates button.

SEE: Find out how to set up Home windows 11 on a digital machine (TechRepublic)

As of August 23, 2021, Microsoft has launched an ISO file for the Home windows 11 Insiders Preview; beforehand, your solely choice was to improve Home windows 10 to Home windows 11 by means of Microsoft’s Home windows Insider program. To obtain the Home windows 11 ISO file, navigate to the Windows Insider Preview Downloads web page and check in together with your account.

SEE: Find out how to set up Home windows 11 from Microsoft’s ISO file (TechRepublic)

What new options include Home windows 11?

In Home windows 11, the newly centered Begin button makes use of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to indicate current information, it doesn’t matter what platform or gadget they had been being considered on beforehand, together with an Android or iOS gadget.

A brand new set of options to Microsoft Home windows 11 would be the introduction of Snap Layouts, Snap Teams and Desktops. These provide a “highly effective solution to multitask and keep on prime of what it’s worthwhile to get achieved,” in keeping with the Microsoft’s press launch. With these Home windows 11 options, customers can manage home windows and optimize display screen actual property for a cleaner visible structure. Customers can create and customise separate Desktops for every a part of their life—like one for work and one for private use.

In Home windows 11, Microsoft is integrating Chat from Microsoft Groups into the taskbar so customers can immediately join by way of textual content, chat, voice or video with private contacts no matter which platform or gadget is getting used throughout Microsoft Home windows, Android or iOS. By Microsoft Groups, customers can now immediately mute and unmute or begin a presentation straight from the taskbar within the new OS.

SEE: Home windows evolves: Home windows 11, and the way forward for Home windows 10 (TechRepublic)

For avid gamers, Home windows 11 “unlocks the complete potential of your system’s {hardware}, placing a number of the newest gaming know-how to give you the results you want,” in keeping with Microsoft. Home windows 11 will provide DirectX 12 Final, which allows immersive graphics at excessive body charges; DirectStorage for quicker load instances and extra detailed recreation worlds; and Auto HDR for a wider, extra vivid vary of colours. Microsoft Home windows 11 will nonetheless help customers’ favourite PC gaming equipment and peripherals.

Home windows 11’s new Widgets are a personalised feed powered by synthetic intelligence and Microsoft Edge. As a substitute of utilizing a telephone to examine information, climate or notifications, now customers can open their Home windows 11 desktop to see a equally curated view. Widgets affords new alternatives inside Home windows 11 to ship customized content material for creators and publishers.

The Microsoft Retailer is getting a significant overhaul–customers may have one protected location for apps and content material to look at, create, play, work and be taught. In line with Microsoft, the Retailer “has been rebuilt for pace and with an all-new design that’s lovely and easy to make use of. Not solely will we carry you extra apps than ever earlier than, we’re additionally making all content material—apps, video games, reveals, films—simpler to seek for and uncover with curated tales and collections.” Quickly, main first- and third-party apps reminiscent of Microsoft Groups, Visible Studio, Disney+, Adobe Artistic Cloud, Zoom and Canva will probably be out there within the Microsoft Retailer.

Coming in late 2021 for Home windows 11: Android apps on Home windows. By its partnership with Amazon and Intel, and for the primary time ever, the Microsoft Retailer will enable customers to find Android apps, which could be downloaded by way of the Amazon Appstore. Microsoft is enabling builders and impartial software program distributors to carry apps to the Microsoft Retailer, it doesn’t matter what app framework is used to create them.

SEE: Find out how to get the preview model of Home windows 11 (TechRepublic)

What do builders have to find out about Home windows 11?

Home windows 11 options the brand new PWABuilder3, so builders can construct a PWA from their internet app in minutes. WebView2 runtime is included with Home windows 11, which makes it simpler to reap the benefits of its internet platform as a safe solution to construct hybrid internet apps. Choices like Home windows Terminal and the brand new Microsoft Edge DevTools can nonetheless be used, as they’re now included in Home windows 11.

The Windows App SDK (beforehand often called Venture Reunion) will make it simpler to combine Home windows 11 options into apps, however it nonetheless permits builders to succeed in greater than a billion customers on Home windows 10. The Home windows App SDK 1.0 is ready to be launched later this 12 months.

Builders can construct apps that run natively on Home windows on ARM with the brand new ARM64 Emulation Suitable ABI. Utilizing the ARM64EC, native ARM and emulated x64 code could be blended in the identical course of or module. This interoperability means builders can optimize apps to run on Home windows on ARM—even when the app has x64 dependencies or masses x64 plugins they don’t management.

SEE: Builders: The Home windows 11 platform is again (TechRepublic)

To rejuvenate app designs, builders can use WinUI3 in Home windows 11, which affords built-in UI updates reminiscent of rounded geometry, refreshed iconography, new typography, enjoyable micro-interactions (reminiscent of Lottie animation) and refreshed shade palette. The Snap layouts characteristic will helps with most productiveness in Home windows 11.

Reunion Windowing permits builders to simply handle and create app home windows. The characteristic works with current app codes, simplifies frequent operations and brings new performance to desktop apps like Gentle-Dismiss Habits, Image-In-Image mode and simpler titlebar customization.

Together with the main modifications to the Microsoft Retailer, Microsoft is taking steps to unlock larger financial alternative for creators and builders. Microsoft plans to allow builders and impartial software program distributors to carry their apps no matter whether or not they’re constructed as a Win32, Progressive Net App, Common Home windows App or some other app framework. This can enable builders to succeed in and have interaction a bigger viewers.

The income share insurance policies will probably be altering, too, in keeping with Microsoft. App builders can now carry their very own commerce into the Microsoft Retailer and hold 100% of the income—Microsoft takes nothing. Builders can nonetheless use Microsoft’s commerce with aggressive income share of 85/15.

What are the system necessities for Home windows 11?

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or quicker with two or extra cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
• RAM: 4 GB
• Storage: 64 GB or bigger storage gadget
• System firmware: UEFI, Safe Boot succesful
• Graphics card: Suitable with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
• Show: Excessive-definition (720p) show that’s larger than 9″ diagonally, 8 bits per shade channel
• Web connection: Home windows 11 House version requires web connectivity and a Microsoft account to finish gadget setup on first use. Switching a tool out of Home windows 11 House in S mode requires web connectivity.

SEE: Find out how to inform in case your PC can run Home windows 11 (TechRepublic)

What are feature-specific necessities for Home windows 11?

Some options in Home windows 11 have elevated necessities past these listed above. Listed here are extra particulars relating to necessities for key options per Microsoft.

• 5G help: Requires a 5G-capable modem.
• Auto HDR: Requires an HDR monitor.
• BitLocker to Go: Requires a USB flash drive (out there in Home windows Professional and above editions).
• Shopper Hyper-V: Requires a processor with second degree tackle translation (SLAT) capabilities (out there in Home windows Professional and above editions).
• Cortana: Requires a microphone and speaker and is presently out there on Home windows 11 for Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, U.Okay. and U.S.
• DirectStorage: Requires an NVMe SSD to retailer and run video games that use the Customary NVM Specific Controller driver and a DirectX12 GPU with Shader Mannequin 6.0 help.
• DirectX 12 Final: Out there with supported video games and graphics chips.
• Presence: Requires a sensor that may detect human distance from gadget or intent to work together with gadget.
• Clever Video Conferencing: Requires video digital camera, microphone and speaker (audio output).
• A number of Voice Assistant (MVA): Requires a microphone and speaker.
• Snap: Three-column layouts require a display screen that’s 1920 efficient pixels or larger in width.
• Mute/Unmute from Taskbar: Requires video digital camera, microphone and speaker (audio output). App should be appropriate with characteristic to allow world mute/unmute.
• Spatial Sound: Requires supporting {hardware} and software program.
• Groups: Requires video digital camera, microphone and speaker (audio output).
• Contact: Requires a display screen or monitor that helps multi-touch.
• Two-factor authentication: Requires use of PIN, biometric (fingerprint reader or illuminated infrared digital camera) or a telephone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
• Voice Typing: Requires a PC with a microphone.
• Wake on Voice: Requires Fashionable Standby energy mannequin and microphone.
• Wi-Fi 6E: Requires new WLAN IHV {hardware} and driver and a Wi-Fi 6E succesful AP/router.
• Home windows Hi there: Requires a digital camera configured for close to infrared (IR) imaging or fingerprint reader for biometric authentication. Gadgets with out biometric sensors can use Home windows Hi there with a PIN or transportable Microsoft appropriate safety key.
• Home windows Projection: Requires a show adapter that helps Home windows Show Driver Mannequin (WDDM) 2.0 and a Wi-Fi adapter that helps Wi-Fi Direct.

SEE: Home windows 11: Understanding the system necessities and the safety advantages (TechRepublic)

When will Home windows 11 be launched, and the way can I get it?

Home windows 11 will probably be out there by means of a free improve for eligible Home windows 10 PCs and on new PCs starting October 5, 2021. To see in case your Home windows 10 PC is eligible for the free improve to Home windows 11, obtain the PC Well being Test app. Microsoft mentioned it’s working with its retail companions to “be certain [the] Home windows 10 PCs you purchase at present are prepared for the improve to Home windows 11.”