A Complete Guide to Upgrading to Windows 11
6 years after the release of Windows 10, Windows 11 released on October 4, 2021, and that’s big news!
So big, in fact, that you might be wondering where to start. Should you upgrade? CAN you upgrade? How do you upgrade? What are the major differences between Windows 10 and 11? This article will answer all of these questions, and more.
While this isn’t a user guide on HOW to use Windows 11, this guide should contain everything you need to know to upgrade and get started. Because Windows 11 will be out for years to come, we thought it deserved special attention. To our knowledge, this is the most complete guide of its kind on the internet. Let’s take a look at this article’s subheadings, which you can browse to by clicking on the links below:
Do I Have to Upgrade to Windows 11?
Should I Upgrade to Windows 11?
Windows 11 System Requirements
Windows 11 New Feature Analysis
Windows 11 Versions and Pricing
What We Dislike About Windows 11 or Miss About Windows 10
Do I Have to Upgrade to Windows 11?
The short answer is, eventually, yes. Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 10 October 14, 2025 . You will receive Windows 10-specific security and feature updates until then. You can feel safe upgrading to Windows 11 when Microsoft lets you know you are ready within Windows Update. The only caveat here is that, as a corporation, Microsoft would be logical to put more effort into Windows 11 going forward. You can avoid the upgrade for as long as you are able to, but what’s the fun or where’s the point in that? Which brings us to our next section.
Should I Upgrade to Windows 11?
In our opinion, yes. We have been using a beta (meaning not yet fully released to the public) build for about a week, and we can honestly say that Windows 11 IS an upgrade over Windows 10. Some features aren’t as polished as they could be, and a couple things we loved about Windows 10 have moved to new locations or are slightly different. Make no mistake, Windows 11 is the future of Microsoft’s PC operating systems, and we’ve enjoyed it thus far. We’ve read that people are calling it Windows 10.5, and the comparisons to MacOS are warranted given how similar the updated interfaces look. We hear those concerns and agree, but not once have we considered re-installing Windows 10.
Windows 11 Minimum System Requirements
Keep in mind, these are the MINIMUM system requirements. For some requirements, not meeting the minimum will cause your PC to perform poorly. If your system does not meet other requirements, Windows will flag your PC and inform you that your device is ineligible to run Windows 11. You can still attempt to install Windows 11, but serious issues may render your PC unusable and force you to revert back to Windows 10. According to Microsoft, people’s whose machines did not meet the system requirements crashed 52% more crashes than people who did.
The requirements are similar to Windows 10, but you’ll need more RAM, more storage, and new-enough components to support the additional security features of Window 11. It’s a safe bet that any NEW computer purchased 2017 or later will be fine to run Windows 11, but you’ll want to use Windows’ free PC Health Check app just to make sure.
Your device must be running Windows 10, version 2004 or later, to upgrade. This is Windows’ May 27, 2020, update. If you haven’t updated since before that date, your device has a lot of features and security updates to catch up on, and that’s just for 2021. Free updates are available through Windows Update in Settings>Update and Security. In fact, as a cybersecurity first website, we encourage you to ignore the rest of this article until you have updated Windows 10.
Processor – 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC).
RAM – 4 gigabytes (GB).
Storage – 64 GB or larger storage device.
System firmware – UEFI, Secure Boot capable. Though UEFI and Secure Boot are two different things, technically UEFI enable Secure Boot functionality. You can read more in the Windows 11 Security Upgrades. Check here for information on how your PC might be able to meet this requirement.
TPM – Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0. Unfortunately for us, one of our trusty laptops meets all of the Windows 11 requirements, except it only supports TPM version 1.2. Fittingly, the PC Health Check app throws a red flag. Looks like we’re installing Linux on it.
Graphics card – Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver. Don’t let these fool you, you do not need a computer with a discrete (dedicated) graphics card. Windows 10 was introduced alongside both Direct X 12 and WDDM 2.0. If you can run Windows 10, there’s a good chance you can run Windows 11.
Display – High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel.
Internet connection and Microsoft account – Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account. Internet access is required to install Windows 11, perform updates, and to take advantage of certain features. In addition, certain features require a Microsoft account. There are reports that you can work around this and install Windows 11 Home without an internet connection using a local account, but we don’t have Windows 11 Home so we can’t confirm if this is true.
Windows 11 enhancements
Objectively, there aren’t that many differences between Windows 10 and 11, and some of the updated requirements are supported, but not required Windows 10. This explains why Windows 11 has been dubbed by some bloggers and insiders we follow to be “Windows 10.5.” Rather than go into the differences between the two operating system, we’re going to focus on what we have decided are really Windows 11 enhancements over Windows 10.
According to Microsoft, these are the highlights of major enhancements between Windows 10 and 11:
Auto HDR – HDR produces more vivid colors, but this is truly depended on the capabilities of your display. As of early 2022, only higher end and some mid-tier monitors support HDR.
Chat from Microsoft Teams – Contact anyone via call, chat, text, or video from the taskbar.
Desktop Groups – You are able to have multiple desktops that are independent of each other. It’s great for productivity, but if you have an open game that is full screen (We tested with Call of Duty: Warzone), it’s not as seamless as one would hope. The game must be windowed.
Direct Storage – This is set of instructions (Code) that allows games load faster DirectStorage API. It’s hardware and software dependent and requires an NVMe SSD hard drive with minimum 2.5GB/second read times.
Live Tiles – Are gone. Hard to miss something you immediately disabled.
New Emojis
Seamless Redocking – When you disconnect and reconnect a display, Windows 11 tries its best to put everything back the way it was. We tested it once on our desktop, it seemed to work. The real value will be for laptops, think coming and going to meetings.
Windows Updates – Updates are supposedly improved. The Windows site says “Faster reduction in download size for updates in Windows 11.” That must mean that update packages are smaller in size and are applied to your system quicker, because a person’s internet speed is a big factor here. That’s not a great sentence for us to work with, but we think that’s what they mean.
Widgets – Widgets aren’t entirely new to Windows, but they are expanded and now front and center on the Windows 11 taskbar.
Curiously, these fail to mention some of what we consider to be the standout enhancements to Windows 11, namely, user experience focused updates to the Start menu and the Settings app. Let’s dive in.
Windows 11 New Feature Analysis
This is a somewhat sticky subject, as the features offered with Windows 11 have been subject to change since Windows 11 was announced in June 2021. All of these feature reports come from Microsoft or have been confirmed by our testing.
A New Design and User Interface…
That looks a lot like the MacOS dock. The Start button and taskbar have been redesigned, and we praise those efforts. In addition, the corners of windows are also now rounded like MacOS. Microsoft states that this simplified design is “new, yet immediately familiar,” and highlights that the ability to search for anything, anywhere is now front and (bottom) center, literally. Critique aside, we like the way it looks, despite never having owned a Mac:
Start Menu
Start menu is a big improvement over the Windows 10 clutter. The search bar is at the very top, and the top section contains your most frequently used apps as well as those that are pinned. there’s an All apps button that let’s you explore everything else. The middle section contains documents that you were recently working on. Sign out and switch account, as well as power options, can be found at the bottom.
Taskbar
Taskbar has been updated, as well. There are a lot of small improvements, and the Action Center in the bottom right has been replaced by Quick Controls. It contains standard stuff information like your internet connection, Bluetooth settings, Airplane mode, and power/battery settings. This is customizable via the pencil icon. While we are mostly excited about the new Taskbar, the Weather integration is gone, and can now only be in the Weather widget. We miss being able to know the current conditions, as well as the temperature. Rumor has it that this feature is missed and will return in 2022.
Open apps now appear centered in the Taskbar with a little underline, grey for all open apps, and an accent color for the active application . Like MacOS. If you prefer the old way of all the icons being on the left, you can go back to that, too.
Widgets
Widgets were in Windows 10, and were already customizable. Widgets are now their own stand-alone icon on the taskbar, and we assume will become more customizable. Windows 11 will include all of the standard widgets you can think of: Calendar, Entertainment, Photos, Sports, Tips for Windows 11, a To Do List, Traffic updates, Watchlist for stocks, Weather, and Top Stories for news. Neat.
File Explorer
File Explorer received a new look and user interface. It looks nice. The biggest change is when you right-click, the context menu has changed. At first, we couldn’t find how to delete a file, but the delete option is now a little trash can. Cut, Copy, and Rename are there, too, both in the top ribbon and in the context menu.
Settings App
The new Settings app is, without a doubt, the biggest jump forward in terms of user experience for Windows 11. It looks good, it’s easier to find things that we unintuitively buried in Windows 10, and it just feels…better. While the nostalgic or IT Specialist will always find themselves coming back to Control Panel (View by: Large Icons, always), the casual user will be far more in control with this update. The Settings app is one of Windows 11’s standout highlights.
Teams Chat in the Taskbar
This nifty new feature provides text, phone, and video call functionality and is built into the Windows taskbar. It works no matter what physical device the other person is using, and apparently, it doesn’t matter what operating system the other person is using, either. This means computer, tablet, phone, iOS, Android, PC, or Mac, this functionality should work.
Naturally, we put it to the Test. The text worked great. If you download Teams on your mobile phone and allow it to sync to your contacts, they all show up in Windows 11 Teams quickly. The video worked well, but required you to send the person a link. Sending a person a link to join a video seems pretty out of date, but given that this is supposed to work with any platform or device, we understand.
We’re not sure what this means going forward for Skype, another Microsoft product, but it’s safe to assume Skype’s days are numbered. The fine print on Microsoft’s website does have some caveats. Chatting via SMS is available in limited countries and will be made available to other geos on a rolling basis. Also, you can meet with anyone in a 1:1 call and speak up to 24 hours for free. For a group call (more than two people), you can meet with up to 100 participants and call up to 60 mins for free. In Microsoft’s generosity, they are waiving these limits in light of COVID-19 so that you can meet with up to 300 participants and speak up to 24 hours for free until further specified.
Multiple Desktops
Desktops are back in a big way. They are much easier to manipulate without keyboard shortcuts. You can have all of the work applications and files open in one desktop, and all of your personal stuff in the other and switching between the two is more obvious. You can even tell Windows 11 to run an app in both desktops, rather than opening it twice. This uses less system resources and allows you to edit any open files in the app on either desktop. Neat.
Snap Assist and Snap layouts
Snap Assist returns from Windows 10 and allows you to group and organize open windows and pivot between them with the “groundbreaking” multi-task tool.
To be honest, we aren’t sure how big of an upgrade this is from the current method in Windows 10, also called…Snap Assist. Here’s a brief history of Snap Assist.
Aero Snap debuted in Windows 7, and it allows you to click at the top of a window and drag it all the way to the left or right to make it take half of the screen, or the top of the screen to make it full screen. You were also able to do this using keyboard shortcuts by holding the Windows key (WIN) and then pressing the directional arrow keys.
In Windows 8, the name was changed to Snap and added touch-based gestures to accommodate touch-screen laptops and tablets.
In Windows 10, Snap became Snap Assist, and debuted the feature where you can drag a window to the corner of the screen and it will take up 25 percent of the screen, meaning you could have 4 equally sized windows on one screen. There are two additional Windows 10 Snap Assist features that we love. 1. If you hold WIN and press the down arrow, it minimizes your current window. 2. If you hold WIN and press the M or D key, it minimizes everything, leaving only your desktop.
Windows 11 debuts Snap Layouts. This feature produces a pop-out box that displays possible window layouts when you hover over the minimize button, or when you hold WIN and press Z. The possible layouts are determined by your display’s width and ratio, for example, a 16:9 display provides 4 choices. It can even remember previously configured layouts using a feature called Snap Groups. And, if you’re utterly opposed, you can turn it all off altogether via Settings> System>Multi-tasking.
We have noticed that the Snap features in Windows 10 can be a bit buggy. We can thankfully, and excitedly, report that Windows 11 fixes the Snap features and they all work without a hitch.
Windows 11 Security Upgrades
To be fair, these are not new features to Windows 11. The Windows 10 (now Windows 11) PC on which this article was written had all of these enabled. These are existing features and hardware that Windows 11 is now requiring.
TPM 2.0
The (Trusted Platform Module) TPM is a cryptographic module (or chip). TPM 2.0 is the current standard because it supports newer encryption algorithms that are faster to compute and more secure. Usually, the TPM is built-in to the computer out of the box, but there are also separate physical modules products that plug into your motherboard. TPM has been around since Windows 7, and it can do all kinds of things like encrypting disks and passwords, storing certificates, and detecting for unauthorized hardware or software. In Windows 11, the TPM encrypts your login information and enables the encryption of storage. TPM hardware (the TPM chip) separates encryption keys from all other components (hardware AND software) in your computer to keep them safe. Meaning somebody could steal your hard drive, but without the encryption keys stored on the TPM, could never access its data.
UEFI and Secure Boot
Before your operating system can load, low-level software known as firmware tell your computer HOW to load your operating system. In the past, this was called BIOS. BIOS, in the traditional sense, is being replaced by Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). UEFI is a modern improvement to BIOS, because it supports larger hard drives, a much quicker boot process, enhanced security, and graphics as well as a mouse (In BIOS, you can only navigate with a keyboard). It also, conveniently, supports Secure Boot.
Secure Boot – Secure Boot analyzes Windows 11 for validity to ensure that malware has not tampered with, or inserted itself into, the Windows boot process. It does this by validating the digital signature of each piece of boot software that loads Windows 11 using encryption keys loaded into the firmware (remember UEFI?).
Check here for information on how your PC might be able to meet the UEFI and Secure Boot requirements of Windows 11.
Windows 11 Versions and Pricing
If you already own a Windows computer and it meets the Windows 11 system requirements, congratulations! You should be able to upgrade to the equivalent version of Windows 11 for free. Windows 11 will automatically select the correct version for you when you upgrade.
Essentially, your Windows options boil down to the following:
Home, Pro, Enterprise, SE (Education).
We’re going to skip Enterprise for the rest of the discussion to talk briefly about it here. In Window’s world, there’s a big difference between a business and an enterprise. A regular business will get along will get along fine with Windows 11 Pro. A BUSINESS, or one that would use Windows 11 Enterprise, will typically have a dedicated IT department to configure organization-wide settings and direct support from Microsoft as part of their Windows licensing agreement. They get deals in bulk because they need to purchase servers licenses, workstation licenses, Office licenses, and more for large numbers of employees. So really, the difference between Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise is the licensing agreement.
Let’s break down the difference between the 3 versions normal consumers use.
Windows 11 Home – Ideal for most users.
Designed for PCs and includes all of the features you need to take advantage of Windows. We recommend this version of Windows because it’s cheaper and does everything you need it to do, unless you have a business reason that requires Pro. Aside from business reasons, like if your computer needs to be joined to a business domain, the only Pro upgrade that seems worth it is Bitlocker Drive Encryption. Even that has some caveats, because do you really need that level of protection in a desktop that never leaves your home? The real advantage of Bitlocker applies to devices that are lost or stolen, which are overwhelmingly laptops and mobile devices.
Windows 11 Pro – small business and power users
The full-featured version of Windows 11. Contains all of the features in Windows 10 Home, but adds features and security used by businesses and other professionals. Technically, there are two versions of Pro, Pro and Pro for Workstations, but their differences are niche and mostly concern file sharing, data resiliency (think backups) and system optimization that requires special hardware. For this article, we’re focusing on the regular version of Pro.
Windows 11 SE – Education Only
A new, cloud-first operating system that is education-specific and optimized for portable devices with limited computing power. It’s a low-cost, lightweight version of Windows 11 that limits the actions users can take and transfers that control IT administrators. Because this operating system is only available on select devices available via Microsoft’s website and is not available on consumer PCs, we aren’t comparing its features to Home or Pro.
It’s easier to describe the differences between these two rather than similarities, because they are 90% similar. Windows 11 Pro has more features focused on remote administration by your IT department, business productivity, user identity and access management, and security.
Windows 11 Home vs. Pro Differences
| Feature | Description | Home | Pro |
| Microsoft Account Required for Setup | You’ll need access to the internet and a Microsoft account to install Windows 11. | Yes | – |
| Windows 11 in S Mode | A mode of Windows streamlined for performance and security. Only allows apps from the Microsoft Store and requires Microsoft Edge for internet browsing. | Yes | – |
| OneDrive for Business | Adds to OneDrive (syncs your files to the cloud) by synchronizing with SharePoint and Teams. | – | Yes |
| Remote Desktop | Allows you to access your apps, folders, and file remotely from devices using Windows, iOS, Android, and MacOS. Your Windows 11 device must be powered on for this to work. Also helpful with remote IT administration. | – | Yes |
| Device Encryption | Device encryption is available on a wide range of Windows devices and helps protect your data by encrypting it. If you turn on device encryption, only authorized individuals will be able to access your device and data. | Yes | Yes |
| Bitlocker Device Encryption | Manage the encryption of your hard drive and its contents. | – | Yes |
| Remote Deployment and Compliance | Deploy, secure, and manage remote PCs through the cloud, in compliance with a company’s configuration settings. | – | Yes |
| Windows Sandbox | A temporary, isolated environment where you can run software without fear of harming your PC. | – | Yes |
| Assigned Access | Windows 11 Pro devices run different applications depending on the user and keep individual identities separate and secured. | – | Yes |
| Azure Active Directory Join and Hybrid Azure Active Directory Join | For joining devices to domains both from the cloud and on-site. | – | Yes |
| Cloud Managed Updates | Approve, schedule, and monitor any Windows Update content through the cloud, including security updates, drivers, and firmware. | – | Yes |
| eSIM Enterprise Solutions | eSIMS10 are embedded (no physical SIM) SIM cards that connect your PC to cellular networks. | – | Yes |
| Group Policy | Manage PCs, users, and groups according to their assigned configuration settings. | – | Yes |
| Kiosk Mode Setup | Simple device configuration. | – | Yes |
| Mobile Application Management | Employees can use their personal devices to access work apps and content without IT help. | – | Yes |
| Mobile Device Management | Windows 11 mobile device management (MDM) provides an alternative to traditional PC management processes. | – | Yes |
| Seamless Local and Virtual Apps | Virtual apps will behave like local apps with Windows 11 and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). | – | Yes |
| Active Directory | Domain Join + Group Policy: IT staff can easily manage PCs, user accounts and groups, security policies, and get easy access to files and printers when you pair Windows 11 Pro with Windows Server. | – | Yes |
| Support for Azure Active Directory | Employees can use a single login across Windows 11, Microsoft 365, and other Microsoft services, making logons and passwords easier to manage. The shared logon works on PCs, tablets, and phones with minimal IT involvement. | – | Yes |
| Windows Autopilot | New devices can easily be set up following a cloud powered pre-configured process. | – | Yes |
| Windows Server Update Service | Enables IT admins to deploy the latest Microsoft product updates. | – | Yes |
| Windows Update for Business | Windows Update for Business can help businesses reduce management costs, provide control over update deployments, enable more efficient delivery of updates, and provide access to the latest innovations from Microsoft. | – | Yes |
Pricing for Windows 11 hasn’t been officially released, and you can’t buy Windows 11 directly from Microsoft’s website. However, we have seen DVD’s floating around at $119 for the Windows 11 Home and $149 for Windows 11 Pro. These seem to mirror the cost of available Windows 10 products for Home and Pro via retailers. Strictly speaking, on Microsoft’s website, you can pick up Windows 10 Home for $139 and Pro for $199. And then, ya know, just upgrade to Windows 11.
Upgrading to Windows 11
This is quite the section, so we’ve included links:
Check if your PC can run Windows 11
Create a Windows 10 Recovery Drive
Create Windows 10 Installation Media
Introduction
Before we go any further, we encourage you to visit and familiarize yourself with Microsoft’s Recovery Options in Windows. Then, create a Recovery Drive. We had 0 issues upgrading to Windows 11, but we followed all of the steps below just in case. A Recovery Drive is easy to create and gives you more troubleshooting options.
We had to join the Windows Insider Program to upgrade to Windows 11. So, there’s a good chance that Microsoft hasn’t pushed Windows 11 out to your computer. If you’re interested in joining the Windows Insider Program, we included some discussion at the end of this section.
You may notice this article does not go into detail about performing a clean install of Windows 10 or 11. Because this article is focused on upgrading to Windows 11 and it features, we have omitted that information. Plenty of information can be found on the Microsoft website in the links below that relate to Windows Installation Media.
Our guide picks up once Windows 11 has been released to the masses, or more specifically, you.
If your machine is running Windows 10, the Windows 11 upgrade is what is considered an “in-place” upgrade. You download Windows 11 from Settings>Windows Update. When it’s downloaded and ready, you click “Restart,” and Windows handles everything in the background, restarts on its own a few times, and the next thing you have to do is login to Windows 11 using your same password or PIN. Easy, right? But there are still steps you should take to do things the right way to protect your computer and files. Here are the steps we recommend.
1. Check to make sure your computer meets the Windows 11 system requirements (Windows 10 screenshots).
This can be accomplished using either Windows Update (preferred) or the PC Health Check application, which is really only necessary if your computer isn’t currently able (but maybe can be configured) run Windows 11. Don’t worry, we will walk you through the process of figuring out WHY your computer can’t run Windows 11. If it’s just a configuration issue, then don’t give up on your PC yet! Unfortunately, if your hardware prevents you from run Windows 11, then you have a tougher choice to make.
To access Windows Update on Windows 10, either click on the Start Button or press the Windows (WIN) key, and start typing “Update.” Windows is pretty smart, so it should bring up the Check for Updates option. We only had to type “U” and it was the first option to come up.
If your computer can run Windows 11, you should see a little green check somewhere on the screen that says “This PC can run Windows 11.”
But what if you computer can’t run Windows 11, like our trusty Lenovo T420 laptop from 2012? It will show a sad little red “x.” Read on for more below this image.
From here, your best option is download the PC Health Check app to determine what’s causing the error. You can follow the link in the Windows Update section or download the PC Health Check app directly from here. After you download the file, select “Open File.” We took the following screenshots in Windows 11, but it looks and behaves the same way in Windows 10.
After you click “Open File,” it will the setup for the PC Health Check app. Accept the terms and click “Install.”
Once the setup has finished installing the application, make sure the “Open Windows PC Health Check” box is ticked, and click “Finish” to launch the app.
At the home screen of the app, click the blue “Check Now” box to run the app.
You already know that our Lenovo failed, but here’s what it the results looked like:
You can choose See all results if you want to look at additional information, but the Device specifications takes you to a Windows website.
This is where it gets tricky. First, we enabled Secure Boot, one little orange exclamation point taken care of. That involves going into your computer’s BIOS/UEFI and enabling. A quick note, changing your BIOS/UEFI settings can seriously damage your computer’s ability to function. Because accessing and modifying the BIOS/UEFI is different depending on the device and manufacturer, we aren’t going to show you how to edit your BIOS/UEFI settings. Now that you have been warned, if you are interested in accessing and modifying your BIOS/UEFI settings, you can follow this link to a Microsoft article and try your hand.
Then, we checked our processor, and it turns out, it meets all the specifications required by Windows 11, so we found it strange that it received the bright red x. The easiest way to check your system’s information is by typing “System” into the Start menu search, then opening the System Information app. This screen shot comes from Windows 11, but the instructions above will yield the same results in Windows 10 and we’re confident you’ll be able to figure it out.
Here’s what the System Information app looks like. Your relevant settings are going to be under System Summary, Hardware Resources>Memory, and Components>Storage>Drives.
System Summary shows your processor, BIOS mode, installed memory (RAM), and your Secure Boot status. Oddly enough, we noticed that “Secure Boot” isn’t enabled on our computer that has Windows 11. So, it seems it’s more of a “required to support” rather than a “required to be turned on” situation.
Hardware Resources>Memory shows your TPM version:
Components>Storage>Drives shows you how much storage your hard drive(s) has. We have two hard drives:
The ACTUAL reason my T420 won’t run Windows 11, despite only having the little orange exclamation point next to it, is that it only supports TPM 1.2. This could be because the processor doesn’t natively support TPM 1.2 (which is my guess because PC Health Check gave my processor the bright red X), or there isn’t a dedicated TPM chip in the laptop that supports TPM 2.0.
This is where YOUR decision will come into play. Windows 10 will receive support until 2025, so this really boils down to the question, “do you have room in your budget for a new computer or to upgrade your current device, or can you live with your current computer knowing that it isn’t running the latest and greatest operating system?” For us, it doesn’t make sense to upgrade a 10 year old laptop, so we’ll live with until we dedicate our T420 to our IT science expirements.
2. (required) Back up your files onto a removable hard drive, USB, or cloud account like Onedrive, dropbox, Google drive, or iCloud. If multiple people use the same computer with different accounts, make sure everyone logs in and does this.
We’re going to skip a play-by-play and assume you know how to do or can Google this. Do not skip this step, and be thorough.
3. (required) Create a Windows 10 Recovery usb in case the installation fails.
Important: If you’ve encrypted your device, you’ll need your BitLocker key to use a recovery drive to restore or reset your PC If you don’t know your BitLocker key, see Find my BitLocker recovery key.
This allows you to troubleshoot your installation of Windows, as well as re-install Windows with system files that it copied from your CURRENT installation. If the troubleshooting options from the recovery drive and Startup Repair don’t work, you can use the recovery drive to re-install Windows. A recovery drive is a copy of your current Windows system files, but does not include your files, applications, drivers, or settings. You backed up your files in step 2, right?
4. (Recommended) Create a Windows 10 installation media (USB) in case something goes wrong, and you need to start from scratch (You backed up your files in step 2, right?).
This step exists if you skipped step 3 and did not create a Windows 10 recovery drive, and none of the other recovery options on Microsoft’s website work. This is a fresh and clean install of Windows 10. All of your files, applications, settings, and user accounts are gone. You backed up all of your files in step 2, right?
5. Upgrade time!
Our upgrade was quick and painless, in fact, after doing steps 1-4 and downloading Windows, it took less than 15 minutes. In total, the process took around 1.5 hours, from the time we decided to upgrade to Windows 11, to surfing the web and getting back to work on this article.
Because you followed all of the steps above, you can sit back, relax and go through the process knowing your files are safe.
You can upgrade directly from Windows Update, and the while process maybe takes 10 clicks (we didn’t count). Basically, once you’re eligible in Windows Update, you click “Download.” When Windows 11 is done downloading, you click “Restart.” Your computer will restart automatically a few times, and the next action you have to take is to login to Windows 11, enjoy!
The Windows Insider Program
If you’re interested in joining the Windows Insider Program, click here. You can also access this by going to Settings>Windows Update. Just be warned, you should definitely read the fine print. Unenrolling immediately requires you to reinstall Windows 10. Also, if you’re in the Dev Channel, you have to perform a clean install to get out, no clicking a button or waiting for the next update.
If you’re just interested in Preview Builds, select that as your update option. If you’re interested in reporting bugs, glitches, and growing pains, we (and Microsoft) recommend the Beta option, which is what we did. We do not recommend receiving Dev builds unless you are technologically and emotionally prepared for crashes, headaches, and the like. You may get the scoop on features before anybody else, but they also may crash your computer or not even make the cut for inclusion into the Beta build. Then, you’d have to either trash your blog post or change it to say “I wish they would have included [insert feature here] in the Beta build.”
What We Like About Windows 11
If you couldn’t tell, overall, we are very high on Windows 11. It looks good, and it is a thoughtful redesign in terms of user experience. We’ll keep this section short.
The upgrade was easy, quick, and seamless. All of our apps, files, etc. were minimally disrupted. In fact, we can’t really think of anything that was disrupted by the in-place upgrade, but we also didn’t run down a checklist. Bravo Windows, bravo.
Goodbye to live tiles on the Start menu. They were practically useless. Also, we’re enjoying the new Start menu and its customization options, including pinning important apps next to the Power button. We opted for Downloads, Settings, and File Explorer shortcuts below:
So nice to see Snap functioning at a high level.
The Settings update was one we didn’t know we needed because we were used to the old way, but it turns out, we did. Love it. We also like that on the Themes page you can customize your color, and even set your accent color to automatic so that Windows can look at your theme colors and choose accordingly.
Teams on the Taskbar is great. It’s great for quickly interacting with the people you interact with most, and it works.
Themes and the Personalization settings are a great way to customize the look Windows 11, and their ease of use in the updated Settings app is a real plus.
What We Dislike About Windows 11 or Miss About Windows 10
Essentially, these boil down to gripes, we’ve come across almost nothing that doesn’t work, and only one hang-up where we had to force quit a frozen application.
Microsoft Wants You to Use Edge
Currently, it is a cumbersome task to change your default web browser away from Edge. There are reports that Windows Build 22509 will make this process much easier, but it is only available in the Dev Channel and is therefore not considered a stable release. Honestly, we don’t see the big deal. Edge works fine for an out-of-the-box, default browser.
The Taskbar Calendar change
When you click on the date and time, the full month calendar no longer shows up, only something like Friday, December 31. You have to select the up carrot to get the full calendar to display. However, after you do it once, Windows remembers and from there on out (until you restart, we presume) clicking on the date and time reveals the full calendar.
Weather Information is gone from the Taskbar
While we are mostly excited about the new Taskbar, the Weather integration is gone, and can now only be in the Weather widget. We miss being able to know the current conditions, as well as the temperature:
Rumor has it that this feature is missed and will return sometime in 2022. Here’s a sneak-peek courtesy of Windows:
Snipping Tool needs a bit more work
When Using the Snipping Tool app in Window Snip mode it’s a little difficult to tell which screen you are taking a screenshot of if you have multiple monitors. Basically, whatever is light will be captured and whatever is darkened gray will not. Also, when you use WINKEY+SHIFT+S to launch the quick snip toolbar at the top of the screen, there isn’t an option to configure a delay. You have to do this via the Start menu or actually launch Snipping Tool. Full Screen snipping mode doesn’t allow to set a delay at all. It’s unclear why, but there must be a reason. Finally, 3 keys is too many to launch a quick snip. Surely there could be a 2-key combination.
Themes
The default themes are okay, and only come with 4 images at most. Granted, there are loads of themes available in the Microsoft Store if you select “Browse themes,” but isn’t clear if these are Microsoft themes or ones created by third parties until you actually click on the theme. Night Skies PREMIUM is free, despite what the name implies, and has 20 images as well as our vote.
The other gripe with themes – you cannot have two different themes, even if you setup two different desktops. It would be nice to see a little more differentiation between the different desktops, but that would eat up system resources for everyone except people with enough RAM to do so effectively. Sure, you can change the background image, and even set it to slideshow, but support for a full theme is lacking.
Small Bugs
The Epic Games Launcher stuck open and wouldn’t close after unchecking “Run When My Computer Starts.” Not sure if this is because Epic games is upset, or what, but because Epic makes some of the biggest games around (Fortnite, anyone?), this will definitely be an issue that needs to be debugged. We actually had to CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to launch the Task Manager to force it to quit.
Team can be a little buggy. My friend “Jeff” real name is Jason. At no place in any of my devices is he named Jeff. His contact info even shows up as Jason until I actually go to message him.
As we find others, we’ll update this article and be sure to include our feedback to Microsoft.
Whew! That’s all for now, unless there’s something YOU can think of. Let us know what you think in the Comments section, or reach out to us via our Contact page.