@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO Reviewssix-monthly
majorupdate
cyclethat
Windows 1 0
struggledto
maintain,
Microsoftis
movingtoan
annualfeature
updatesystem,
similartothat
ofmacOS.
Thatdoesn’t
meanyou’ll only
getpatchesoncea
year,ofcourse.
Securityfixes
willstillarrive
onthe normal
“PatchTuesday”
cadence,but it
meansless
frequent feature
updates that can
causedisruption.
Windows 11 Prowillalsogettwoyears
ofsupportfor each versionrelease,
andthat’s uppedtothreeyearsfor
customersontheEnterpriselicence,
whichgives IT departmentssome
muchneeded stability,particularlyif
theydecidetoskipa featureupdate.
Forhomeusers,thereisn’tmuch
changewhenitcomesto Windows
Updates. You’llhavetheoptionto
pausethemfora shortperiod- we
expectit tostayat 35 days,asitiswith
Windows 10 - andtakea certain
amountofcontroloverwhenthey
appear.Buttheonlyreal changesare
thatyou’llnowreceiveanestimate
forhowlongitwilltakeforthe
updatesto happen (for example,ten
minutes),andthatMicrosofthas
promisedtheseupdateswillbe
around40%smallerinsize.
Windows 10 gettingthe
goodstuff?
Microsoftmadea reasonable song
anddanceaboutgamingwhenit
announcedWindows11,notleast the
ability to streamgamesfromtheXbox
CloudGamingservicedirectlyfrom
thepre-loadedXboxapp.That,unlike
supportforAndroid apps in the
WindowsStore,hasarrived- butit’s
alsoavailableinWindows10,notto
mentionalmostanyothercomputer
withawebbrowser.
Thesameistrueofoneoftheother
biggamingannouncementsat the
Windows 11 launch:DirectStorage.
Thiseffectivelybypassesthe
processortoloadgameassetsdirectly
fromNVMeSSDsandpassthem
straighttothegraphicscard.Whenit
wasfirstrevealed,Microsoftcertainly
gavetheimpressionthiswouldbea
reasonforgamerstoupgradeto
Windows11,butMicrosofthassince
quietlyconfirmedin a developer
blogpostthat
“Microsoftis
committedto
ensuring that
whengames
developersadopt
a newAPI,they
canreachas
manygamersas
possible”,andsoit
willbesupported
inallversionof
Windows 10 from
1909 onwardstoo.
Whileit’sgood
toseeMicrosoft
notartificially
hamperingpreviousoperating
systemsattheexpenseofWindows11,
it’sanotherreasonwhythisOS
upgradeisa longwayfromessential.Turnitdown?
Ifyou’reahomeuser,there’slittle
reasontostick withWindows 10 if
yourcomputersupportstheupgrade.
Thebiggerquestion,andonethat
professionalusersandITmanagers
willbe chewingoverduringthenext
fewmonths,iswhetherthere’s
enoughheretojustifythehassle.
Windows 10 isgoingnowhere–
Microsofthaspromisedsupportuntil
atleast 2 02 5 – sothere’sno gunbeing
heldtoanyone’shead.
Rightnow,it’sa waitandsee
situation.There’snothingwrong
withWindows 11 per se:itlooks better
thanWindowshaseverdone,someof
thenewwindowsmanagement
featuresaresuperb,andtheremaybe
morebusiness-orientedfeaturesto
come.Butasitstands, there’s nothing
that’sgoingto massivelyimprove
anyone’sproductivityorthatwill
leaveanyprofessionaluserwitha
nastyboutofFOMO.Windows 1 1appearstobea solidupdate,but nota
thunderousamountmore.
It’sbecomingsomethingofa
patternforMicrosoft.XPwasa
must-have,manysatoutVista;
Windows7 wasa barnstormer,
Windows8 wasexperimentaljazz
thatmostrejected.Windows 10 has
cementeditselfinhomesand
businesses,butthere’s littlein 11
that’sgoingtorockthose
foundations.It’s early days,and
perhapsthepicturewillchangein
a year’stime,butthere’sno
compellingreasontoturnyourPCs
upto 11 justyet.BARRYCOLLINSMicrosoft’s officialstanceisthat Windows 11 will“starttobe
rolledout”onOctober5,butitgoes on to saythattherollout
willlastuntilthemiddleof2022.ThesubtextisthatMicrosoft
doesn’twanttohaveheadlinesscreamingaboutPCsthatare
brickedbytheupgrade,soweexpectittotakeitslowlyand
thenrampupupgradestowards theendofthisyear.Youwill
beautomaticallynotifiedviaWindowsUpdateifyoursystem
isreadyto be upgraded.ABOVEANDTOP
Weawaitthebig
MicrosoftStore
refresh,withAndroid
appsabsentandno
sign(yet)ofbighitters
suchasPhotoshopWHENWILLYOUGETWINDOWS 11?