Windows 11 -well almost! The Insider Preview has been released and The team at ProcessIT have compiled a list of many of the new or improved features to give you a heads up on the future of Windows.

The sad news first. Not all computers will be able to upgrade to Windows 11.

Windows 11 will require Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake or Zen 2 CPUs and up, TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Module) support, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.

The biggest hurdle here being the TPM or Trusted Platform Module which is a tiny piece of hardware that is not present on all computers especially anything pre 2006 when TPM was introduced to the market. If your computer is older than this then it is likely that it will not have it and so will not be able to install Windows 11. (See the Tech Tip below on how to test for a TPM).

The Build Info

Windows 11 Insider Preview

Windows Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.51)

A New Logo

Microsoft have gone with a flatter, bolder look elongating the text slightly to retain the letter spacing and with tighter spacing between squares in the logo.

New and Improved Menu

The Iconic Windows Menu button has been altered to resemble 4 equal sized squares with a light blue hue. Positioned centrally by default the Taskbar contains simple icons with a small grey bar beneath to identify what is open and what is the current window. Yes you can align the menu back to the bottom left of the screen however you can no longer pin the taskbar to other sides of the screen, a function I have found useful on tablets to prevent accidental clicks while using the pen input.

The menu opens centrally providing a 50/50 split top and bottom with the top section representing pinned Apps and the bottom representing recommended files. Both sections contain a button to show more of its respective section

Rounded Corners

Round corners are in and Microsoft has spared nothing. It is no small radius either. Microsoft Claim Windows 11 to have “Beautiful, fresh, calm visuals and sounds”.

Vibrant and Descriptive Icons

Coloured Icons now adorn the menus and feel soft and vibrant.

Microsoft Store

The Microsoft Store has a new look and feels clean and intuitive.

Dragging Windows

Dragging windows around now use a lifting animation to lift the window above others and apply a drop shadow like affect.

Windows Settings Screen

A new design to the settings screen has seen all items list to the left of the screen with coloured icons. Headed by the System settings the menu is not alphabetized but instead listed by relevance.

Windows Update Screen

Windows updates screen has largely not changed. Mostly Aesthetic differences.

Window Arrangement Options.

I have found this to work on most occasions but have also found it to not appear on certain screens. To try it yourself, right click the maximise icon to the top right of a window and you should see this menu.

This allows you to dock your window to a part of the screen quickly and easily.

The second part to this is window resizing. Drag icons appear at the intersections of docked windows and when moved resize all docked windows.

A New Settings Window on the Task Bar

A new clean icon based look with minimal text is very intuitive and now combines sliders for both Brightness and Volume.

File Right Click Menu

Minimalist with common functions now listed as icons in a header tray area. The “show more options” function simply displays the windows 10 version of this menu.

Pasting files

The same minimalist menu appears while pasting files with an icon for paste in a header tray.

More to come

The Current preview does not contain some of the planned features, with the big one being an integrated Android Emulator. Yes, you will be able to run Native Android Apps on your Windows PC!

And what of Windows 10?

Windows 10 remains a functional and supported Operation System. Microsoft say they will support it until 2025.

Custom Business Software

While this doesn’t directly affect the systems we supply we are always looking to make improvements to the look and function of our Custom Business Software. The subtle refinements will be incorporated into our future systems as and where we can

Conclusion

These were the standout Windows 11 features and should more come to light while we investigate further we will be sure to let you know. All in all it’s an intriguing new Windows version with subtle improvements that feel right. Microsoft have done an exceptional job trimming the fat off Windows 10 and delivered a clean refreshing looking operating system that we are excited to get to know more.

Tech Tip

TPM Trusted Platform Module

This is a new enhanced hardware security subsystem. You can read the details and history on Wikipedia Trusted_Platform_Module

There are a few was to determine if you have a TPM installed in your PC.

The simplest way is to open a command prompt (DOS window for the old school):

• Use the keyboard-short-cut; Windows key + R
• Type tpm.msc and press enter.

A new window will open with information such as:

Or sadly

You can also check via Device Manager:

You may also find you have a TPM but it is disabled. This can be reenabled via the Computers UEFI configuration settings but is a little tricky and is beyond the scope of this this post.

Leaks suggest windows 11 will be released about October 20^th 2021. 

Until next time, take care, be safe and happy computing…

Regards,
    James Dickinson and Brian Henderson.