So we have had Covid-19, death and illness along with many small business failures because of Covid, oil pipelines, LinkedIn, Facebook and others hacked in 2021, fights for the presidency (not unusual) along with many problems over the past months. So, guess what? Now we are getting ready for a new release of Microsoft’s Operating System, Windows 11. While they were building it, the secret name was “Sun Valley.”
Now, many of my readers are not fond of Windows and/or Microsoft in general. Some of you are more understanding, and finally others like me enjoy the heck out of them. Especially a new operating system. I love to nose around in the system to see what is new and better and sometimes worse…yes; I said it.
It was recently announced that Windows 11 will be released to the public in the fourth quarter of 2021. But that is not definite. Also, Windows 10 will be retired in 2025 which if you follow those types of things has been announced for a while. Now, if like me, you remember the Microsoft announcement with W10 first premiered, “W10 is the last version of Windows”, paraphrased. What happened…who knows? I can’t find much on that but I guess things changed.
The first change for W11 is in the UI, User Interface. That is the look of Windows 11 will be different. To start with the Start Menu and taskbar are no longer on the left side; It has moved to the center of the taskbar. (Like a Mac.) And when you click the start menu, those worthless Live Tiles are gone. MS must have agreed since they got rid of them. There will also be recommended files and recently used files in that area.
Changes have been made to snap. In W10 you can snap windows to the right, left, or corners of your monitor. You will still be able to do this with your mouse and Windows key; however, there will be many other places you can move the windows automatically. It will give you a better layout for multiple windows.
Windows 11 will not have “Widgets.” They are like Live Tiles, yep, hard to believe they got rid of them and already have them back…with a different name. That last part is my opinion since I have only read about them and seen screenshot at this point. But they look very similar. However, they slide out from the left side of your monitor. (Like a Mac.) You can set the widgets with fresh news, information and sites that interest you in small rectangular “windows.”
There will also be many new backgrounds to pick from. The default graphic of Windows 10 was a stylized window with a blue background. The default for 11 is a blue sort of fantasy modernized rose design.
Edge remains the default browser with Internet Explorer gone. You may have thought IE was gone in W10; however, it is just hidden and you can find and use it if you would like. My default will remain Google Chrome for the foreseeable future.
The rest looks much the same as Windows 10. Keep in mind this is what we know so far. Will your computer run Windows 11? Until a week ago, you could run a test on your computer and find out. But they had a few problems with it, so they temporarily took it offline. By the time you read this, it may be back. Check here (ghtech.site/w11) if you are interested in checking that or want some more information on Microsoft Windows 11. Did you notice where I mentioned the UI looked like a Mac…strange thing that.
