Now along with a fresh install of Windows 10 and Windows 11, we've also included a configuration based on a Windows 10 fresh install that was then upgraded to Windows 11. Anyone with one of the newer chips should have no trouble installing Windows 11 via Windows Update. Microsoft made a downloadable ISO disk image file for the beta Insider version available for installing Windows 11, allowing in-place upgrades or clean installations on a PC or in a virtual machine.
A similar installation option is now available for the release version of Windows 11 via the Microsoft's Download Windows 11 page. I'm planning on doing a clean windows install on a new SSD I ordered recently, and I have been debating on just clean installing windows 11, but does it seem "ready enough" yet for a daily driver? Some I have asked say it's okay, others are weirdly vehemently against it but I'm suspecting that it could be just information based on old issues that have been resolved already. File Explorer is a good example of Windows 11's new look, particularly its updated left panel controls and folder icons. Note the simplified ribbon along the top, which is far less busy and distracting than the previous File Explorer's.
The New button at the top left works for new folders or documents supported by your apps, and the same viewing options for files are available. The overflow menu offers file compression, selection, and Properties options, as well as the old Folder Options dialog. The right-click context menus, which have grown longer and longer over the years, get shorter, smarter, and clearer in Windows 11. They now show only the most often-needed options. The Start menu gets a major overhaul in Windows 11. Pinned app buttons (they're larger than icons but smaller than Windows 10's tiles) are at the top of its panel.
Recent and frequent apps and documents are in a section below them. The Start menu's new mini-tiles are still good for touch input, but you lose info that live tiles offer, annoying as those could sometimes be. Another quibble I have with the new Start menu is that it's harder to get to the All Apps view than in Windows 10. With that version of Windows, you can see all installed apps as soon as you open the Start menu; they're in a list on the left while tiles for your pinned apps are on the right. As with Windows 10, you can let the company know what you'd like to see added to the software, and you may be surprised at how often it listens. Anyone can sign up for preview builds of the OS through the Windows Insider Program.
It lets you experience new features before they're available for general release. The next major update, 22H2 is expected to add Start menu options along with some redesigned included apps like Notepad and Photos. This community is dedicated to Windows 10, which is a personal computer operating system released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. But that's coming to Windows 10 apparently. Direct storage sounds very promising.... But no games use it yet and it's also coming to windows 10 It looks pretty slick, but the rounded corners are inconsistent and the "Mac" style start menu isn't for everyone though you can change it.
Those are the only pros I can think of for the average user. This community is dedicated to Windows, which is a personal computer operating system released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. The new font in Win 11 also gives it a modern feel.
The settings app is redesigned with many other components such as file explorer etc. Most of the UI elements have been uncluttered and rest of the option are hidden under this 'more options' in the ribbon. But not all elements are redesigned, for eg all legacy and advanced programs are still the same for eg, registry editor or services or control panel ( icons have changed but that's it).
This community is dedicated to Windows 11, which is a personal computer operating system released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. In addition to apps you can get in the Store, you also get all the standard apps like Photos , the FLAC-capable Groove Music player, Voice Recorder, two Paint apps , Mail, Calendar, and so on. We can hope for the last two mentioned to be greatly improved as Windows 11 development progresses. In the initial release, we still have the existing apps, albeit with rounded corners, but new versions will be based on the excellent Progressive Web App versions of Outlook.com.
Microsoft has already teased an updated Paint app (though I've started to enjoy the modern Paint 3D), as well as new versions of Notepad (with a dark mode!) and the Calculator. Windows 11, unfortunately, ditches a couple of its best tablet- and touch-friendly features. Most importantly, you can no longer swipe in from the left to open the task-switching view, a gesture I use all the time on my Surface Go tablet.
You can no longer swipe down from the top to close an app, either. This omission is less of a big deal because you can still hit the X in the window's upper right corner as you'd do in desktop mode. Again, though, for a handheld device, the down-swipe is more direct and requires less dexterity. There are, however, new three-finger swipe gestures to show the Task View and to minimize and app on the desktop. A sideways three-finger swipe switches you between running apps.
And you can, of course, use the Task View button in the Taskbar, but that's not as immediate as a swipe of the thumb. I'd argue that switching tasks is more important to tablet users than accessing Widgets, the new result of that gesture, too. I'd wait not in no hurry yet to upgrade until everything is ironed out. For the most part there is little to no difference between Windows 11 and Windows 10 using Intel 10th and 11th-gen Core series processors across gaming, application, and storage performance. If you've experienced a notable drop in performance since upgrading, it's well worth checking to see if VBS is enabled and do something about that as we explained in the intro. This article talks about the realities of being a Windows 11 user, so technically, if you're already a Windows 11 user, you won't have to deal with the minimum hardware requirements issue.
But there are still the hardware compatibility issues that come from running any new OS release. Back in October, Windows 11 had some issues with AMD chips, but that's been subsequently patched. Windows 11 has a problem with SSD NVMe drives, but you can pull down a patch via the Windows Insider program to fix it. And, of course, there is a host of other compatibility and driver problems, many of which Microsoft is aware of and working on. If you're affected, your Windows 11 installation could act slightly slower than before.
Minor complaints aside, we like to see Microsoft giving its marquee software some attention. For the last few years, the company has focused more on its Azure cloud computing services—justifiably given that business's profitability. Windows 11 brings slick new looks, useful new tools, updated default apps, extra capabilities, and performance advances. Perhaps that's enough to lure away some Chrome OS users or Mac users. Regardless, it's still early days for the desktop OS that's used on 1.3 billion PCs, so we look forward to Microsoft fine-tuning and perfecting Windows 11's design in future updates.
The Cortana AI voice assistant isn't preinstalled on Windows 11 systems by default, but it's still available in the app store. Live tiles are gone, too, with Widgets now replacing their functionality. In terms of raw performance on traditional synthetic benchmarks, the new OS is largely at parity with Windows 10. Our hardware team ran benchmark tests both for gaming performance and productivity performance on the same PC with Windows 10 and then again after upgrading to Windows 11.
The team found that Windows 11 performs just as well, and even showed some gains in frame rates and a slight edge in the productivity tests. We haven't yet performance-tested DirectStorage, but look for a future article on that on PCMag. Web pundits have panned Microsoft's decision to require Edge for some OS-related features like the news widget and the built-in search, but you can still use the browser of your choice as the default link opener.
The company is also testing a Set Default Browser button to make switching easier. Much has been made over the system requirements for Windows 11, but they're very low—1GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, and 64GB storage. A 64-bit processor will be required; there's no longer a 32-bit version of the OS. You'll also need a computer with a TPM security chip and Secure Boot capability.
Is Windows 11 Better Than Windows 10 For Gaming Those are less of a problem than the internet is making them out to be, as they've been standard on most PCs for the last six or so years. The real limiter is the CPU model, which needs to be from about the last four years. Microsoft recently rereleased the tool that assesses your PC's ability to run Windows 11, the PC Health Check app, and the company announced that more PCs will be able to upgrade to it. On a gaming-performance basis, let's just say we see no reason not to take the plunge to Windows 11 based on these results.
Plenty of other considerations come into play with an OS upgrade, of course, but if the numbers lean either way, it's marginally in favor of Windows 11. No games in our tests performed worse on the new OS, at least, and a few saw better frame rates. The synthetic tests, too, were boosted slightly. Curiously, it doesn't seem that the built-in, toggle-able gaming features are responsible. We switched Game Mode, GPU acceleration, and variable refresh rate off, and the frame rates in Windows 11 didn't drop back to Windows 10 levels. (Somewhat comically, they actually went up by 4fps and 1fps in those two games.) Isolating any one setting didn't have a clear, trackable effect, either.
Between run-to-run variance and other factors, we'll call that a wash. But the Windows 11 numbers were better regardless. I installed it a however many weeks ago and haven't really had problems. I have a few gripes with minor missing features, no clock on secondary monitor and the new context menu is so far unsupported by most third-party apps, but nothing deal breaking. I like the new design, better organised settings menu, smoother animations, etc.
Note that I did not fiddle with VBS or anything, I did the benchmark as soon as I booted into windows 11, whatever was default stayed. On that note, we're keen to see what Windows 11 does for Intel's upcoming Alder Lake CPUs, as well as a look at Ryzen which recently received a patch that addresses L3 cache performance issues. Before we jump into the application benchmarks here's a quick look at cache and memory latency performance. In short we see no change, or virtually no change in L1, L2 or L3 cache performance with the Intel processors. Where we do see a notable performance difference is when looking at DRAM latency... The fourth configuration we've included is one with Virtualization-Based Security enabled.
By default, our Windows 11 install disabled this feature, but it's been reported that on some desktop and laptop PCs, VBS is enabled by default and can tank gaming performance by up to 25%. But that doesn't make the minimum requirements any easier to absorb. Millions of machines will still be using one older OS or another. Since the support windows for those older operating systems have closed or will close soon, those are vulnerable machines that are unlikely ever to get updated with more secure code.
Speaking of emoji, Microsoft recently released new Fluent design-influenced emoji. On Windows 11, just as on its predecessor, you can tap Windows Key–. To access a small panel with a generous selection of symbols, special characters, and emoji. On the plus side, Windows 11 tablet users get new stylus options and on-screen touch keyboard tricks. The new Surface Slim Pen 2 has haptic feedback—always a plus.
This latest-generation pen buzzes in your hand, for example, when you delete previously written text and when you tap the Back button to open the Whiteboard app. In that app, you can experience the full digital inking experience, which has gotten to the point of feeling exactly like writing with ink. You can, for example, highlight text, write freehand , and sketch diagrams.
You can even convert what you write to digital text. The on-screen keyboard supports swipe text entry and offers a healthy selection of emoji and gifs, and it now lets you choose custom backgrounds. Microsoft has split the Windows 10 Action Center into two separate panels and tap targets. This resembles Apple's revamped macOS's notification area, which used to be a clean, simple, single panel, but which is now a collection of smaller popups. The Windows 11 version isn't quite as bad as the macOS one, but I still prefer the single Action Center panel for notifications and quick settings. I appreciate the circled number—similar to those on some mobile app icons—that shows how many notifications you have.
Touch users can swipe in from the right to display the Notifications panel. For starters, by default, in the main Windows 11 settings under the Gaming tab, a new feature called Game Mode is active. You can read up on how we test laptops in general for more on each test we run.
Here, however, we are chiefly interested in testing gaming power. We're using the same benchmarking games for this project that we normally use in our review process for gaming laptops, and re-running them after upgrading the test machine to Windows 11. I know it's going to be a multi hour process to update and install all the drivers and stuff. Like being unable to run certain games or just general performance hits I wouldn't deal with if I had installed Win10. It's also worth noting that for maximum performance you're better off starting over with a fresh install of Windows 11.
Besides the small performance loss that was seen with the upgraded install, we also on occasion randomly suffered blue screen crashes when loading Windows 11, something that never happened with the fresh install. The margins were slightly larger with the 11900K and we found that Windows 10 provided the best results. Upgrading the Windows 10 install to Windows 11 reduced performance by 3% and a fresh install restored some of that. Then when comparing the fresh Windows 11 install with VBS enabled we again saw a 3% performance hit.
Since the new OS was announced, we've been down the whole Windows 11 hardware requirement issue numerous times. And while it's possible to bypass Microsoft's minimum hardware requirements, it's not advisable. For example, Windows 11 has new Contrast themes, redesigned closed caption themes, and AI-powered Windows Voice Typing. The new OS also adds APIs for programming assistive apps, and even the Windows Subsystem for Linux now has accessibility options.
The Quick Settings panel opens when you click on or tap the Wi-Fi, speaker, or battery icon. By default, it shows buttons for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Battery Saver, Focus Assist, and Accessibility, along with sliders for audio volume and screen brightness. A Pencil icon lets you customize what buttons appear, with a choice of Connect , Keyboard Layout, Nearby Sharing , Night Light, and Project. You can still hover over each of the three icons in the Taskbar to see their status, but I prefer to have just sound settings pop up when I hit the speaker and just Wi-Fi options to appear when I hit the Wi-Fi icon. Most of the work on Windows 11 went toward redesigning the interface rather than building new features, so—as I mentioned above—the OS is more familiar than you may expect.
It borrows ideas from Chrome OS, though you can still place app icons on the desktop background, which Google's lightweight desktop OS doesn't allow. Despite the OS's new look, we are nevertheless surprised that using it it doesn't feel that different from Windows 10. It still runs all the same apps, and much of what's new amounts to reupholstering and rearranging the furniture. The new interface is attractive, but if you prefer the more familiar Windows 10-style look, you might just want to stick with Windows 10. Problems like this are likely to vary system to system, and hopefully can be ironed out with future updates. As far as raw frame rates go, though, our testing noted some mild improvements in spots, giving Microsoft some footing to claim this is the best OS yet for gaming.
