Microsoft has announced Windows 11 in the month of June, i.e. 24th June 2021 in a virtual event. The insider preview was revealed on June 28, 2021, with Build 22000.51. After that Microsoft has also announced the Windows 11 system requirements.
The beta version was released in July 2021. As you may know that Windows 10 will officially be retired and will be discontinued on 14 October 2025 and its support will also be discontinued, So Windows 11 will get its position.
You can check Windows 10 life cycle and its retirement date with version wise release here.
When Microsoft will release Windows 11 officially?
Microsft has officially announced that Microsoft Windows 11 will be released on 05 October 2021. Upon the arrival of given new upgrades will be available for eligible Windows 10 computers.
Other desktop PC, or laptops that come with pre-loaded Windows 11, will be available for purchase.
Microsoft’s Plan to Upgrade New and Current Devices
Microsoft has the following plan to release Windows 11:
- First of all new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade.
- Then, afterward, new update will be issued for Windows 11 based laptops based on intelligence models to check eligible hardware devices, reliability metrics, deviceand some other factors.
- All other eligible devices will be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 by mid-2022.
Earlier when Microsoft has not clearly mentioned the cut date to release the new Windows 11 it was expected that it will be released in the last of this year, or in the fall months of 2021 (September, October, and November).
Microsoft has answered this question as follows
“Windows 11 will be available on new PCs this holiday. Free upgrades to Windows 11 for eligible Windows 10 PCs will begin to roll out this holiday and will continue into 2022. Pre-release builds are available through the Windows Insider Program.”
Microsoft’s announcement about release date
What if my PC/Laptop is not eligible for Windows 11 Free Upgrade?
Well, Microsoft has announced that free upgrades are only for eligible Windows 10 PCs, so if your computer is not eligible then you can upgrade and buy a new PC with Windows 11 in holidays.
How to check Windows 11 eligibility for PC?
Windows 11’s primary requirement to run/install is the TPM module, i.e. Trusted Platform Module plus the current PC should be running Windows 10, version 20H1 or later to be eligible for the upgrade.
The following video shows the method to check eligibility for Windows 11 upgrade.
Windows 11 System Requirements
Microsoft has set the official system requirements (hardware and operating system) for Windows 11 to deliver the best performance to its users. These requirements are also met for virtual machines.
Windows 11 supported processors
For the first time, Microsoft’s Windows 11 does not support 32-bit based architecture platform, only 64 bit architecture will support this OS with a 4 GB minimum.
Until June 2021, only the following processors are supported by Windows 11.
- Intel Core 8th generation processor like (Coffee Lake, Whiskey Lake) or latest
- AMD Zen+ (except Ryzen 1st Generation “AF” revision) and latest processors
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 and the latest processors are supported officially.
While after receiving criticism, Microsoft has plans to reassess the final system requirements before general availability to the public.
Basic Hardware System Requirements
Following are the hardware specs for Windows 11.
| CPU | 1 GHz+ with a multicore processor (2 or higher cores), 64-bit supported processor Or, SoC (System-on-Chip) |
| RAM | 4 GB or Higher |
| Storage | 64 GB or more required to install Windows 11 |
| System firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot capable |
| TPM | Trusted Platform Module version 2.0(TPM 2.0) |
| Graphics Card (GPU) | Any GPU compatible with DirectX 12 or later along with WDDM 2.0 driver |
| Display: | HD 720p display screen having 9″ or greater diagonally size, and 8 bits per color channel |
| Internet | Internet connectivity is required for Windows 11 Home along with a Microsoft account to complete device setup when using the first time. |
Operating System Requirements
Microsoft states that any PC having version 20H1 or later of Windows 10 will be eligible for the best upgrade experience.
S mode of Windows 11
“Windows 11 supports S mode in the Home edition only, If you are running a different edition of Windows in S mode, you have to switch out of S mode first prior to upgrading.
Remember, that switching any device out of Windows 10 in S mode needs internet connectivity. If you switch out of S mode, you cannot undo or switch back to S mode later.”
FAQs
What is the windows 11 expected release date?
It has been answered already above in the paragraph.
How much memory does Windows 11 occupy?
If you want to know that how many GBs will Windows 11 take then check the hardware requirements in this article. Microsoft has announced that 64 GB of free disk space is required.
But it can be installed on a drive having 30 GB free disk space easily.
In case you don’t have sufficient memory then up to 30 GB is sufficient.
How many editions does Windows 11 have?
According to TechAdvisor Windows, 11 will be available in the following editions including Pro, Home, education, etc.
- Windows 11 Pro
- Windows 11 Pro Education
- Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
- Windows 11 Home
- Windows 11 Education
- Windows 11 Mixed Reality
- Windows 11 Enterprise
How to check windows 11 eligibility?
If you are running Windows 10 then you can update your operating system through Microsoft’s update. When your computer has Windows 10 (version 20H1) then you can upgrade your OS to run Windows 11.
What are the Windows 11 system requirements for 32 bit & 64-bit architectures?
All system requirements hardware & software has already been mentioned above.
Remember that Windows 11 is currently supporting 64-bit platforms only, although Microsoft is also reviewing requirements for 32 bit.