New Microsoft Windows 11: How Different is it from the 10?

Microsoft has debuted its new operating software, Windows 11, on Monday. How does it stack up against its predecessor, Windows 10?

While the Windows 11 interface has definitely been upgraded, it’s far from unrecognizable. Although Microsoft has moved some features around the screen, the changes are flexible– the start button is in the bottom center, but can be dragged back to the left corner if desired.

The operating system also boasts tons of new productivity features as well as the ability to use Android apps on desktop.

Amazon has partnered up with Microsoft to load its Android app store into the new Microsoft Store, allowing Windows 11 computers to run the applications.

“Windows is becoming increasingly the device that bridges all these ecosystems,” Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella told the Wall Street Journal, “We want you to be able to connect your phone or other PCs.”

Microsoft is currently offering Windows 11 as a free upgrade for those currently running Windows 10 on their computers.

While the new, more rounded take on Windows’ interface has definitely altered the aesthetic of the operating system, the more striking aspects of the new OS are its productivity features:

“We moved from the PC fitting into people’s lives over these last 18 months to people actually fitting their lives into the PC,” Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “People needed to get stuff done and needed to be more productive and creative.”

The new Windows 11 productivity features you wont be able to live without

Windows 11, as part of an overall move to blend the phone and PC experience for its users, has integrated cloud-based recommendation system into its start menu. This basically means that your PC will guide you to files and applications it thinks you will want to continue working with after you’ve been using them on your phone.

The OS also has new forms of organizing your workflow on screen: when you hover your mouse over the maximize button in the top right panel of a window, you get the option to organize the rest of your open applications into a new layout so that they fit neatly around each other.

Windows 11 also lets you create different desktops for all the ways you may be using your PC, whether for professional files and spreadsheets, or personal emails and images.

Microsoft’s effort to bolster the Microsoft Store and allow for apps to be available for its users on Windows 11 has allowed for an enhance experience for those who use their PC’s for both work and play:

“The rules of our platform give us the opportunity to differentiate,” Nadella said to the Wall Street Journal. “We have the ability to have multiple marketplaces that can thrive.” He added, “We want to have great tools like, say, Teams but we also welcome Zoom or Slack or anything else to be first class.”

“Innovation is about taking risk. Long before it’s conventional wisdom that this is a hit, you have to have the inspiration and keep at it,” Nadella said.