I wouldn’t upgrade to Windows 11 yet — here's why

I wouldn't upgrade to Windows xi yet — here's why

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Windows eleven is officially out today (October 5) and that ways Windows 10 users around the world should start seeing the choice to update for free showing upwardly in Windows Update.

This is heady because Microsoft has been hyping upwardly Windows 11 up for months, pitching it as a simpler and more streamlined Windows that will help you go more out of your PC. And after using Windows 11 in diverse beta states for a month or two, I tin can tell you that some of its new features accept helped me exist more productive, one time I learned to incorporate them into my workflow.

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But as Windows 11 rolls out beyond the world I'm fielding questions from family and friends about what that means for their PCs, and whether they should exist concerned about getting the upgrade. If you've been pondering similar questions, let me help put your listen at ease: yes, Windows 11 is here and it has some interesting new features, but it doesn't offer most of u.s.a. meaningful improvements over Windows 10. Hither'due south why you shouldn't stress most upgrading right away.

Windows xi is incomplete

The biggest reason you shouldn't blitz out and try to install Windows 11 yourself is that the operating system isn't feature-complete nevertheless. While it's common to come across software updated with patches and new features post-release, Windows xi is more undercooked at launch than I'd like.

Most notably, Microsoft promised Windows 11 would back up running Android apps natively thanks to Intel's Bridge Technology, but and so announced that characteristic would be delayed until some indefinite fourth dimension mail service-launch.

The company is partnering with Amazon to make the Android apps in its Amazon Appstore available to Windows 11 users, and it claims the Amazon Appstore (as well as the Epic Games Store, with other third-party app storefronts to follow) will be available as a download in the Microsoft Shop for Windows within the coming months, so information technology's quite possible we may seem native Android app back up in Windows xi earlier 2022 -- but I'grand non betting on it.

TikTok is in the Microsoft Store, but it's a native web app -- we'll have to wait a while yet for native Android app support on Windows 11 — (Prototype credit: Future)

And, at least during release calendar week, at that place are nonetheless lots of Windows 11 apps and features that need to be polished and improved. The Widgets menu is missing some advertised functionality and needs more than effective options for controlling each widget, for instance. Microsoft Teams is now integrated so deeply into Windows 11 that it'southward lodged on the taskbar by default (though you can remove information technology in the Taskbar settings), yet it seems no more than useful hither than on Windows 10. And while most of the Windows menus have been updated with new designs, it doesn't accept much clicking around in search of a specific setting to stumble into a legacy menu dating from the days of Windows x, or before.

Don't get me wrong, Windows xi is completely usable and (at least equally far every bit I've seen) no buggier than any other operating organization in its early on days. But there'south lots of room for it to be improved and refined, so there's no demand to hop on the bandwagon at present — Windows 11 should simply get amend over time.

Windows eleven isn't a huge upgrade from Windows 10

The other large reason you lot shouldn't stress virtually upgrading to Windows xi is the fact that for most people, the update probably doesn't offer meaningful improvements over Windows x. That'south non to say it'due south not an comeback: Windows 11 looks nicer than its predecessor, with simpler, more streamlined menus, some neat new features for managing your attention, and an improved built-in app shop.

Only these features are relatively superfluous. For example, the fact that the Microsoft Shop for Windows (Windows 11'due south congenital-in app store) is opening up to allow developers to distribute a broader diversity of apps (including 32-bit apps, web apps, and eventually Android apps) doesn't mean much for most Windows users, considering one of the best parts of owning a Windows PC is being able to download and install only about any program you want right from the Cyberspace.

Windows 11 Desktops in action — When you hit the Task View button (the ane with a pair of black and white rectangles) you become this view, which shows your current desktops along the bottom and a preview of the windows open in your current desktop along the top. (Image credit: Future)

And while I do call back the new Task View button lets you set upwardly and manage different "desktops" in cool ways, as soon equally I was done writing my Windows 11 review, I apace found myself forgetting nigh the feature. Task View lets you lot manage multiple iterations of your desktop, so you could have one desktop named "Work" ready upwardly with your work apps open and another named "Play" with Steam and the Xbox app fix to go. They're all running at the same time, but you simply see whatever's open on your electric current desktop, and you can striking the Chore View button (or Windows primal + Tab) to quickly switch between the two desktops.

If yous're working from abode and so using the aforementioned PC for gaming or creative work in your off hours, this is definitely a useful feature to accept. Just it'southward hardly a must-use, and information technology doesn't relieve a lot of time over but opening and closing apps as necessary when changing tasks.

I experience much the same fashion about Windows xi'due south Snap Assist characteristic, which makes information technology easier to arrange open apps on your desktop into layouts. Hover your mouse pointer over the expand/minimize button on any app window and you lot'll come across a carte popular up with pictographs for slotting the app into one of iv layouts: a fifty/50 carve up downwards the middle of the screen, a 66/33 side-by-side split with 1 app thinner than the other, a l/25/25 separate with one big app on the left side and two smaller ones on the right, plus a foursome divide where each app takes up one quarter of the screen.

Windows 11 snap layouts in action — Hover your mouse over the minimize/maximize push in the acme-right corner of any app and Windows eleven will pop upward this handy GUI for laying out windows on your display. (Image credit: Future)

It's a neat characteristic, but it'southward hardly new: Windows 10 has offered Snap Assist for years, albeit in a way that'southward more than limited and less intuitive. To use it, you have to know that you can elevate app windows to either side of the Windows ten desktop to "snap" them into a 50/50 layout (or know the keyboard shortcut of hitting the Windows central + the left or correct directional arrow).

I like that Windows 11 gives you more than options for how to arrange your desktop, and it'due south squeamish that the feature is more obvious and piece of cake to use than on Windows 10, but for almost of us I think it's more of a dainty perk than something you must upgrade for. Later the initial high of squashing four apps on one Windows eleven desktop wore off I've found myself regressing back to the unproblematic 50/50 window split I've been using on Windows 10 for years.

Windows 11 outlook

My feel with Windows 11 as a whole has been a similar story: after a lot of oohing and aahing over new features, I find myself slowly slipping back into using it the aforementioned way I utilize Windows x. And that's non a bad thing: Windows 10 is a solid operating system, possibly the all-time Microsoft has shipped since Windows 7, and at present Windows 11 is shaping upwardly to be just as rock-solid equally its predecessor.

But information technology's too non quite finished nevertheless, and it doesn't offer any must-take upgrades for most people. So if you've seen all the hype around Windows eleven this year and are anxious virtually whether to upgrade, don't be: this is more a refinement for Windows than a revolution, and y'all shouldn't stress nigh rushing out to buy a copy or invest in a new Windows eleven-fix PC. Plus, Microsoft has pledged to support Windows ten into 2025, so there's petty take a chance in taking a look-and-see approach.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets similar Game Developer, Blackness Chapeau, and PC World mag. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things calculating, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.