Hands-on with Windows 11 (and this time it's official)

Microsoft has a ton of new features that weren’t in the leaked version, and we’ve tried them out in this deeper hands-on.

- MARK HACHMAN

A few weeks ago, we went hands-on with an unofficial leaked build of Windows 11. Now Microsoft has officially released Windows 11 to Windows Insiders, with many brand-new features we haven’t seen before, including entirely new looks for the gorgeous Settings app, File Explorer, the Notification Center, and more. Behind the scenes, there’s even more.

If you’re interested in downloading Windows 11 for yourself (go.pcworld.com/ dwbt), the process is simple: Simply join the Windows Insider program, make sure that your PC meets the Windows 11 compatibility requirements (see page 7), and then download the Windows Insider beta. In this report, we’ll show you what we saw in the official build, and what’s really new from the leaked beta. Microsoft has also indicated additional features that will show up under specialized conditions, such as after you reset your PC and start fresh.

We tested a new install of Windows 11 Insider Preview build 10.0.22000.51 on a Surface Laptop 4, powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 Surface Edition processor. We still have the leaked build running on a separate Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ tablet, though we’re seeing the opportunity to upgrade if you join the Windows Insider program there, too.