A few days earlier than I expected, Microsoft has released the first test build of Windows 11 to the Windows Insider Program.
“We are excited to be releasing the very first Windows 11 Insider Preview build to the Dev Channel,” the latest Insider blog post reads. “Build 22000.51 is currently rolling out and includes beautiful, fresh, calm visuals and many of the new features you saw during our event last week such as the Start and Taskbar, Widgets, Snap layouts, redesigned Settings[,] and more.”
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
Some features are still missing, as promised: Chat with Microsoft Teams, some new Store features including Android app support, and refreshed in-box apps like Photos are not yet available. But it looks like some features that are missing in the leaked build I’ve been using for almost two weeks will be available, including the new Store and the new Notification Center and Quick Settings interfaces, which, like much of Windows 11, appear to have been borrowed from Chrome OS.
It looks like we’re finally getting an all-new File Explorer that features a cleaner command bar (as opposed to a top-heavy ribbon) as well. And the Settings app, finally, has been updated too, with simpler and more consistent navigation.
Windows 11 also supports Wi-Fi 6E, which I believe is new. As interesting, the Office team has released a “visual refresh” of the core Office applications in Microsoft 365 to coincide with the Windows 11 release. Those with Windows on ARM can also now run 64-bit Office for the first time.
You can learn more about Windows 11 and the Windows Insider Program from the Microsoft website. But I will be using these new builds every day and writing about my experiences, and about all the new features, as we move forward in testing and towards launch. So stay tuned for more.
dftf
<p>The general-release version will run fine inside VMs too… no need to meet the TPM, UEFI, Secure Boot or DirectX 12 requirements then</p>
dftf
<p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">is running in vbox which doesn’t have support virtual tpm"</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">You don’t need a TPM when running in a Virtual Machine: when Windows 11 detects it is running inside one, most of the hardware-requirements are overlooked.</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Refer to page 16 of this PDF: </span>download.microsoft.com/download/7/8/8/788bf5ab-0751-4928-a22c-dffdc23c27f2/Minimum%20Hardware%20Requirements%20for%20Windows%2011.pdf</p>
dftf
<p>They have said that during the <em>Insider Preview </em>test-phase, most of the hardware-requirements will be ignored. But when the final retail version is released, those same PCs won’t be able to run it, and you’ll have to revert back to Windows 10 (whether that means they will convert your install to a Windows 10 install automatically, or you’ll have to clean-install, is currently unclear)</p>
dftf
<p>Looking at what <em>EarTrumpet </em>does, it seems to let you adjust the volume on a per-app basis.</p><p><br></p><p>So… how is that any-different from what you can do in Windows 10 today? Right-click the speaker icon and choose "Open Volume Mixer" and any running app that has recently played sound will be there.</p><p><br></p><p>And the <em>Edge </em>team are also looking to add websites and Web Apps into that list too, so you can adjust volume for individual websites, and for web-apps, just the same as for native apps</p>
dftf
<p>The orange-y colour of the "Music" folder feels a bit Ubuntu to me</p>