Here it is! Microsoft's new operating system Windows 11  has now been released.

Windows is a driving force for innovation. It’s an enduring platform for each one of us to create And its home for over a billion people to do their jobs, live their dreams and connect with the people they love.
Microsoft has launched Windows 11, the entire user experience brings you closer to what you love, empowers you to produce and inspires you to create. Windows 11 provides a sense of calm and openness. It gives you a place that feels like home. It’s secure and everything is designed to be centered around you.
To fully understand the magic of Windows 11, you must get it in your hands. The gorgeous graphics, sounds and animations of Windows 11 along with the innovative and beautiful hardware provides an experience like none other.

History:

At the 2015 Ignite conference, Microsoft employee Jerry Nixon stated that Windows 10 would be the "last version of Windows", a statement that Microsoft confirmed was reflective of its view. The operating system was considered to be a service, with new builds and updates to be released over time. However, speculation of a new version or a redesign of Windows arose. In January 2021, after a job listing referring to a "sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows" was posted by Microsoft. A visual refresh for Windows, developed under the codename "Sun Valley", was reportedly set to re-design the system's user interface.

Announcement:

At the Microsoft Build 2021 developer conference, CEO and chairman Satya Nadella teased about the existence of the next generation of Windows during his keynote speech. According to Nadella, he had been self-hosting it for several months. He also teased that an official announcement would come very soon. Just a week after Nadella's keynote, Microsoft started sending invitations for a dedicated Windows media event at 11 am ET on June 24, 2021. Microsoft also posted an 11-minute video of Windows start-up sounds to YouTube on June 10, 2021, with many people speculating both the time of the Microsoft event and the duration of the Windows start-up sound video to be a reference to the name of the operating system as Windows 11.
On June 24, 2021, Windows 11 was officially announced at a virtual event hosted by Chief Product Officer Panos Panay. According to Nadella, Windows 11 is "a re-imagining of the operating system". Further details for developers such as updates to the Microsoft Store, the new Windows App SDK (code-named "Project Reunion"), new Fluent Design guidelines, and more were discussed during another developer-focused event on the same day.

Release:

The Windows 11 name was accidentally released in an official Microsoft support document in June 2021. Leaked images of a purported beta build of Windows 11's desktop surfaced online later on June 15, 2021, which were followed by a leak of the aforementioned build on the same day. The screenshots and leaked build show an interface resembling that of the cancelled Windows 10X, alongside a redesigned out-of-box experience (OOBE) and Windows 11 branding. Microsoft would later confirm the authenticity of the leaked beta, with Panay stating that it was an "early weird build".
At the June 24 media event, Microsoft also announced that Windows 11 would be released in "Holiday 2021", with an exact date not given. Its release will be accompanied by a free upgrade for compatible Windows 10 devices through Windows Update. On June 28, Microsoft announced the release of the first preview build and SDK of Windows 11 to Windows Insiders.
On August 31, 2021, Microsoft announced that Windows 11 is slated for release on October 5, 2021. The release would be phased, with newer eligible devices to be offered the upgrade first. Microsoft expects the roll-out to be finished by mid-2022. Since its predecessor Windows 10 was released on July 29, 2015, more than six years earlier, this is the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft Windows operating systems, beating the time between Windows XP (released on October 25, 2001) and Windows Vista (released on January 30, 2007).

Features:

We would like to share some of the highlights of this release.

Bringing You Closer to What You Love:

1. Windows 11 brings you closer to what you love and is designed with you at the center.
2. From the new Start Menu and Taskbar, to each sound, font and icon you see, the team thought through every pixel and detail to bring you a more modern, fresh and beautiful experience. With Start at the center you have quick access to the content and apps you care about and through the power of the cloud and Microsoft 365 (sold separately) you can see recent files you’ve been working on regardless of which device you were using, even if it was an Android or iOS device.
3. Get you closer to the content and information you care about. we’re introducing Widgets, a new personalized feed powered by AI and the web. Opening your personalized feed with a click or a swipe from the left is smooth and seamless as Widgets slides across your screen like a sheet of glass. Whether it’s glancing at your day through Outlook calendar and To-Do list integrations, catching up on the latest headlines or tomorrow’s weather forecast, or viewing your favorite OneDrive photo memories, Widgets bring everything you love to your fingertips.
4. Chat from Microsoft Teams is a new experience that helps bring you closer to the people you care about. With a simple click you can use a personal account to chat, voice or video call with your friends, family and other contacts regardless of the device or platform they’re on – Windows, Mac, Android or IOS. Microsoft Teams is not just for people with smart devices. your friends and family can join the conversation via SMS text messaging. Plus, you can open the full Microsoft Teams experience directly from Chat to bring your plans to life with event scheduling, quick polls, file sharing and more.
5. The new Microsoft Store on Windows brings you closer to your favorite apps and entertainment all in one place. The Microsoft Store on Windows not only brings you more apps than ever before, we’re also making it easier to search and discover new content with curated stories and collections. New apps are available today in the Microsoft Store on Windows, such as Canva, Disney+, Zoom, the Epic Game Store and so much more.

Empowering Your Productivity and Inspiring Your Creativity:

1. Windows 11 features powerful new experiences that empower your productivity and inspire your creativity.
2. We’re all multitasking more than ever on our PCs, from multiple monitors and browser tabs to editing documents in Word or PowerPoint. With Windows 11, we’re making it easier to focus and stay in your flow with Snap Layouts and Groups, and Desktops.
3. Snap Layouts and Groups offer a more powerful way to multitask and optimize your screen real estate in a way that is visually clean. With new three-column layouts for larger screens, it has never been easier to have all the content you need at your fingertips perfectly arranged.
4. With Desktops you can create individual Desktops that display different sets of apps to help you stay organized and focused, like making separate spaces in your home, and you can even customize each Desktop with its own name and wallpaper.
5. Accessibility was considered from the start in the development of Windows 11, with inclusive design reviews of new and redesigned features. We’re proud that Windows 11 is the most inclusively designed version of Windows, built with and for people with disabilities. Windows 11 offers familiar assistive technologies like Narrator, Magnifier, Closed Captions and Windows Speech Recognition to support people across the disability spectrum. To learn more about accessibility in Windows 11, visit this blog post.
6. We’ve improved the experiences for touch in Windows 11 when you’re using a tablet without a keyboard. You’ll see more space between the icons in the Taskbar, adding bigger touch targets and subtle visual cues to make resizing and moving windows easier, as well as adding gestures. We’ve also enabled haptics with Windows 11 to make using your pen even more immersive – allowing you to hear and feel the vibrations as you click through and edit or sketch. Surface Slim Pen 2 (sold separately) is a great example of haptics in action.
7. With as much time as we’re all spending on our PCs, sometimes you might want to type on your PC with your voice. We’re excited to introduce new enhancements in voice typing on Windows 11. Now, with voice typing your PC recognizes what you say, even automatically punctuating sentences for you.

New Tools and Resources for Developers:

With Windows 11, we endeavored to make Windows a more open platform. We thought about the development process and what tools and capabilities you need to create amazing apps. We built Windows 11 with developers in mind. You can create and build apps using the tools, frameworks and languages that you know and love. We’re also embracing all your apps and will work to make them feel at home on Windows.

Windows 11 is Built for Gaming:

1. Windows 11 was made for gaming, with innovative new features that can take your PC gaming experience to the next level. If your PC has an HDR capable display, Auto HDR will automatically upgrade over 1000 DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 games to high dynamic range, rendering a much wider range of colors and brightness. We also believe that player choice is important, so Windows 11 includes the ability to turn Auto HDR on or off on a per-game basis.
2. Windows 11 also includes support for Direct Storage, a feature we first introduced on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles. When paired with an NVME solid-state drive and DirectX 12 GPU, games that implement Direct Storage can benefit from reduced load times and render more detailed and expansive gameing worlds.
3. Windows 11 also includes the Xbox app built right in. Through the Xbox app you can browse, download and play over 100 high-quality PC games with Game Pass for PC (membership sold separately).
4. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can also play 100+ Xbox console games on their PC without having to wait for a download, thanks to the power of Xbox Cloud Gaming with the Xbox app.

Enabling the Hybrid Workforces and Classrooms of Tomorrow:

Windows 11 is the operating system for hybrid work and learning. Through the rapid acceleration of digital transformation that we’ve seen over the last 19 months, it is critical for today’s organizations to be resilient and flexible. With the shift to hybrid work, where work is constantly changing, we understand the importance of an operating system that is flexible, consistent, secure and works how you work. That’s why Windows 11 is built on the consistent, compatible and familiar Windows 10 foundation that is easy for IT to manage. Beginning today, organizations can begin moving to Windows 11 on powerful PCs and through the cloud with Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop.

Windows 11 is Designed for Chip-to-Cloud Protection:

As we continue on our journey, feedback from our customers and the industry is so important to helping us shape a Windows that our customers love. To that end, we conducted a survey of Security Decision Makers in the U.S. from a range of industries and found that 75% of security decision makers, VP and above, feel that the move to hybrid work leaves their organization more vulnerable to security threats. This last year has proven that security needs to be built in from the hardware up, the chip to the cloud. In fact, 80% of respondents feel that software alone is not enough protection from emerging threats. Windows 11 was designed with security in mind to meet the challenges we will face in this new work environment and beyond.

What's New in 23H2?

Always Have the Latest Features

To get the latest non-security updates as soon as possible for your PC, select Settings > Windows Update > Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available.

Use Copilot in Windows for AI Assistance:

Get answers to complex questions, generate new ideas, summarize pages, quickly change PC settings, and much more.

A New Way to Browse Your Photos:

Add photos from your phone, your PC, and cloud storage to File Explorer's Gallery to browse them all in one place.

Find and Browse AI Hub in the Microsoft Store:

Use the power of AI to your advantage. Browse apps by different AI developers to help you draft a resume, create beautiful presentations, and plan your next adventure. Explore the AI Hub in Microsoft Store to view what’s available.

Review Your Key Info in Settings:

Find a snapshot of your PC, get recommendations, and access details like subscription status, cloud storage, and account safety information right from the homepage.

Type with Your Voice:

Control your apps, dictate emails, search online, and more using your voice. To get started, select Settings > Accessibility > Voice Access.

Use voice typing to convert spoken words into text anywhere you would normally type. Press the Windows Logo key  + H to open voice typing.

Use Your PC Without a Mouse:

Use Narrator, the built-in screen reader for Windows, to navigate apps, browse the web, and complete common tasks without a mouse. Go to Settings > Accessibility to turn on the built-in screen reader.

To start or stop the Narrator, press Windows Logo Key  +Ctrl +Enter.

Go Password-Free with Passkeys:

Create a passkey to sign in quicker and more securely. If you choose to store your passkey with Windows Hello, signing in can be even faster.

Learn more about passkeys.

Spend Less Time Setting up, More Time Coding

Use Dev Home to set up your dev machine more quickly, then track all your coding projects using a customizable dashboard.

An All-in-One Backup Solution:

Windows Backup saves your settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and files in the cloud to access them anytime, anywhere. Easily restore them if something happens to your PC.

Learn More about Windows Backup.

Work in New Ways with Copilot in Windows:

Jumpstart your productivity and creativity using AI. Get answers to complex questions, explore creative ideas, summarize pages quickly, and change PC settings with just a few words—and that’s just the start.

Manage Devices and Account Settings in a New Settings Home Page:

The new Settings home page has interactive cards that represent device and account settings. As you use your device, the page and cards adjust to give you the most relevant and useful information. 

Dev Drive for Developers:

Dev Drive is a new form of storage volume. It gives developers what they need to host source code, working folders, and package caches. You can create a Dev Drive using free space on an existing drive or create a VHD/VHDX. Go to the Settings app within System > System > For developers. To learn more, see Setup a Dev Drive on Windows 11 (Public Preview).

Added Live Captions for Languages:

Live captions are added to these languages:

• Chinese (Simplified and Traditional).

• French (France, Canada).

• German.

• Italian.

• Japanese.

• Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal).

• Spanish.

• Danish.

• English (Ireland, other English dialects).

• Korean.

To turn on live captions, use the WIN + Ctrl + L keyboard shortcut. When you turn it on for the first time, Windows will ask you to download the required speech recognition support. You can download speech recognition support from Settings > Time & Language > Language & region. To learn more, see Use live captions to better understand audio.

Enhancements to Voice Access Commands & Its Help Page:

Added new text selection and editing voice access commands. For example, to select a range of text in the text box, the voice commands would be "Select from [text 1] to [text 2]". 

The in-app voice access command help page is redesigned. Every command now has a description and examples of its variations. You can access the command help page on the voice access bar from Help > View all commands or use the voice access command “what can I say?”. 

Additionally, voice command support is now available for these English dialects: English (United Kingdom), English (India), English (New Zealand), English (Canada), and English (Australia)

Added "Never Combined" Mode:

In this mode, you can view application windows and their labels on the taskbar separately. To find this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors. Set Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels to Never. There is a separate setting for turning this on for other taskbars when you use multiple monitors.

Enhancements to Notifications:

Notifications is now shown as a bell icon, which will be filled with a color when there is a new notification. You can also view important notifications using "view notification". 

Added a Modernized File Explorer:

In this file explorer, recommended files display as a carousel. That carousel only appears if you are signed into Windows using an Azure AD account. To turn this off and show pinned folders instead, select the ellipses. 

The new details pane in file explorer helps you access related content, stay up to date with file activity, and collaborate without opening a file. To turn it on, select the View menu and choose Details pane. Then use the button located on the right side of the command bar to turn on the pane.

Improved Windows Spotlight Experience:

You can preview images in full screen using the Learn more button. To open the Windows Spotlight flyout box, right-click the Spotlight icon on the desktop. To learn more about each image, double-click its icon to open a Bing landing page.

Added New Natural Voices for Narrator:

These voices use modern, on-device text-to-speech. Once you download it, it works without an internet connection.

Accurate and Consistent Color Appearance on All Apps:

All colors on all windows applications appear accurate and consistent with Auto Color Management (ACM). To turn ACM on, go to Settings > Display > Advanced display. Choose the SDR display and turn on Automatically manage color for apps.

Stop Windows from Communicating with Your Mobile Devices:

Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Phone Link. There you will find an option to turn off Phone Link.

Added Bluetooth LE Audio:

Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE) Audio is added in this release. Your computer must support Bluetooth LE Audio to use this feature. With this, the audio fidelity and battery life are improved when you pair your computer with Bluetooth LE Audio earbuds and headphones.

Access Personalized Websites from Start Menu:

Start menu now has the recommended websites personalized based on your browsing history. With this, you can quickly access the websites that are important. To turn off this feature, go to Settings > Personalization > Start.

Access Windows Studio Effects from Quick Settings on Taskbar:

The devices that have a supported neural processing unit (NPU) can access Windows Studio effects from quick settings on taskbar. It is now easy to turn on and configure camera effects, such as Eye contact, Automatic framing, Background blur, and Audio effects. 

Introducing the Touch-Optimized Taskbar for 2-in-1 Devices:

There are two states of this touch-optimized taskbar: collapsed and expanded. To switch between the two states, swipe up and down on the bottom of your screen. This feature only works on devices that can be used as tablets and is on by default. If your company manages Windows updates for your device, this feature will be off by default. Administrators can turn it on using the new commercial control for continuous innovation.

Enhanced Support for Braille Devices and its Displays:

Braille devices will continue to work while you switch between Microsoft Narrator and third-party screen readers. Narrator will automatically change the braille drivers. Additionally in this release, the support for new braille displays and new braille input and output languages in Narrator is added. For more information, see Chapter 8: Using Narrator with braille.

Enhancements to Voice:

The voice access has become more flexible and supports interaction with more user interface (UI) controls. For example, voice now interacts with controls that contain:

• Names that have numbers, such as “Click 5”.

• Names without whitespaces between them, such as “click PivotTable” or “click PivotChart”.

• Names that have special characters, such as Bluetooth & devices (“click Bluetooth and devices”) or Dial–up (“click dial hyphen up”).

Additionally, voice supports spin controls, thumb controls, and split buttons. You interact with these controls by using the “click” command or number overlays. You can also use voice to scroll to the extreme left and right on a page. For more information about the new voice access commands, see Voice access command list.

Added Tamil Anjal Keyboard for Tamil Language:

To add this keyboard, make sure Tamil (Singapore), Tamil (Malaysia), Tamil (Sri Lanka), or Tamil (India) appears in Settings > Time & Language > Language & Region. Select the ellipses (…) next to the language. Select Language Options. Add Tamil Anjal (QWERTY) to the list of keyboards.

File Explorer Now Includes Tabs:

File Explorer now includes tabs to help you organize your File Explorer sessions. On the new File Explorer homepage, you can pin important files for quick and easy access. Using the Microsoft OneDrive, you can view your colleagues’ actions on your shared files. Personalized suggestions are also provided based on your Microsoft 365 account.

Copied Items have Suggested Actions:

This feature is available for customers in United States, Canada, and Mexico. Copied items like phone numbers, dates will now have suggested actions, such as make a call with Teams or skype or adding an event in the Calendar app.

Additional Features:

• Added taskbar overflow menu: The taskbar has a menu that shows all your overflowed apps in one space.
• Nearby sharing: Using this feature, discover and share to more devices, including desktops.
• Manage applications through Windows Settings: You can now uninstall, repair, and modify all apps from Windows Settings instead of Control Panel.
• Improved search box experience: As you type in the search box, search results now appear in the search flyout box. You can also change the search experience you want for your taskbar by going to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. For more information, see Customizing search on the Windows 11 taskbar.
• Start Menu has Quick Assist: You can now use Quick Assist from the Start menu's app list to get help in case of PC issues.
• Provides AI-powered recommendations: For devices that are joined to Azure Active Directory (AAD), Windows now provides AI-powered recommended content on your Start menu. This helps you to prepare for meetings, quickly access files you're collaborating on, and more.
• Display of total storage: This update provides the full amount of storage capacity of all your Microsoft OneDrive subscriptions and displays the total storage on the Accounts page in the Settings app.
• All the required codepoints are up to date: The work to comply with the GB18030-2022 requirements is completed. With this, you can no longer enter character codepoints that are not supported.
• Use copy button to copy 2FA codes: A copy button is provided to copy the two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. Note that this feature only works for English.
• Added multi-app kiosk mode: This lockdown feature lets admins to specify the apps that run for different users on one device. Multi-app kiosk mode is ideal for scenarios in which multiple people use the same device. To learn more, see Set up a multi-app kiosk on Windows 11.
• Enabled Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC): CABC is enabled to run on laptops and 2-in-1 devices. This feature dims or brightens areas of a display based on the content. You can adjust the feature setting from Settings > System > Display > Brightness & color.
• Added a presence sensor privacy setting: If you have a device that has compatible presence sensors, you can now choose the apps that can access those sensors. You can enable this in Settings > Privacy & security > Presence sensing.
• Preview files under Start menu & share them: When you hover on any recommended file under the Start menu, you can see its preview and do a right click to share them quickly.
• Hide the time and date in the system tray: To turn this on, right click the system tray clock and choose Adjust date and time.
• Windows share window: Select the Outlook icon in the “Share using” section of the Windows share window to email your files using Outlook directly within the windows share window. It also has a search box. So, you can now search for contacts across Outlook to share a file. The Windows share window also displays 8-10 suggested contacts to quickly share to–including emailing yourself a file.
• Narrator provides efficient reading experience in Microsoft Excel: Narrator prioritizes announcements based on what you need to skim a workbook. To learn more, see the Enhanced Narrator support in Excel documentation.
•  Enhanced Phishing Protection in Microsoft Defender SmartScreen: It helps to protect school and work passwords from phishing and unsafe use on websites and in apps. Go to App & browser control > Reputation-based protection > Phishing protection.
• View Wi-Fi passwords for your known networks in Settings: Go to Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi and “Manage known networks.
• Use Microsoft 365 switch: You can sign in to and connect your Windows 365 Cloud PC to your local desktop. Then you can move between them using familiar keyboard commands, mouse clicks, or a swipe gesture. For easy access from your desktop, you can add Windows 365 Switch to Task view.