Windows 11 review – how does the beta perform so far?

With beta access now open, we’ve decided to give Windows 11 a spin. Although it’s still in its infancy, it’s solid enough for my first impressions. Windows 11 is expected to be available as an upgrade at the end of 2021. Let’s dive into Android authorityWindows 11 Beta Early Bird Test!

Windows 11 is the upcoming major version of Microsoft Windows. It is currently in beta through the Windows Insider Program. Microsoft has been releasing beta builds in the dev channel since June 28 and in the beta channel since July 29. For the final release of this upgrade, Microsoft has announced a release window for late 2021, but the exact date has not yet been set.

Microsoft offers Windows 11 as a free upgrade, but the eligibility criteria are set higher than the Windows 10 upgrade, with TPM 2.0 set as one of the requirements. Windows 11 wants to bring a lot of changes, both visually and functionally, but it won’t be a complete overhaul.

Most of the changes that will be significant to most users have to do with design. Windows 11 doesn’t take a huge leap from Windows 10, but the design changes are very obvious.

At the beginning we have the centrally aligned taskbar. The system tray has remained pretty consistent over the years, but Windows 11 gives the icons a centered orientation by default. You can switch to left alignment with the newer betas, although we can’t say for sure if that will be the case in the final commercial build. Windows is holding back one more important change – the ability to move your entire taskbar to the right, left, or top of your desktop. The taskbar is now locked, there are no height adjustment options.

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The visual changes seep through the system tray to the Start menu. The live tiles are gone and you get pinned apps and recommended updated content instead. This makes the start menu far less cluttered.

There are also many minor changes, such as transparency effects, that are more noticeable now – a long way from Windows Aero in the past. There are also rounded corners on windows that are square by default when windows are aligned. All in all, the Windows 11 visuals can be seen as an upgrade. This despite the fact that there are a few kinks here and there.

Microsoft doesn’t really make an explicit promise of performance improvement or anything like that with Windows 11. During my use, I’ve found that even in beta, it is as solid as Windows 10 ever was for me.

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In terms of overall performance, I didn’t have any issues. The Windows 11 beta felt just as slick or smoother than Windows 10 during my use. That included a lot of web browsing in Chromium-based Microsoft Edge, a bit of photo editing in Adobe Lightroom, and playing Fortnite every day. The latter was surprisingly smooth, more than I expected.

If you’ve found Windows 10 working fine on your PC, Windows 11 shouldn’t be much different.

Windows 11 actually takes a half step back in terms of functionality. The right-click menu is now smaller. You get the cut, copy, paste, split, and delete functions at the top in a grid format. That’s not bad, but it comes with a learning curve. The rest of the menu is also linked to a “Show More Options” button that opens the old right-click menu. Windows 11 still seems to have doubts about the direction of this menu, but that could change before it’s final release.

A notable new feature in Windows 11 is the Widgets button, which unfolds a series of widgets similar to those on the Edge welcome page feed. Unfortunately, widgets don’t respect your default browser choice.

See also: How to change the default browser in Windows 10

In addition, Microsoft makes it difficult to switch to a browser other than Microsoft Edge. The default browser option is now only displayed on first launch. If you don’t switch away from Edge immediately, you’ll have to manually switch each and every browser-relevant file type individually, rather than the one-switch-to-rule-them-all approach previously used. Microsoft calls this “granular control” but it seems unnecessary and anti-competitive.

• Deeper integrations of Microsoft services: Microsoft’s services are now better integrated, which can please or annoy you depending on how you use it.
• New presets for window groups: Windows 11 remembers your window groups, lets you call them up with one click, and gives you options for snapping windows in different layouts.
• Old bits are still there: Microsoft still keeps the familiar parts, like the old Control Panel, for those who may need them.
• Compatibility problems unlikely: Windows 11 doesn’t seem to have any app compatibility issues yet, likely due to its similarities to Windows 10.
• Native support for Android apps: While that doesn’t exist yet, hopefully we’ll see support for Android apps reaching beta soon, unless Microsoft decides to keep it off the table until the final Windows 11 release.

Windows 11 isn’t all that big of a leap, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It stays familiar while changing enough to seem like an upgrade. Microsoft seems to be reckless about big changes after the Windows 8 debacle, which is great. Windows 11 feels touched, not shaken, which leaves some inconsistencies but also a lot of familiarity. The beta has a few issues here and there, but we expect most of these little quirks to be addressed before it’s final release.

For example, many of the cosmetic parts that are currently inconsistent are very likely to be cleaned up before their final release. We’ll see more and more of the promised features find their way into Windows 11, including native Android app support via the Amazon App Store and more game-centric features like Auto HDR and DirectStorage. The final version should be polished enough, although I don’t expect Microsoft to get rid of the legacy parts like the control panel now. So it is likely in with the new, without that out with the old ones.

Microsoft has to slow down the integration of the services a bit. OneDrive isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite cloud storage. Teams may be big, but not everyone wants to use them. Also, people aren’t just going to be using Microsoft Edge because Microsoft is making the switch difficult. If anything, it will leave a bitter aftertaste, especially as Microsoft tries to use this approach to roll over its services to Windows 11.

This is our first look at the Windows 11 beta. We’ll definitely update this post as new iterations arrive.