Microsoft’s Windows 11 seems to have leaked ahead of the company’s 24 June keynote. The images solidify initial reports about the operating system’s existence, as well as provide us with a clearer look at what we can expect from it.
Images of the OS was first discovered on the China-based site, Baidu, before the entirety of it was posted online. As you can see, the new OS features a new user interface and Start Menu, among others.
Thanks to The Verge, we can see the new Start Menu and UI resembles a design first introduced with the announcement of the now defunct Windows 10X OS. One of the biggest changes to the UI that we can see, of course, is the positioning of buttons and icons on the Taskbar; the buttons are now positioned in the centre of the bar, along with the OS’ Start button and menu.
here's a first look at Windows 11. There's a new Start menu, rounded corners, a new startup sound, and more https://t.co/VDS08QPsl5 pic.twitter.com/OkCyX3TtmI
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) June 15, 2021
The good news is that, depending on your preference, users will be able to shift those buttons back to the left-side of the UI, therefore giving users the more traditional look of the Windows UI. Oh, and there’s also a Dark mode available too.
Moving on, clicking the Windows button brings up the menu – as always – but with Windows 11, Microsoft has removed Live Tiles from it and therefore giving it a cleaner look in comparison to the current Windows 10 layout. On another aesthetic note, corners in the OS have also been rounded to give a less pointed outlook and design.
Circling back to Live Tiles, Microsoft hasn’t actually removed them entirely. Instead of having them appear in the Start menu, the company appears to have shifted them into its Widget section. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Microsoft had introduced it back with the launch of Windows 7, but did away with it in Windows 8 onwards.
The company had promised that it would reimplement widgets sometime in the future, and it looks like the app will serve as the base for all widgets, including news, weather, and tailored web content.
Microsoft has been teasing consumers with the launch of Windows 11, with a special event scheduled for next week on 24 June. Beyond the leak, we’re also curious as to whether or not the company will make Windows 10 users to upgrade to the latest OS for a one-off fee or if it will be a free upgrade.
In regards to the last note, a report by XDA suggests that people that are still using the older versions of Windows – by that we mean Windows 7 and 8.1 – may be able to upgrade to Windows 11 for free. We’ll just have to wait for the actual announcement to find out.
(Source: The Verge, Windows Central, XDA // Image: The Verge)
