Windows 11 has been available to the public for over a year now, and I think it’s finally in good enough shape that I’d recommend it to everyone I know — with a few caveats.
Admittedly, there is still a lot of room for improvement. I was blown away by the state of Windows 11 when it launched in October 2021, and at the beginning of this year I laid out 3 big improvements to Windows 11 that I wanted to see in 2022: better support for native Android apps, a more useful tools menu, and the removal of the internet connection requirement. To install Windows 11.
The end of 2022 is fast approaching now, and Microsoft has managed to deliver about a third of what I hoped it would achieve this year. Native Android app support is in a much better place now than it was when Windows 11 launched, meaning it’s finally here (albeit in limited form), but my other big complaint about the OS is still valid.
That is, widgets of such limited value that they are not worth your attention, and the onerous requirement that you must be online to install Windows 11 (because the installation require Microsoft account) is unnecessarily cruel to people who may not have easy or reliable access to the Internet.
Why do I recommend it? Honestly, I’m as surprised as you are. I have plenty of complaints about Microsoft’s latest releases on Windows, but during a recent vacation I found myself unexpectedly extolling its virtues for family members apprehensive about leaving the familiar comforts of Windows 10 behind.
After some reflection, I have to admit that while I’m still not happy with where Windows 11 is, I think it’s good enough for most people to upgrade to this point — assuming you meet the onerous system requirements, of course.
Let’s talk about why.
First of all, let me say that Microsoft is constantly updating Windows and many of the best Windows 11 features are also available on Windows 10. By the time you read this, some of the features that I love about Windows 11 may be available on Windows 10 as well, you can check out Microsoft Windows comparison page (Opens in a new tab) Learn about the unique features of the latest version of Windows.
Sure, sometimes I feel a little silly sitting alone in my apartment telling my computer to move the cursor 20px to the left, but then I remember how cool Harrison Ford looked doing the same thing in Blade Runner and I relax a bit. That’s great. Windows 11…awesome. “
My sense of what makes Windows 11 worth the upgrade is based on my experience reviewing more than a dozen Windows 11 PCs over the past year or so, all while using Windows 10 on my personal machine. I’m constantly switching between the two operating systems, using them on a variety of displays, and I’m at the point where I prefer using Windows 11 more than any of its predecessors.
One big reason why How much better does Windows 11 handle multiple displays versus Windows 10. On my old PC, I’m constantly having to find and reposition apps across two monitors, which have different sizes, resolutions, and even angles (one is curved, the other isn’t — a really damned arrangement). Even worse, Windows 10 often repositions apps or overrides with display resolution whenever the screen disconnects or goes into sleep mode. Not so in Windows 11.
No, on a Windows 11 PC I usually find that apps are where you left them and that when you disconnect the screen Windows 11 doesn’t lose its mind and start switching apps and windows. It’s a small change, but it saves seconds of frustration every day. Those seconds added up to the hours of misery each year that I no longer have to put up with thanks to Windows 11.
Windows 11 also provides more granular control over how apps are placed on your display(s)., which I love. In our Windows 11 review, I extolled the benefits of the improved Snap system, which makes it easy to place windows into preset layouts on your screen. You can simply drag a window to the top of the screen and Windows 11 will pop up an easy to use interface to drag and drop said window into a pre-partitioned space on your desktop. You can easily drag three windows up and place them in a three-panel, for example, or have one app take up two-thirds of the screen while a second app sits next to it in the remaining third.
Arranging windows on your desktop so you can easily multitask or look at multiple things at once is one of the main selling points of Windows (check it’s in the name), and it’s better than ever on Windows 11. While you can Use Snap in a more limited form on Windows 10 The version in Windows 11 is much more powerful and useful, especially after the new functionality it gained in the big Windows 11 22H2 update rolled out in October.
In fact, it was this big 22H2 update (22H2 simply indicates that it shipped in the second half of 2022) that changed my opinion about Windows 11. Microsoft has been quietly updating the look and feel of Windows 11 all year, adding little features and tweaking the user interface. , but it was that big update that brought me some real changes to the game.
In particular , The addition of Live Captions and Voice Access makes Windows 11 a more accessible operating system than Windows 10. While this older version offers limited versions of Live Captions and Voice Control, it’s not as powerful or useful as its counterpart in Windows 11. The latest version of Windows is capable of automatically creating captions for audio at a system level, which means it’s It not only works on streaming movies and YouTube videos but on video calls. You can even connect a microphone to a Windows 11 laptop and walk around with it reading annotations of your conversations in the real world, since the feature also works with a microphone input.
But really It was Voice Access that made Windows 11 a must-have for me. Voice Access is an improved version of the Voice Control functionality already in Windows 10, and it gives you more precise and precise control of your PC using just your voice. Not only does it do an overall solid job of understanding the difference between commands and dictation and accurately picking up what you’re saying, but it also gives you very useful commands for identifying and selecting areas on the screen. This is obviously a big part of working with Windows or any graphical operating system (GUI), and being able to tell my computer what to click or where to move something was a game changer that revolutionized the way I work.
Sure, sometimes I feel a little silly sitting alone in my apartment telling my computer to move the cursor 20px to the left, but then I remember how cool Harrison Ford looked doing the same thing in Blade Runner and I relax a bit. That’s great. Windows 11 is…cool.
Microsoft still has a lot of work to do
But as great as Windows 11 is, I understand if you’re still feeling a little nervous about upgrading from your current version. As I mentioned above, Microsoft has yet to deliver on the promise of Windows 11 when it was revealed.
While native Android app support finally works (mostly) as advertised, it’s hard to see why you’d want to take advantage now that the only easily accessible Android apps on Windows 11 have to be downloaded from the limited selection available on Amazon. app store. And a lot of other unique features in Windows 11, like Widgets or Smart App Control, are more of a hassle than a help. And to Microsoft’s credit, many of Windows 11’s coolest features, including game improvements like Auto HDR and DirectStorage, are also available on Windows 10.
But for me, Windows 11 has finally crossed the line between curiosities and major work tools. It helps me get more done with less hassle than I did in Windows 10, and that was enough to convince me to recommend it to others.
Hopefully, you’ll find something of value there, too, when you decide to take the free upgrade to Windows 11, but take your time — Microsoft has promised support for Windows 10 through October 2025, so there’s no rush.
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