Following our article last month about the forthcoming release of Windows 11, a few new details have emerged. These include a few more snippets about what changes to expect in Windows 11, and what to expect if you're planning on sticking with Windows 10 for a while.
Windows Rollback
It will be possible to "downgrade" to Windows 10 if you update to Windows 11 and decide it was a mistake. However, this will only be possible for a limited time. 10 days after installation of Windows 11, a "smooth" downgrade will no longer be possible. Obviously, it would be possible to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch after that, but you will lose all your settings in the process.
The "Screen of Death" colour changes
In an ideal world, this is one that no-one will ever notice. However, the fact that the "Blue Screen of Death" has become so ubiquitous suggests this won't be the case. This is the screen that most Windows users will have seen at some point with some sort of drastic error outlined that means the machine has got itself into an unrecoverable state. In Windows 11, the screen you see that means you've probably just lost the last few hours work will now be black.
Windows 10 still getting a "feature" update in autumn
Although Windows 11 will be pretty much with us by the end of the year, Windows 10 will still be getting a little attention in terms of new features. However, as you might expect, the list of changes is pretty minimal, as Microsoft will want to gently push people towards Windows 11 for the shiny new things. "Wi-Fi security improvements" is about as exciting as it gets.
Significant changes coming to Microsoft Teams
One point we didn't cover in last month's blog is that Teams will come pre-installed with Windows 11 and be integrated more deeply into the operating system. Along with this, Microsoft will be changing the underlying framework that Teams is built on. This should mean it uses significantly less memory. It will also introduce new features such as launching new chats straight from the taskbar and message notifications that allow you to reply inline quickly rather than having to open Teams to continue the conversation. These changes will be rolled out to the "consumer" version of Teams first, before later being applied to the enterprise version as well.