There was a time when an operating system upgrade meant wailing, gnashing of teeth, and a dive in productivity as computers and staffers stopped working for... well, as long as it took.

So The Register's Strategy Boutique was heartened to see the UK's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) take a very human-centered approach to shifting to Windows 11 ahead of Microsoft axing support for Windows 10.

Windows 11 shutdown bug forces Microsoft into out-of-band damage control [1]READ MORE

After all, as the department this week [2]noted : "When going through change, people need time to understand in their own way what exactly is happening and how it will affect them personally."

"Technical changes especially can bring about uncertainty for many people."

Which means: "It makes sense that people can become extremely concerned when we tell them that their ways of working are about to change, and they will need to build them up again from scratch."

[3]

Just imagine if a crack DBT operative turned on their machine unprepared for a centered taskbar and start menu, or was taken unawares by the sight of rounded corners on their favorite icons. Before you know it, the UK could be engaged in a trade war with Greenland, or forcing Scottish distillers to drop an "e" into their premium product.

[4]

[5]

Luckily, DBT was well aware of the importance of guiding civil servants through "the emotional landscape of change."

"We made sure the Windows 11 upgrade programme was shaped by user-centred design from the beginning." It leapt on user research that showed staffers fell into three broad categories: the advocate; the engaged; the cautious.

[6]

One boutique member at El Reg was surprised that no one identified as curious. But then again, maybe that sort of thing is discouraged in Whitehall these days.

That meant the tech team could target their messaging to explain "the what, the why, the benefits and reassurance that Windows 11 was not too dissimilar from Windows 10."

But just telling people the change is not that deep clearly wasn't going to be enough. "We worked with data analysts to create a dashboard so colleagues could see for themselves whether their laptop required upgrading and what type of change they would experience."

[7]Defra admits Windows 10 refresh letter to MPs was wrong – machines were already on Windows 11

[8]Boris Johnson confesses: He's fallen for ChatGPT

[9]Former UK chancellor George Osborne finds something to do at OpenAI

[10]Former UK prime minister Sunak becomes human Clippy for Microsoft, Anthropic

Why would you trust Microsoft's own tool for telling you whether your laptop needed upgrading? Or a startup screen saying the laptop was running, say, Windows 10? Or Windows 11. Or perhaps Windows XP. Or Ubuntu.

The department supported this with a Windows 11 hub, which centralized all the information related to the update. This received more than 2,000 unique views, while 500 staffers attended one of the webinars organized by the team to highlight new features.

[11]

Sadly, the report doesn't suggest whether these stats encompassed the advocates, the engaged, or the cautious. What is clear is that it was just a small proportion of the department's current 12,000-plus headcount.

Perhaps they needed a category for people who are unsure whether they're concerned by change. Or just incurious.

Nevertheless, the report concluded: "The DBT Windows 11 rollout has reminded us that technical change is also emotional change... Behind every laptop is a real person, reminding us that change isn't about systems, it's about people."

Which is very true. Though it's unfortunate that while the department's tech team has worked hard to smooth workers' path to Windows 11, its political masters are more concerned with how to smooth their path out of the building. There are plans to reduce DBT's headcount of 12,440 down to around 8,000 by April next year.

As the PCS union put it: "DBT is gambling on AI and other digital solutions, though it is unclear how these will replace the important role DBT staff play."

On the upside, tools like Copilot shouldn't need guiding through the emotional landscape of change, be startled by rounded corners, or prompt public servants to make politically disastrous decisions on the basis of incorrect information. [12]Should it ? ®

Get our [13]Tech Resources



[1] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/19/windows_11_shutdown_bug/

[2] https://digitaltrade.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/20/windows-11-in-dbt-putting-people-first-in-digital-change/

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXNU0HTX7jwD_MtPnvZR5gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

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[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/02/defra_windows_10_11/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/17/boris_johnson_loves_chatgpt/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/17/openai_george_osborne/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/10/former_uk_prime_minister_rishi/

[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aXNU0HTX7jwD_MtPnvZR5gAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/19/copper_chief_cops_it_after/

[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/