What Microsoft's Windows 11 will probably look like
- Reference: 1623799382
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/15/windows_11_leak_microsoft/
- Source link:
[2]
The leaked Windows 11 'About this OS' page showing off Windows 11 Pro. Source: Baidu
Windows 11 build 21996.1 showed up on Tuesday in pictures on Chinese mega-site [3]Baidu . A Windows 11 disc image (an ISO file) has also been circulating.
[4]
Behold, what the Windows 11 desktop will purportedly look like judging from the leaked build. Source: [5]Hunter Rossi
The images of [6]Sun Valley , as the release has been dubbed, reveal a visually appealing interface refresh and the conspicuous absence of [7]Live Tiles in the Start menu, centered as it was in the cancelled Windows 10X project.
The Start menu includes a space for Pinned apps at the top. Below that, it features a Recommended section that lists recently used files and apps in a manner reminiscent of the Taskbar's Timeline feature.
[8]
A screenshot of the Windows 11 widgets menu
The Taskbar, centered or left-aligned per user settings, no longer includes Timeline and adds a Widgets button that presents a menu of Widgets (mini-apps) that do things like display the time, weather, stock prices, and news. Widgets replace [9]news and interests in the Taskbar that have started showing up for Windows 10 users.
The new look implements rounded corners in context menus, apps, and File Explorer. It also makes effective use of animations when windows and apps open, close, or get moved around. In addition, touch gestures have been expanded to make interacting with touch interfaces easier and more intuitive.
[10]Mark it in your diaries: 14 October 2025 is the end of Windows 10
[11]Microsoft's bricks-and-mortar retail operation set to return from the grave? Not quite
[12]Extra urgency in June's Patch Tuesday: Microsoft warns six more bugs are being exploited
[13]Siloscape malware targets Windows containers, breaks through to the underlying Kubernetes cluster
There's now a window organization tool, similar to third-party macOS app Magnet and to Windows' built-in stack and [14]snap window management functions, that's been attached to the window maximize button. It automatically arranges multiple windows next to one-another in several preset grid patterns.
Some aspects of the Windows 11 interface remain unchanged, but that's to be expected in an early build. Overall, the visual refurbishment has met with modest enthusiasm from the Twitterati, which is about the best anyone can hope for on the internet.
[15]
What the Windows 11 File Explorer will probably look like
The Twitter account Windows Aesthetics posted [16]a poll soliciting opinions about the new look. With 860 votes cast, the breakdown was: it looks gorgeous (12.2 per cent); it looks nice (28.1 per cent); it's okay (37.7 per cent); and it looks garbage (22 per cent). Perhaps the new startup sound for the OS will change people's minds?
this is the new Windows 11 startup sound [17]pic.twitter.com/UQZNFBtAxa — Tom Warren (@tomwarren) [18]June 15, 2021
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/event
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/06/15/screenshot_windows_11_leak_d.jpg
[3] https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7405731991
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/06/15/screenshot_windows_11_leak_c2.jpg
[5] https://twitter.com/VisionAllAccess/status/1404889737672810497
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/03/microsoft_windows_next_generation/
[7] https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-start-win_menu/live-tiles-what-are-they/71084023-f50b-4531-973d-3ba03d2c0d44
[8] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/06/15/screenshot_windows_11_leak_a.jpg
[9] https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2021/04/22/personalized-content-at-a-glance-introducing-news-and-interests-on-the-windows-10-taskbar/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/14/microsoft_windows_10_end_support_date/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/09/microsoft_experience_centers/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/09/june_patch_tuesday/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/08/siloscape_malware_windows_containers/
[14] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/snap-your-windows-885a9b1e-a983-a3b1-16cd-c531795e6241
[15] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/06/15/screenshot_windows_11_leak_b.jpg
[16] https://twitter.com/WindAesthetic/status/1404898299283492869?s=20
[17] https://t.co/UQZNFBtAxa
[18] https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1404840956893990914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Answer—probably. It's Microsoft. *yawn*
You mean will it have a toolbar in the bottom middle of the screen (just like Mac) with icons that popup and do pointless animations (just like Mac) but have configuration dialogs from NT4 once you get down into the weeds of disk management ?
You may think so - I couldn't possibly comment
I look forward to the return of blue screens… the type associated with death.
Why bother?
I spend all day USING computers, rather than LOOKING at or admiring them. Windows I use grudgingly because of some tricky software.
I cannot imagine that I would even notice that rectangles were no longer rectangles and had rounded corners. All this tweaking the UI is a load of cobblers.
Now if the apps all worked, and in a coherent manner, I'd notice that.
Just
give up m$ and make office available for linux.
Marketing. "Oops. a leak.. how did that happen?"
*SIGH*
This is a classic marketing "official leak".
aka 'Look at this, not at that pointy object closing in on your sensitive bits that you'd usually protect and guard against' (privacy).
FFS. 6 bleeding years they've had to improve on Windows 10 and this is all they could come up with???
The task bar now look like a flat copy of the macOS Dock. And who gives a flying monkey of the window corners are square or rounded?
Here's a short list of the sort of real issues that need urgent long overdue attention:
- A UI that doesn't suck. Eg active windows that stand out from inactive windows (like they used to in WinXP). A cursor I can actually see on multiple high res screens.
- Give me a slicker way to work with multiple recently used folders.
- Multi windowed control panel (like it used to) - not just a single Settings window that sometimes goes AWOL.
- Better integration with iOS and Android devices now that Windows mobile is a rotting corpse somewhere.
Instead, all we get is more pussying around with stupid minor tweaks to the UI that don't deliver any kind of tangible benefits for the end user. You know, like the ones that make the OS slicker and improve productivity.
Someone please line up and shoot whichever muppets are running the show at MS and replace them with real enthusiastic people who genuinely want to deliver a world class OS.
Less is more, maybe?
I like that the new startup sound is barely there - which also kinda sums up the extent of the changes, it seems. After viewing the screenshots though, The BIG question, one I'm deeply embarrassed to have to ask, is - what are the official El Reg units of temperature?
I'm sure lots of people agree that Windows 7 was the last usable version. I finally gave up on OS X (brand new expensive audio hardware becomes "incompatible" after 6 months) and Windows 10 (just a total disaster) and went all-in on Linux desktop. Ubuntu has made massive strides in daily usability even over the last few years, I have had it as the sole OS on my main laptop and productivity is way up as I don't have to deal with black screens on login and 6 hours updates in the middle of a work day.
Ŵhen...........
.........they come up with an OS that doesn't need an anti-virus, a firewall or a host file to block shit websites and/or protocols. Then I'll be impressed.
Round fucking corners and a new startup sound, really!? That's the big lead in to a new OS.
GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK.
Re: Ŵhen...........
So an OS that doesn't do networking? TempleOS has got you covered!
So looking forward to the next two years...
where vendor's admin interfaces cease to work and vendors prioritize the changes to the new shiny kit and the production kit yet to be written off is deemed Fix TBA. Corp IT locked in limbo for a few years as the home users clamor 'Why are we still in Windows 10?'
I really hope this is a joke.
Talk about putting lipstick on a pig. And the start up sound? I turn OFF all system sounds as they're royal pain in arse and add nothing. Looks like microsoft is just trying to keep its coders busy and trying to hit three double blue-ray discs of gar-baj for installation. Oh, to be able to get rid of all the bloat and crap after install, let alone during install.
Will it still be a mish-mash of rewritten apps that lack half of the functionality of their predecessors, and ... the predecessor apps - hidden away to try and hide MicroSoft's embarrassment that they can't come up with complete and coherent replacements?
Windows 10 is just a warmed over rehash of the f*ck up that was Windows 8. I don't expect 11 to be any better.