Articles about upgrade to Windows 11

Microsoft recently introduced a compatibility hold to prevent certain people from upgrading to Windows 11. Safeguard ID 37820326 was put in place after an issue was discovered that saw some Edge users losing data they had stored in Internet Explorer 11.

The company has now addressed the problem meaning that IE users no longer need to take the extra step of importing data to Edge before upgrading to Windows 11.

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With a warning that "IE11 data might not be accessible after upgrading to Windows 11", Microsoft has added a new compatibility hold to prevent some people from upgrading to the latest version of its operating system.

The issue affects Windows 11 version 21H2, and Microsoft has not given any indication of how many people might be impacted. It means that some Windows 10 users looking to upgrade to Windows 11 will simply not be offered the update until they have jumped through certain hops.

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Since the launch of Windows 11, there has been a compatibility issue between the operating system and VirtualBox. People attempting to use Oracle virtualization software found they were unable to start virtual machines and saw error messages with Hyper-V or Windows Hypervisor installed.

As a result of this problem, Microsoft introduced a safeguard block which prevented people with VirtualBox installed from upgrading to Windows 11. But following work by Oracle developers to address the issue, Microsoft has now lifted the block.

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When Chief Product Officer of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, Panos Panay, wrote about "a new era of the PC", he revealed some of what we can expect from Windows 11 in the future. But his blog post also shed light on just how the operating system has been received by users.

Panay reveals the impressive statistic that Windows 11 upgrades have been taken up by users at twice the rate of Windows 10 upgrades. Satisfaction levels are said to be high, and as a result Microsoft is well ahead of its mid-2022 target for the rollout of Windows 11.

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Having released a preview of next month's updates for Windows 11, Microsoft has also done the same for Windows 10. With the release of KB5009596, the company has addressed an issue that prevented the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2) localhost relay from starting, as well as fixing a couple of audio problems.

This particular update also sees the addition of a reminder to Internet Explorer 11 users about the browser’s upcoming retirement. One of the more interesting additions that comes with the KB5009596 update is the new feature called Sync Your Settings which has been designed to make it easier to migrate to Windows 11.

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While there are many people who are happy to stick with Windows 10 -- or even older versions of Windows -- there are plenty more who are eager to upgrade to Windows 11. Assuming your hardware makes the grade, there is some good news in this department.

Microsoft is speeding up the rollout of Windows 11, making it available to more people faster than it expected to do so. There are, of course, steps you can take to force the installation of the OS upgrade, but by increasing the pace of the rollout, the company is making things easier for people, helping to ensure that Windows 11 is on as many systems as possible.

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There was a spate of printer problems affecting Windows over the last few months, and with the release of Windows 11 the situation does not seem to be improving. Microsoft has already acknowledged various issues with the latest version of the operating system, and now another problem has reared its head.

Some printer owners have found that that Windows 11 throws up an error message when they connect the peripheral via USB. While Microsoft is yet to say anything about the issue, there is advice from printer manufacturer Brother -- including avoiding Windows 11.

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Microsoft has shared details of a new known issue with Windows 11. The company has confirmed that a problem exists with apps that use certain characters in registry keys.

As a result of the discovery, Microsoft has put a compatibility hold in place that means people with problematic apps installed will not be offered Windows 11 via Windows Update. The issue is under investigation.

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Research Vice President with analyst firm Gartner has said that Windows 11 could have been released as a feature update for Windows 10 rather than a whole new version of the operating system.

While Stephen Kleynhans praises the removal of Internet Explorer, the addition of Android support and welcomes what he describes as an "overdue facelift", he feels that releasing this as an upgrade rather than just an update is simple marketing by Microsoft. He also advises business and enterprise uses against rushing into adopting Windows 11 and predicts low usage numbers even by 2023.

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Reports are coming in about a strange bug in Windows 11 that results in the Windows 10 taskbar being displayed instead of the updated versions. The same issue was reported by Windows Insiders in the build up to the launch of Windows 11, and it seems that Microsoft has not been able to get things fixed.

In addition to problems with the old taskbar showing up, users are also reporting that the Start menu is not working. Microsoft is yet to acknowledge the problems, but workarounds have been uncovered.

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Windows 11 is now less than a week away from rolling out to people around the world. Despite the launch being so close, there is still great confusion surrounding system requirements for the operating system, especially the need for TPM 2.0.

Many people using the PC Health Check app to test their system's compatibility with Windows 11 have been disappointed to learn that they do not have TPM 2.0 and therefore will not be able to upgrade. But a new, open-source install script has been released that makes it possible to install Windows 11 on just about any hardware, bypassing the TPM check. Say hello to MediaCreationTool.bat.

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Microsoft is gearing up for the big launch of Windows 11 next month, and while there is enthusiasm in certain sectors, this is certainly not true across the board . The roll-out of the latest version of the operating system starts on October 5, but it seems like the company has an uphill battle on its hands to increase awareness and interest.

A new survey shows that almost two thirds of Windows users are unaware of Windows 11. Perhaps even more concerning for Microsoft is the news that of the 38 percent of users who know about the impending arrival of the new version of the operating system, a mere 41 percent intend to upgrade to Windows 11. The survey also gives an insight into what people are looking forward to in the operating system.

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Windows 11 is now just over two weeks away from launch, but there is no need to wait until then to upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft's operating system. While there has been a great deal of interest in the new features being added to Windows 11's Beta and Dev builds over the last few months, Microsoft has just pushed out build 22000.194 to the Release Preview Channel.

Assuming no serious issues are found in the next couple of weeks, this is the final RTM build of Windows 11 that will roll out to everyone soon, but you can grab it right now and stay ahead of the game. So, if you're interested in upgrading to Windows 11 right now rather than having to wait until October 5 -- or even later -- here's what you need to know.

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People who are enrolled in the Windows Insider program who have installed Windows 11 on hardware that is not officially supported are being told by Microsoft that they need to switch back to Windows 10.

Windows 11's system requirements have been a source of confusion and frustration, but for those eager to try out the operating system, Microsoft had provided something of a loophole. For a little while now, it has been possible to install Windows 11 preview builds on hardware that does not meet the minimum requirements, but now the company is clamping down and notifying Insiders with incompatible systems to downgrade to Windows 10.

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The system requirements for Windows 11 have been confusing from the moment they were announced, and Microsoft's changes to them has done nothing to make the situation clearer for most people

Microsoft's own PC checking tool, released to help people determine the compatibility of their system with Windows 11 was criticized and then pulled for failing to provide enough helpful information. It has since been updated, but now Microsoft has launched a new way to check whether your computer will run Windows 11 -- performing a check via Windows Update.

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