Windows 11: The Beginning of a New PC Age

The world has changed a lot since that 1995 launch. Microsoft has as well, and this will be the first major version of Windows conceived and launched under Satya Nadella.

Windows 11 shows a massive change in focus from earlier significant releases, which pretty much assures that the Windows Vista and Windows 8 mistakes won't be repeated, at least not under the current leadership.

“At Microsoft, we're aspiring to have a living, learning culture with a growth mindset that allows us to learn from ourselves and our customers. These are the key attributes of the new culture at Microsoft, and I feel great about how it seems to be resonating and how it's seen as empowering. - Satya Nadella"

Why Windows 11 Won't Suck?

In the first decade of this century, we had a crapload of Windows versions; starting with Windows 2000 and the disastrous Windows Millennium, to Windows XP, the train wreck that was Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Then in late 2012, Windows 8 came out. Subsequently, in 2015 shortly after Satya Nadella took over, Windows 10 hit; skipping Windows 9.

Windows 11, the first OS fully developed under Satya Nadella, given this history, should be a dog. I mean, Windows XP was good, Windows Vista was bad, Windows 7 was good, Windows 8 was terrible, and Windows 10 was good.

With all of those bad versions, the problem was that each seemed to try to meet some screwy esoteric ideal while the following versions were tightly focused on fixing what the prior versions broke. So the recurring problem was an ill-conceived strategy to change the OS, which broke, followed by a tightly focused strategy to fix what was broken. The fixed products were solid because their goals were well-defined. The broken products failed because their goals were ill-defined.

Windows 11 should again be an ill-conceived product with a hard-to-communicate goal, but it isn't. The reason it isn't? Under Satya Nadella Microsoft made a hard pivot to focusing on, and improving, customer needs and experiences.

Highlights-

Windows 11 highlights include a solid shot at Apple's model of monetizing everything, even the work of others. Apple is currently being sued for demanding revenue for itself that app developers generate. Microsoft allows app developers to keep the money they earned which, in turn, should allow the devs to pay their people better and fund improved titles in the future.

Microsoft recognized that if their developers aren't successful, it won't be successful. So part of Microsoft's focus will be to assure its developers do well on the platform. Windows 11 will have access not only to Windows titles, but also through Intel's bridge (that will also function on AMD and Qualcomm systems) provide complete application support for Android apps.

The Auto HDR feature from the Xbox provides greater detail for games and full support for Xbox Game Pass which is Microsoft's Netflix-like game service. Better integration with their movie and TV show purchase engine (which has prices similar to Amazon's for rentals and purchase), and enhancements for products like Microsoft Teams to improve usability (make it easier to identify and correct those annoying mistakes like talking with your microphone off).

There will also be a nice feature that will allow you to tip local authors, helping cover their costs and supporting their efforts; and little touches like apps matching your Windows theme, and the ability to dictate speech to text, where punctuation, paragraphs and sentence structure get modified automatically in real time.