Microsoft on Tuesday announced in a blog post that its upcoming operating system, Windows 11 will become available on October 5, 2021.
On launch day, the free upgrade to Windows 11 will begin rolling out to eligible Windows 10 PCs, and PCs that come pre-loaded with Windows 11 will start to become available for purchase. However, Microsoft confirmed that Windows 11 will not come with Android app support at launch.
The free upgrade to Windows 11 starts on October 5 and “will be phased and measured with a focus on quality.”
“Following the tremendous learnings from Windows 10, we want to make sure we’re providing you with the best possible experience. That means new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first,” the company said in the blog post.
The new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first and then the upgrade will roll out over time to in-market devices based on intelligence models that consider hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, age of the device, and other factors that impact the upgrade experience.
Microsoft says all devices meeting its hardware requirements will be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 beginning on October 5, 2021 into mid-2022.
The blog post also lists the new Windows 11 compatible laptops such as Acer Swift 5, Acer Swift X, Asus Zenbook Flip 13, Asus Zenbook 14, Dell XPS 13, Dell Alienware’s X, and more, that will be coming to market in the near future.
If you have a Windows 10 PC that’s eligible for the upgrade, Windows Update will let you know when it’s available. You can also check to see if Windows 11 is ready for your device post-October 5 by going to Settings > Windows Update and select Check for updates.
Microsoft will also be relaunching the PC Health Check app soon, so you can check to see if your current PC will be eligible to upgrade. Meanwhile, you can learn more about Windows 11 minimum system requirements here.
For customers who are using a PC that won’t upgrade, and who aren’t ready to transition to a new device, the company will be supporting Windows 10 until October 14, 2025.
