What does the future of Windows 11 hold? Later this week, Microsoft will finally reveal all — including whether they’ll actually call it Windows 11.
What to expect from the Microsoft Windows 11 event
We’ve already gotten a look at the new Windows UI, including its unusual centred task bar that screams MacOS, and the removal of dynamic graphical elements within the Start menu. Light and Dark mode wallpapers are a thing now, and it’ll be interesting to see what Microsoft has learned from the shuttered Windows 10X experiment.
Also, finally, we might actually see an iteration of the Microsoft Store that’s not genuine rubbish. Microsoft has been planning this for years, but the interface is still several leagues behind any other digital marketplace, especially compared to PC stores like Steam. It’s still beset with all sorts of bizarre issues where downloads won’t initialise, keep stalling, or fail outright, as many Microsoft Flight Simulator players discovered.
One of the changes won’t be consumer-facing, but it’ll make a big change for a lot of developers. Windows Central reported earlier this year that Microsoft was developing new policies that would allow studios to use their own in-app revenue streams — the kind of thing Epic is suing Apple over — and devs would be able to submit .EXE or .MSI files, allowing for more parity and less hassle when updating something across multiple platforms.
Thanks to a build that leaked online, some reviewers, commentators and content creators have already messed around with an early version of the OS. Linus Tech Tips fired up Red Dead Redemption 2 — after some messing around trying to install the OS in the first place.
There’s even some gaming benchmarks available, although the actual difference between the Windows builds is so marginal that it could simply be improvements from a fresh install of Windows. Shadow of the Tomb Raider also reported the OS as simply another build of Windows 10, so there’s a good chance that Microsoft just calls the OS “Windows”, and not Windows 11 at all. Either way, even if the early builds do show promise, do yourself a favour and wait until Microsoft officially ships something.
How to watch the Microsoft Windows 11 event in Australia
Microsoft have announced that a livestream will be held on June 25, 1:00am AEST / 3:00am NZST / 12:30am ACST / 11:00pm June 24 AWST. An official link on the Microsoft website will let you set a calendar reminder, but there’s no YouTube or Twitch live embed at the time of writing.
Microsoft Build, the company’s most recent livestreamed conference, required registration through a specialist site. The sessions were eventually uploaded to YouTube, although neither Microsoft Australia or Microsoft Redmond’s official YouTube channels have any notifications or reminders for the upcoming Windows 11 livestream.
If an embeddable stream becomes available before the event, I’ll update this post with all the details. But for now, your best chances are direct through the Microsoft website, or through Microsoft’s official YouTube channel once the event is concluded.
What would you like to see added, changed or removed in the next iteration of Windows — and if you had the choice, what would you name it?
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