At the same time as the Windows 11 announcement, news came  of a revamped Microsoft Store, which will include Android Apps downloadable from the Amazon Appstore. A change that change comes into effect today, July 28, 2021, is that app developers can use their own or a third party commerce platform  don’t need to pay Microsoft any fee and can keep 100% of their revenue.

Microsoft already offers competitive revenue share terms of  85% and 88% for games and these percentages will continue to apply for devs who use the Microsoft Commerce platform. Being able to choose an alternative commerce platform is a first for Microsoft and is obviously a strategy designed to distinguish it from Apple and Google.

Another way in which Microsoft is becoming more open is that going forward Windows developers can now publish any kind of app, regardless of app framework and packaging technology – including Win32, .NET, UWP, Xamarin, Electron, React Native, Java and even Progressive Web Apps, using an improved version of the open source PWA Builder, a tool that hasn't really gained much traction since we last reported on it over two years ago.

Although Windows 11 was announced on June 24, its expected  release date is "late 2021"  and those wanting a free upgrade from an existing Windows10 installation will have to wait until into 2022. The very fact that there is to be a  Windows 11 goes against what we were led to expect when Windows 10 was launched in 2015. At that time Microsoft said it would be the final version of the operating system. However, while Microsoft is now claiming that Windows 11 will represent one of the "most significant updates" to the OS in the past decade, from examination of the current information Microsoft could have made it just another of the bi-annual updates of Windows 10.

So what can we expect from Windows 11? 

Perhaps the feature that means that it is being considered a new version of Windows rather than an update to Windows 10 is that it has new minimum hardware requirements: 

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
• RAM: 4 gigabyte (GB)
• Storage: 64 GB or larger storage device
• System firmware: Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
• Graphics card: Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
• S mode is only supported on Home edition of Windows 11. If you are running a different edition of Windows in S mode, you will need to first switch out of S mode prior to upgrading.

The requirements to note in this is for TPM 2.0 on one of a very limited number of Intel, ARM or Qualcomm processors.

Another requirement that is raising concern is that for Windows 11 Home edition you will need a Microsoft account to complete device setup on first use.

Microsoft Teams will be integrated into Windows 11 by default with Chat from Microsoft Teams integrated in the taskbar. Skype, which used to be integrated is being relegated to being an app that you can download and install if you want it. Cortana is another "missing feature" in Windows 11 - but can be downloaded if required.

So will we all be rushing to Windows 11? The plus point that appeals the most to me is improvements to performance and to multitasking and that its updates will be quicker to install. 

More Information

Introducing Windows 11

Building a new, open Microsoft Store on Windows 11

PWA Builder

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