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The technical information is becoming clearer around Windows 11: mandatory Internet connection, deployment of DirectStorage ..
Microsoft is gradually releasing all the most important information about Windows 11, which should be released very soon... at least for members of the Insiders program.
The Windows 11 presentation event on June 24th was not rich in information as most of the information had already been leaked. It was at least an opportunity to review everything we knew and the main visual changes of the new operating system. Does this mean that Windows 11 will only be a small-scale graphical redesign of Windows 10? No, of course not, although things are expected to come in successive stages and stretch out over the long term.
First of all, Microsoft has confirmed the technical recommendations for running Windows 11. We remember that at the launch of Windows 10, these had not changed one iota compared to those requested for Windows 8. Only afterwards, the storage space required had been reassessed. More importantly, the late Windows 10X needed even less power to be functional. With Windows 11, things are significantly different. Here's what Microsoft requires for its new OS:
Processor: | 1 gigahertz (GHz) or higher with at least 2 cores on a 64-bit compatible processor or SoC (system on a chip) |
RAM: | 4 gigabyte (GB) |
Storage Space: | 64 GB or more |
System Firmware: | UEFI compatible and Secure Boot capable |
TPM: | Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0 |
Graphics Card: | DirectX 12 or higher compatible and with WDDM 2.0 drivers |
Display: | 720p compatible, 8-bit color depth |
Internet connection | Windows 11 Home requires an Internet connection and a Microsoft account to complete the installation. All editions of Windows 11 require Internet access to perform updates and for some features. |
We notice right away that the "basic" x86 processors are no longer recognized, a 64-bit model is required. On the other hand, the requirements remain quite low with a minimum of two cores and a frequency of at least 1 GHz. The other important news is the need to have an active Internet connection to install the operating system and a Microsoft account. After having encouraged users to adopt this account to store the product keys of its software, Microsoft is now moving on, at least for the Home version of Windows 11.
Previously, Microsoft had mentioned the arrival of Android applications on the Windows Store. The operation will require Intel Bridge technology in order to run the apps on the processors found in our PCs. The good news is that this won't be limited to Intel processors: it's hard to imagine Microsoft cutting itself off from a whole segment of the market, but The Verge 's journalists have obtained confirmation that it will work on Intel, AMD and ARM processors as well. The latter CPUs should not need this transition step via Intel Bridge, but Microsoft did not detail the case of these ARM machines,
Finally, one of the most disappointing points of this event was undoubtedly the lack of information on the performance of Windows 11. No need to hide it, we will probably have to wait a little longer. Nevertheless, Microsoft has emphasized the DirectStorage technology, which is particularly interesting for games. This technology allows the graphics card to directly access the data of a game without the CPU getting involved, which of course saves time and resources.
DirectStorage should considerably speed up data access, but while it was also expected on Windows 10, Microsoft has revised its plans: DirectStorage will only be functional on Windows 11. The GPU will also have to support the DirectX 12 Ultimate API, which restricts it to the most modern graphics solutions: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2000 series, GeForce RTX 3000 series and AMD Radeon RX 6000 series. Finally, on the storage device side, it's all about using NVMe SSDs of at least 1 TB. Yes, this is all very selective.
Finally, the last interesting information of the day, if Microsoft has not yet announced an official launch date for Windows 11, it should be available for download next week ... for members of the Insiders program who will then act as testers of the operating system.