Windows 11 is a major release of the Windows operating system developed by Microsoft which was announced on June 24, 2021. It is the successor to Windows 10, which was released in 2015.
Windows 11 was released to the public on October 5, 2021, as a free upgrade via Windows Update and Windows 11 Installation Assistant on eligible devices running Windows 10.
How to download Windows 11 officially?
You can download Windows 11 officially from the update section of your pc. You do not need to visit any external website, You can simply go to the system updates section of your existing windows and check for a new update.
If you system meets the minimum system requirements and is eligible for the update then Windows 11 updates option will show in your upgrade section. You can simply click the Download and Install button to install the windows directly to your system. As stated by Microsoft, not all machines running Windows 10 can run Windows 11.
So it is a good idea to check whether your machine can run Windows 11 or not. As Microsoft is rolling out the Windows 11 operating system in phases, so your system might not give a prompt or notification for the availability of the OS on your device even if you check for updates. You can do that by Microsoft’s PC Health Check Tool.
Go to the Windows 11 Specifications page then Check for compatibility section in the bottom of page. Click the Download PC Health Check App link and install the program. Click the Check now button inside the app.
What are the system requirements for Windows 11?
| 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 GB |
| Storage | 64 GB or More |
| System firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot capable |
| TPM | TPM version 2.0 |
| Graphics card | DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver |
| Display | HD display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel |
| Internet | Microsoft account and internet connectivity |
Here’s how you can download and install Windows 11 by using Windows Update Assistant.
If the upgrade isn’t available to you yet, and you don’t want to wait another half a year for the update to be rolled out then the best and simplest option for you is to download the Windows 11 Installation Assistant.
Click Run after the downloading then Accept and Install to agree to the licensing terms to begin the installation. After finishing, you’ll be prompted to restart your computer. Your PC might restart several times during the process of finishing the installation, so don’t be afraid of that. Just keep your PC on until it’s finally done.
If you are not able to use Windows update assistant, then there few other options too, but these options are more complicated and not advised by Microsoft.
You can create Windows 11 installation media or an ISO file. These steps are explained in detail on Microsoft’s Windows 11 download page.
How to Upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 11?
There are multiple ways by which you can upgrade your Windows 7 to Windows 11. From start menu click on the “Control Panel” Button.
- Open Control Panel from Start Menu
- On the Control Panel Page, go to Windows Updates section.
- On the Windows Update page, click on the “Check for Updates” button and windows will start to check for the recent updates.
- After searching for updates, you can install all the updates that are available.
- And if your device is eligible for upgrade to Windows 11 then an option for Download and Install Windows 11 will appear.
- You can select that option and click on Install updates.
How to upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11?
- From Start Menu, Go to settings
- The Windows 10 settings page will open. Now click on the Updates and Security option from the settings page.
- Check for Updates
- Check for Updates
- Now windows will start checking for new updates.
- Checking for Updates
- if Windows 11 is available for your PC then you can Download and Install button.
- You can read the Terms and Conditions and Click download and install to load the latest Windows 11 on your system.
For new devices that are still shipping with Windows 10, Microsoft is gradually rolling out Windows 11, so the free upgrade won’t be offered to all the devices at once. It will be rolled out in phases and all existing and eligible PCs should be offered the Windows 11 upgrade by mid-2022, according to Microsoft.