Windows 11's First Beta RELEASED

RJ Pierce, Tech Times 29 July 2021, 05:07 pm

Windows 11's first beta release is now available, though not for everyone as of the moment.

According to The Verge, the Windows 11 beta has been made available to anybody enrolled in Microsoft's Insider Program. If you're enrolled on the program and have the dev build installed, you can go to the Beta program by going to Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program, then clicking the Beta Channel option.

However, if you want to switch to the Windows 11 beta build, you have to do it fast. According to the Microsoft Twitter page, they're allowing people to switch from the dev to the beta build without having to do a clean install for a so-called "short period of time". The exact time of this option ending, however, wasn't given.

It's worth noting that before the beta release, users can only test out Windows 11 ahead of time by installing the dev build, which Microsoft said is only for "highly technical users" due to having a lot of rough edges.

Here's another news for insiders: if you're on the program, it's important to switch to the beta channel if you want to stay on the "shipping build" of Windows 11 as soon as development wraps up, writes Windows Central.

The next-generation Windows OS has been confirmed as a free update for W10 users and is due to ship late this year (Microsoft still hasn't announced a definitive date).

Windows 11 Beta: What Do You Need To Run It?

Well, for one, your computer will need to strictly follow Microsoft's relatively hefty system requirements if you want to try out the new Windows 11 beta. At the very least, you'll need a modern computer sporting specs not older than AMD's Zen 2 and Intel's 8th generation platforms. Also, you'll need a TPM 2.0 module, which has confused a lot of people ever since the OS was announced.

But since this is still a beta, it's safe to say that Microsoft's system requirements are subject to change closer to the actual release of the OS. Hardware requirements may ease up a bit, but perhaps that TPM 2.0 might not be going away. That's because the OS needs the TPM module for security purposes, Microsoft explains.

How Different is the Beta from the Dev Build?

As previously mentioned, the dev build was intended for users with a high level of technical ability. That's because this version of the OS is extremely buggy and lacks many important features. According to How-To-Geek, most of the issues involve the user interface, which has seen a massive change since Windows 10.

This is one of the main reasons why users have been advised to steer clear of the Windows 11 dev build unless they know what they're doing. For now, it seems the beta version is the more stable one, but if you plan on installing it on a computer that you use daily, it is advisable that you don't, or you'll risk losing important data.

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Written by RJ Pierce