Windows is not just an operating system, it is a creative entity that is sensitive to change.
Think of it as a cherished work of art in need of regular maintenance, everyone is happy with the brighter colors and fresh luster, but no one is pleased with the redrawn lines, drawn over blemishes, or a character's face in a poorly restored painting.
You don't have to be a Windows historian to see the ping-pong style that Microsoft follows in its updates to its operating system, everyone remembers Windows XP so far, some users prefer it until this moment, then Windows Vista ( Vista) which, unlike its predecessor, is not remembered by anyone after it failed miserably.
Microsoft salvaged its reputation with the smashing success of Windows 7, and then followed it up with another failed system that users liken to a group of monkeys running a computer, Windows 8. Next, Windows 10 came to the rescue as a superhero.
See what is meant by ping pong?
Rise and fall, top and bottom.
The last system, Windows 10, was the hero that saved Microsoft, it was the top, will the new operating system (Windows 11) be the bottom?
Will Microsoft continue to follow the same pattern?
If you play with the odds, you'll bet Windows 11 will fail.
But Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella joked: The number 11 is the lucky number for Microsoft. (1) The company plans to enter the next major version of Windows, and is quietly preparing to close the door on the aged Windows 10 operating system. 6 years.
Microsoft has not issued any official statement regarding the latter, which was discovered by chance by Windows OS observers, such as Paul Tharrott on the Windows Lifecycle (2)(3) page which says that October 14, 2025 will be It is the "End of Service Date for Windows 10".
Then, it will be nearly 10 years since the release of the version of the system that revitalized Microsoft after the resounding fall of Windows 8.
Paradoxically, Windows 10 is not fundamentally different from the Windows 3.1 operating system that you may have been one of the lucky ones to have released in 1991. Over the ensuing 30 years, users have experienced countless iterations of system modifications, each of which is a great deal. With better functionality, performance and utility. Sometimes, the process was like watching someone you love age gracefully, to the point that if you've been away for a while, you won't always notice the subtle changes. With Windows, despite successive updates, basic elements such as File Manager, Task Manager, Device Manager and Registry Editor have not changed for decades.
What the End of Life or EOL for Windows users means is that Microsoft stops updating services, tweaking the interface, or even dealing with minor bug fixes. However, there is another life in it: Extended Support, a paid service usually aimed at entrepreneurs who want to maintain a system that has fallen out of updates, and is usually used with rickety systems like Windows XP.
The next stage is a slow embalming of the deceased Windows body, called Extended Security Updates (ESU). For three years, important and effective security reforms are introduced, keeping the dilapidated system running. You may be wondering: Why would Microsoft do that? These updates are the magic pill that protects ghost-like operating systems from new, unexpected threats, and that's it. As Microsoft says about Security Updates (4): "Extended Security Updates will be distributed if available. The ESUs do not include new services, non-security updates requested by the customer, or design change requests."
All of this is part of Microsoft's plan to help these old operating systems meet their deaths without seriously harming users who love their favorite system whatever it is. And since Microsoft is used to saying goodbye to its new systems, it must teach its new little one to spread its wings. In the end, the company released Windows 11 to the world, and it will be on the ruins of Windows 10, so are you ready? Because this time it's different!
Reinventing Windows is, for Microsoft, always fraught with danger.
So you can see how it navigates everything carefully and calmly, making sure that it and its 1.3 billion users are ready to adopt a system that has been updated or radically reimagined, one way or another. (5) Big changes usually mean a slow adoption cycle and delays. In updates, but Windows users who know their currently beloved platform, Windows 10, is playing into overtime will at least be forced to plan for the inevitable transition.
The strategy here is straightforward: release a modern version of Windows at a time when PC sales are the highest of this decade (6), thanks to the pandemic, of course.
At the same time, Microsoft's main tech rivals - Apple and Google - face severe degrees of scrutiny under antitrust laws.
And while the interface of Windows 11 has been redesigned, it's more of a new coat of paint than a complete reconfiguration. Yes, Microsoft has moved the Start button to the middle of the bottom, but don't worry, you can always bring it back to the left corner. What's really new is this: Android apps! Windows is now the device that connects all of these systems in your electronic environment.
Microsoft used to boast about the ability of a computer "Chrome OS" to access the "Google Play Store" for Android applications and "MacOS" that runs Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad, and now it is closing the gap between the different systems with Windows 11. In conjunction with the new version of the operating system, Microsoft launched The company's new Microsoft Store which will be home to all kinds of Windows and Android apps.
Applications from the Amazon store will also be integrated, and according to Microsoft, “TikTok”, “Kindle”, “Ring” and “Uber” are among the names that we will find at the forefront.
(When you run an Android app, like TikTok, it works like any other Windows app. Photo: MICROSOFT)
Although the new Windows is designed to work better with Android phones, Microsoft CEO Mr. Nadella said he would like Windows to work well with iPhones too, although it is largely up to Apple. Apple iMessage or other services to Windows.
If Apple and Google's App Stores are impenetrable walled gardens, Microsoft wants its new store to be an open field.
Therefore, Microsoft decided to allow both stores and their app developers to use their own payment and commerce systems on its new store, while allowing developers to keep all of their revenue (although Microsoft would typically take 15% of transaction revenue). (1)
In the view of John Schroed, a tech journalist covering Apple, Windows 11 certainly resembles Apple's "Mac" operating system in some major ways(9). Shifting the taskbar icons that previously occupied the left side of the screen to the center certainly makes the Windows 11 taskbar look like "MacOS's Dock." If they go one step further and move the icons on the right side of the taskbar to the top-right corner of the screen, your Windows desktop will definitely look like macOS.
Windows 11 is dropping support for 32-bit apps, something Apple did with macOS Catalina in 2019, though this decision is expected to cause more damage to Windows than it did to Mac.
Shroud comments on the touch experience and the policy of the two competing companies, saying: “Every year, Apple steadfastly continues to say that it does not care about bringing touch to the Mac, while Microsoft has long preferred a one-OS-for-everything approach, with Windows becoming a common system for computers. and tablets."
Everyone has their own preferred policy for dealing with their laptop.
Shroud comments, "I prefer Apple's approach, but the debate will still rage. In Windows 11, Microsoft offers a very clever tablet mode. When you separate the tablet part from the 2-in-1 (devices that support touch and traditional use), the interface subtly changes To provide more space for fingers.
This is definitely how you should design a single operating system that supports two very different input methods.
Although Microsoft touts the benefits of the 2-in-1 in seemingly every ad it makes, there aren't many users who use a computer in tablet mode.
Many Windows 10 PCs will be upgradable, and you can use their PC Scan Tool to see if your system is compatible with Windows 11.
“Innovation is about risk,” says Nadella (1), but unless the risk pisses people off about moving the Start button and structuring the user experience, perhaps Windows 11 is a new unique experience from Microsoft, and 11 becomes the number Luck already for her!
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Sources
Windows 11: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the New 'Start' of the PC (Exclusive):
Windows 10 Support Ends on October 14, 2025
Windows 10 Home and Pro Life Cycle
Lifecycle FAQ – Extended Security Updates
Microsoft says Windows 10 now on 1.3 billion monthly active devices
PC Sales Notch Strongest Growth in a Decade
Apple, Google Come Under Fire at Senate Antitrust Hearing
Check your computer's capabilities
An Apple guy's response to Microsoft's Windows 11 event