Today, we’ll be comparing Windows 10 to Windows 11. What’s different in both versions of Windows? Well, let’s go ahead and find out. Starting off with the Start Menu, Microsoft did a complete redesign. Pinned apps moved from the right side to the top half and live tiles are now gone and are replaced with static icons in a grid. The search bar is now located in the start menu rather than being part of the taskbar. And those little side panel shortcuts that were on the left side are now at the bottom.
And here’s something not present in the
Windows 10 start menu at all, the new recommended section that shows recently
used programs and files, which by the way are also synced with One Drive. Think
of this as a much more simplified version of the Timeline feature found in
Windows 10’s Task Viewer. The all apps list, which was on the left side of the
start menu in Windows 10, is now its own menu in Windows 11, using a button.
And within the all apps list, some older
programs like Windows Explorer and Notepad are now part of the list rather than
being part of the Windows System or Windows Accessories folder within the list.
In fact, those folders are now removed and replaced with a shortcut to Control
Panel called Windows Tools, which lists many legacy built-in Windows programs
that were previously in those folders. Moving on to changes in the taskbar, we see
a lot of differences. The icons went from being left aligned to center,
although there is a setting to revert
this, and if you look closely the taskbar is also slightly taller in Windows
11, hard to notice but it is there. The UI for active and idle programs has
been changed, it’s now indicated by the color and length of a little line in
the taskbar icon with a transparent rounded square around a program when
active. The animation in the taskbar for apps that are doing certain actions
has been redesigned, for example, here are both animations for downloading or
installing something, and here are both animations for apps that need your
attention, like the User Account Control prompt. There are now bouncy icon
animations when you open or close programs. Badges on apps have gotten a little
redesign.
If you hover over the Search or Task View
icon, you’ll get little quick actions you can do without needing to click the
icon. The Start Button no longer changes color based on your accent color, as
you can see. And now here are some features that got removed from the taskbar
in Windows 11, firstly, you can only dock the taskbar to the bottom now, no
more top left, or right docked taskbars. Sizing options like small taskbar
buttons are now gone,
as well as the “never combine” setting that
allows you to see text previews of the programs from the taskbar. Oh yeah, you
also can’t drag and drop files in the taskbar anymore for some reason which is
pretty bizarre and right-clicking on the taskbar doesn’t give all those little
settings and shortcuts, just a shortcut to taskbar settings.
Now here are just general UI changes, so
starting off, say goodbye to the sharp corners in Windows 10 and say hello to
the rounded corners in Windows 11 and this is no understatement, every single
element in Windows 11 is now round, even the very very old stuff. There are now
new animations for opening, minimizing, and maximizing a window. Windows 10
went for more of a fade approach while in Windows 11,
the animation has a lot more resizing and
fluidity action going on. Almost every single icon in Windows 11 has been
redesigned to stay consistent with its modern design language. Some elements of
this were present in Windows 10, however, now it is everywhere, even in legacy
areas like the control panel. As with every modern version of Windows,
there’s a new wallpaper. Previously there was
the old Hero wallpaper, which was light shining out of a Windows logo, and now
the background is much like a blue bloom if that makes any sense. Microsoft
also introduced new themes. Previously in Windows 10, there were 4 themes to
choose from by default, now there are six.
Light mode is also now the new default theme
for Windows 11, rather than the hybrid of a dark taskbar and light apps in
Windows 10. The Windows logo has gone through a redesign, it now resembles the
Microsoft logo a lot more. The Lock screen has gone through some changes, but
it’s pretty underwhelming. To sum it up, elements of the Lock screen have now
been centered and the quick status is now removed, you can only show one app
that shows detailed status. Windows 11 now introduces a new blur effect called
mica and acrylic.
The blur will always show your desktop
wallpaper even if the window is on top of a window with a different color, look
at how the calculator’s blur shows the desktop wallpaper as opposed to the white
blur in the calculator in Windows 10 despite both being in front of Notepad.
Windows 11 now has a new font called, and I’m definitely going to mispronounce
this,
Segoe UI Variable, which is Microsoft’s
modified version of the previous Segoe UI font found in Windows 10. To
paraphrase, Microsoft basically says that this is a more pleasing and easier
font to read. The screen with the spinning logo when signing in or out, doing
updates, restarting, and stuff like that now only shows a black background,
unlike Windows 10 where it takes your accent color and sets that as the color
of the background. Similarly,
depending on whether you’re using the
dark or light mode, opening apps with splash screens will only show a black or
white background in Windows 11, rather than conforming the color of the
background with the accent color in Windows 10. Context menus throughout
Windows 11 have now been updated to look more modern, however, there is still an
option within the context menu called “Show more options” that allows you to
see the old one that is seen in Windows 10 if you need it for some reason.
Alert boxes for things like changing
display settings and low battery alerts now have a complete redesign in Windows
11. Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 now has a colored line at the bottom of some
text boxes. Finally, in Windows 11’s Sign-in screen, the text box is now dark
instead of white in Windows 10, and the enter arrow looks like it’s part of the
text box rather than being on its own in Windows 10.
In terms of System sounds, Windows 11
actually has different sounds between its dark mode and light mode. In dark
mode, the sounds are a lot more echoed and muted whereas, in light mode, they
are more clear and less echoed. It’s actually very interesting. Here’s a direct
comparison of the sounds in Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows 11’s dark mode.
Next let’s talk about the Action Center overhaul in Windows 11,
which actually isn’t even called Action
Center anymore, it’s separated in two menus called Quick Settings and
Notifications. Quick Settings is not only an area that shows the toggles found
at the bottom of the Action Center in Windows 10, but it now also shows the new
place for your volume, brightness, and even your Wi-Fi controls. In Windows 10,
all three of those were in separate menus. Now
if you click lets say the network icon in the system tray, it won’t take you to
a separate network flyout, it’ll now take you to the entire quick settings menu
instead. This menu can also be accessed using the Windows + A shortcut on your
keyboard, which is the same shortcut that opens the Action Center in Windows
10. The other menu is the notifications menu, which is now part of the
calendar.
Now, the notifications are found above
the calendar instead of within Action Center, and not only are the
notifications round, but they’re also no longer inside a bar like it was in
Windows 10. You also have a shortcut to Focus assist settings in the settings
apps. This menu can also be accessed using the Windows + N shortcut on your
keyboard.
And if you’re curious about what’s
changed about the calendar, you’ll be pretty disappointed. It has absolutely no
integration with anything and the detailed clock that showed seconds is also
gone. All it shows is the date, and that’s about it. Luckily, you can minimize
the calendar within the notification menu if you don’t want to see it. And
here’s a little comparison of the news feed in Windows 10 and the widgets panel
in Windows 11. Now,
don’t be fooled, these are pretty much almost
the exact same thing, they just look different and are found in different areas
of Windows. The news feed is found near the system tray and the widgets panel
is accessed via a taskbar icon or by using the Windows + W shortcut on your keyboard. The last thing to note is that the news feed is customized using Microsoft Edge
while the widgets panel is partially customized within the panel,
partially through Microsoft Edge as well.
Microsoft has also made a number of changes to Snap assist and multitasking
features. Starting off, the task viewer has now been simplified in Windows 11
and the Timeline feature that is found in Windows 10 has now been removed. You
can now choose a different wallpaper for each virtual desktop in Windows 11
rather than only one for every single one in Windows 10. The Snap assist
preview now has a frosted glass look rather than the transparent glass in
Windows 10.
The animation when you actually preview and
snap a window has also been changed. Funnily enough, Windows 10 doesn’t even
have animation when you snap the window. And generally speaking, Snap assist
is just much smarter now and is able to do more than it used to in Windows 10,
so for example, when snapping a window in a quadrant, Windows 11 will assist
you in finding other windows while in Windows 10, snapping to a quadrant does
nothing.
When using snap assist to snap different
windows on different parts of the screen, Windows will now automatically sort
those windows into a group, and those groups can now be previewed and opened in
the taskbar. Windows 10 doesn’t have this feature, so groups don’t show up when
hovering on a taskbar icon. The line seen when resizing apps side-by-side now
has a new look. When you’re actually using it, it disappears in Windows 11 while
still being present in Windows 10. And here’s a look at differences in built-in
programs and apps. Now, many of the applications in Windows 11 have been
updated and more updates are to come even after its release. However, because
there are just so many to cover in one video,
here are just the biggest highlights.
Starting with File Explorer, there have been some various UI changes. There's
now a replacement to the Ribbon UI found at the top of File Explorer which
tries to simplify and get rid of all the clutter that was the old Ribbon UI.
It’ll also have less spaced-out icons by default, which can be reverted if you
don’t like that, and 3D Objects is no longer its own dedicated folder. The
Settings App has gotten a complete overhaul, it’s now supposed to be easier to
navigate, more organized,
and overall just look better. You’ll see more
enlarged icons and pictures that make the UI easier to use, and even some new
animations. And just like the Settings App, the Microsoft store is also getting
a huge revamp with a new UI and various improvements. However, one of the best
parts is that the store is now open to accepting more app types such as PWA
which are web apps, Win32 which are like the .exe installers,
even android apps, though support for that will be delayed. This app is also coming to Windows 10, which is a huge bonus. Skype, which was preloaded in Windows 10, has been removed in favor of the Microsoft Teams integration system built into Windows 11. However, you can still install Skype again if you really need it. Internet Explorer is finally disabled from Windows 11. You can try, it is nowhere to be found, so your only option is Microsoft Edge. It’s still there in Windows 10,
but not on Windows
11. Microsoft has also done a lot to make sure Windows 11 is consistent and
remove duplicate Windows accessories that were present in Windows 10. So,
what they’re basically doing is they’re updating a legacy Windows accessory and
removing the duplicate version. For example, Snip & Sketch has been removed
and a newly updated Snipping Tool is nowhere with a more modern UI and various
features from Snip & Sketch.
This is also going to be done with paint in
the future, where Paint3D is removed by default and the old MSPaint is going to
be updated not only with a new look but with new features as well. Windows
Terminal is now a preloaded application in Windows 11 and aims to unify Command
Prompt, PowerShell, and other command lines into just one app. Alarms and Clock
is now just called Clock and has a new feature called Focus sessions aimed to
help people pace themselves to reach their goals. And aside from other little
updates to apps,
pretty much all the built-in Windows
applications have been and will be updated with Windows 11’s new design
language, including rounded corners and new blur effects. Here’s a quick
rundown of preloaded apps on one OS that does not thereby default on the other,
and these are apps that I haven’t mentioned yet. 3D Viewer, Math Input Panel,
Mixed Reality Portal, OneNote for Windows 10, and the People App are all the
preloaded exclusives on Windows 10 while Get Started, Microsoft News
, and Microsoft To-Do are the preloaded
exclusives in Windows 11. All of these can still be installed through the
Microsoft Store on both OSes except for the Math Input Panel, The People App,
and Get Started. Now let’s change perspective and move on to some tablet
features. When you turn a device into a tablet in Windows 11, icons in the
taskbar will just be spaced out. However, Windows 10 has two options.
You can either space out the icons just
like in Windows 11, or you can have it enable tablet mode which is a completely
different mode that is not available in Windows 11. Touch-enabled controls are
now easier to use in Windows 11 because touch elements are stickier. For
example, look at how my finger can resize notepad in Windows 11 easier than I
am able to in Windows 10. This is because the resizing targets are now easier
to touch and feel stickier.
Now here’s a rundown of the new and
modified gestures between both OSes. Swiping form left to right from the edge
in Windows 11 shows the widgets panel while in Windows 10, it shows task
viewer. Swiping from right to left from the edge starts the Action Center in
Windows 10 and Notifications & Calendar in Windows 11. Swiping from the top
does nothing, but if you’re on tablet mode in Windows 10, you can close apps if
you swipe from top to bottom.
In Windows 11, If you touch the screen with
four fingers and move them horizontally, you can now switch between virtual desktops,
and if you do the same thing with three, you’ll switch between different
windows. If you swipe up with three or four fingers, you’ll activate task
viewer. All these three and four fingered gestures just talked about are just
not a thing in Windows 10. The animation for rotating your screen has been
changed between both versions.
Windows 10 zooms out and orientates while
Windows 11 flips everything like it does in iOS. And adding on to rotating the
screen, both versions of Windows behave differently when scaling windows while
rotating the screen, look what’s happening. In Windows 10, the scale of the windows to
whatever orientation you switch to while in Windows 11, the windows stay in the
same position the entire time despite rotating the screen.
The touch keyboard in Windows 11 has had a
complete overhaul. The keyboard looks nicer and keys are now rounded compared
to the square ones in Windows 10, there are now more keys, navigating to
certain settings are supposed to be easier, and now you can change the theme of
your keyboard and not be stuck with just white or black. Now let’s talk about
the different experiences you’ll get setting up both versions of Windows.
The setup screen on Windows 11 has been
completely redone. In Windows 10, the setup screen was dark blue and black with
fade animations when navigating throughout the setup. In Windows 11, there are
now more vibrant colors and blurs, new animations, new icons, new loading
screens, and other various improvements. Cortina used to be a big part of the Windows
10 setup experience, however, say goodbye to her because she is no longer part
of the setup experience in Windows 11.
The steps you go through to set up
Windows haven’t changed much between both versions. The only new step added in
Windows 11 is the ability to name the computer, which was actually not a thing
in Windows 10. After finishing setup, you’ll be greeted with some text and
animation on both OSes while Windows is getting your desktop ready. Not only is
the text different during this process, but the background has also had a
visual overhaul. In Windows 10,
the background was constantly changing between
different colors while in Windows 11, a blurry, blueish-purple, round light
constantly moves around the background. And an interesting little find, when
the entire setup process is complete and you get to your desktop, the start
menu will now automatically pop up, which is just not what happens in Windows
10.
If you know Windows history, you’ll know
that this is exactly what happens after you’re done setting up Windows XP as
well. The final important thing to note is that you’ll no longer be able to install
Windows as a 32-bit option in Windows 11. If you need a 32-bit version of
Windows, the final version to support that will now be Windows 10.
And here’s just a few things to note
about Windows Update. Firstly, the text that is shown when updating the
operating system during a restart has been changed. Windows 10 basically tells
you exactly what is going on while Windows 11 just uses more natural language.
Secondly, Windows Update will now show the estimated amount of time needed to
complete updates. And finally, let’s talk about feature updates. In Windows 10,
Microsoft was committed to releasing a feature
update twice a year. That is now changing because, in Windows 11, you’ll only
get one feature update a year instead of two. So hopefully you can now decide
whether to upgrade to Windows 11