We may be compensated by vendors who appear on this page through methods such as affiliate links or sponsored partnerships. Make sure to set your update channel to “dev.” Then you’ll see the Windows 11 preview show up in software update.With Parallels Desktop 17, you can run Windows 11 on Intel-based and M1-based Macs, though an M1 Mac will support only the ARM-based version of Windows 11.

If you want to try Windows 11 on your PC, you can do so by joining the Windows Insider Program in the settings app. It’s a worthy competitor to macOS Monterey and I’m curious to see how the two operating systems evolve while they’re in beta through the rest of the summer. It includes quality of life improvements to apps, a fresh new design, and features like the ability to run Android software. Windows 11 is a substantial update to a platform that has become increasingly important because of the pandemic. I’d also love for it not to take up the entire screen, covering my windows and content. I’d love to see Apple take the new App Library design from iPadOS 15 and bring it to macOS in the future. But I would like for Apple to finally update Launchpad. But Windows 11’s biggest feature by far is its new design language that extends across the system. Windows 10 did a nice job of covering up some of the mess and it made the OS more usable. Windows has never looked “beautiful.” It’s always been a mashup of different eras going back to the ’90s with some paint on the surface. It’s no speed demon, but it ran Windows 10 just fine and shows no signs of slowdown with Windows 11. The specs on my Surface Pro are pretty mediocre, it has an Intel Core m3 at 1.6GHz, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. It looks like they might change the minimum requirements by the time the operating system is complete for release later this year. The company says it’s doing this to evaluate what other machines might be able to run Windows 11.

It technically doesn’t meet Microsoft’s minimum requirements for the update, but the company is letting even unsupported machines run the developer preview. I’m testing Windows 11 on a 2017 Surface Pro.

Here’s what I think after using it for a few hours. So when Microsoft unveiled Windows 11 with a specific emphasis on its refined design, I had to try it out. All of these operating systems push each other forward. But it’s important to keep an eye on the competition. I’ve used a Mac my entire life, and it’s certainly no secret that I have a special affinity for Apple.

Windows 11 macos