TL;DR
- So far, Microsoft will only give a vague “holiday” window for the Windows 11 release date.
- However, multiple bits of evidence point to an October 20 release date, or at least sometime in October.
- Eligible Windows 10 PCs will get Windows 11 as a free upgrade, and new PCs will start to ship with it this year.
Last week, Microsoft took the wraps off the newest iteration of its desktop operating system, known as Windows 11. During the launch event, the company revealed a ton of details related to the software.
However, it did not divulge a Windows 11 release date. It confirmed that early beta testers will get a chance to use the software this month. It also confirmed that the stable rollout would happen at some point during the “holiday” period of this year. It didn’t give any more specific info, though.
Related: You told us: You’ll definitely be running Android apps on your Windows 11 PC
Thankfully, The Verge deduced ways to figure out when Microsoft will most likely launch Windows 11. For example, in one image Microsoft shared, you can see a Microsoft Teams conversation between Stevie Bathiche and Panos Panay, two key execs at Microsoft. In the message, Bathiche tells Panay that he “can’t wait for October.”
Drilling down to an even more specific time isn’t tricky, either. There are multiple instances in which the date and time shown in Windows 11 images are 11:11 on October 20, 2021. Granted, there are a few others that reference October 6, 2021, but it appears very clear that October is when we’ll see the Windows 11 release date.
There’s still some confusion surrounding which existing PCs would be eligible for the free Windows 11 upgrade. Microsoft has promised to release a blog post soon giving more information on what you’ll need to do to get your PC ready for the upgrade as well as what you’ll be able to do if your hardware isn’t officially eligible.
