14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 11 is projected to launch next week, so Microsoft is now giving the finishing touches to the operating system ahead of this highly anticipated moment.
Part of the last-minute polishing seems to be the rollout of the new Photos app to all insiders, including those in the Beta and Release Preview channels, a couple of weeks after Microsoft originally shipped this UI update to users enrolled in the Dev channel.
So right now, everybody who is running a Windows 11 preview build should be able to try out the new Photos app, though as I’ve said before, everything comes down to a UI refresh without any noticeable new feature.
However, this is still good news, especially as Microsoft therefore brings the Photos app in line with the rest of the operating system, thus offering more consistency on Windows 11.
The rollout starts next week
Windows 11 will go live for the very first users next week, with the rollout to then continue in the coming months until the broad availability is reached in mid-2022.
“The free upgrade to Windows 11 starts on October 5 and will be phased and measured with a focus on quality. Following the tremendous learnings from Windows 10, we want to make sure we’re providing you with the best possible experience,” Microsoft said in an announcement.
“That means new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first. The upgrade will then roll out over time to in-market devices based on intelligence models that consider hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, age of device and other factors that impact the upgrade experience. We expect all eligible devices to be offered the free upgrade to Windows 11 by mid-2022.”
The free upgrade to Windows 11 will show up in Windows Update just like a regular update.