Microsoft has announced that Windows 11 will launch on 5 October and be available as a free upgrade for owners of Windows 10. In addition, the company has revealed that new hardware releasing into the market will also come with Windows 11 pre-installed.

All owners of Windows 10 are legible for the Windows 11 upgrade starting on 5 October. However, Microsoft says that the release will be staggered and available in phases across certain regions. Newer tech will be offered the upgrades first depending on the release date and specs. Windows 11 will become available for more in-market hardware in the coming weeks and months.

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In order to upgrade and move your Windows 10 installation over to Windows 11, users need to make use of the Windows Update feature. Microsoft says that users should keep their devices up to date with the latest security and core system updates installed. Once Windows 11 releases on 5 October, the Windows Update utility will automatically notify you when your device is enrolled and ready to update.

Users can also check to see if their device is eligible for the Windows 11 upgrade through Microsoft’s dedicated PC Health app. You can download the app here and run the tool. This program checks your license, hardware and CPU in order to verify your current build’s Windows 11 compatibility. Keep in mind that the tool is still in preview.

At launch, Windows 11 won’t include all the big features that Microsoft has announced. Android app support won’t be available on the launch build. Microsoft plans on rolling this out to Windows Insiders in the coming months and the feature won’t likely release until 2022.

For many, running Windows 11 should be easy on their device. However, Microsoft has detailed specific requirements needed in order to install the OS. The company says that your PC needs to have a 64-bit 1GHz processor with two or more cores, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a TPM 1.2 chip.

If you don’t meet these requirements, you can install Windows 11 through an ISO but Microsoft has warned against this. The company says that users who don’t meet the requirements and still install the OS might not get access to Windows Update and security patches.

Microsoft has promised to support Windows 10 for quite some time at least. The company will continue to add features and updates to the OS right up until 14 October 2025.

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