3 variations that truly matter

We have recognized for a while now that Microsoft intends on sunsetting its ever-popular Home windows 10 desktop working system later this yr. Particularly, mainstream help for the OS is slated to come back to an finish on October 14, 2025, and the corporate is keen to transition any and all customers to its newer Home windows 11 platform.

In a recent development, Microsoft has determined to increase an olive department to Windows 10 holdouts in an fascinating means. Somewhat than charging shoppers for a further yr of safety patches by way of its Extended Security Updates (ESU) program, the corporate is as an alternative providing help without spending a dime — as long as you register with a Microsoft Account and sync your information with the Home windows Backup app.

This extra yr of safety patches is an enormous deal for Home windows 10 customers that have not upgraded to (or are ineligible for) the Home windows 11 OS replace. In fact, bug patches and new options aren’t part of the deal, and in the end Home windows 11 will as soon as once more come knocking on the door (er, window). Even nonetheless, a bit of additional peace of thoughts in relation to malware and virus risk safety is all the time appreciated.

Should you occur to be gearing as much as make the soar to Home windows 11, or when you’re planning on buying a new PC within the coming months, then there are a couple of variations between the 2 desktop platforms which are price highlighting. Listed here are three main variations that I instantly observed upon upgrading, and that try to be conscious of as we enter into this era of transition.

1

Home windows 11 is rather a lot prettier than Home windows 10

The grass is aesthetically pleasing on the opposite aspect

Pocket-lint / Microsoft

Let’s face it: Home windows 10 is tough wanting. The OS is an aesthetic hodgepodge of a number of eras of Microsoft design language initiatives, starting from Home windows 95-esque applets, Home windows 8-style Metro live tiles, and even an early experimental type of Fluent Design. The one factor that is constant in Home windows 10’s interface is its utter lack of consistency.

Against this, Home windows 11 is a contemporary and engaging working system. Upon updating, you will be greeted with pleasantly rounded corners, slick animations with consideration paid to the smallest of particulars, and a coherently applied Fluent 2 design system throughout apps and shell surfaces. In fact, Microsoft nonetheless must modernize a number of archaic parts hidden under the floor, however the end-user expertise is miles forward of what it was within the Home windows 10 days.

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2

Sayonara, taskbar repositioning

Home windows 11 continues to be lacking some superior customization choices

With Home windows 11, Microsoft sacrificed a few of Home windows’ conventional functionalities and customization choices within the identify of simplicity. The corporate rewrote the system taskbar with modernized code, which has resulted in a scarcity of function parity throughout Home windows 11 and 10. The Begin Menu, too, is a wholly new design that also lacks a few of the superior configurability of its direct predecessor.

Should you’re coming from Home windows 10, listed here are a few of the shell options which are conspicuously absent from Home windows 11 as of 2025:

• Taskbar relocation
• Compact taskbar mode
• Begin Menu resizability
• Peak on Hover
• Agenda view throughout the calendar flyout
• A battery flyout with efficiency mode toggles
• Disguise undesirable fast settings tiles

I’ve written about this before, nevertheless it’s crucial that Microsoft reimplement these lacking options as quickly as doable, with a purpose to court docket its most religious and constant clients. These superior options is likely to be area of interest, however a small-yet-vocal crowd of energy customers proceed to depend on them every day.

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3

Pill Mode has been given the axe

Relating to its contact UI, Home windows 11 is one step ahead and one step backward

Pill Mode on Home windows 10, which may be toggled on manually or set to invoke robotically when switching a PC into its pill posture, is every part Home windows 8 ought to’ve been at launch. The Begin Menu expands right into a full-screen view that serves as a house display for launching apps, contact display gestures for break up screening and shutting apps are added to the fold, apps open in full display by default, and the taskbar is stripped right down to the fundamentals.

With the discharge of Home windows 11 in 2021, Microsoft gave Home windows’ underappreciated Pill Mode the boot. Undoubtedly, the function was unceremoniously stripped from the OS resulting from its lack of recognition, however I am of the opinion that the corporate threw the infant out with the bathtub water on this one. The flexibility to swipe via pinned and put in apps in full-screen mode is beneficial on pill PCs, as is the app-closing gesture and automated full-screening of software program packages.

Because it presently stands, Home windows 11 solely sports activities three touch-screen-friendly additions: a dynamic taskbar that collapses and expands in dimension, gestures for invoking sure UI parts, and context menus that improve in dimension and padding primarily based on enter sort. These are all helpful options to have on one thing like Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 12-inch, however I proceed to overlook having a devoted Pill Mode constructed into the system. Many scoff on the notion of Home windows ever turning into a real touch-optimized OS, however I personally proceed to carry out hope.

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