A newer version of windows will be available soon. Microsoft has officially announced that Windows 11 will be available starting October 5 this year. The best part is it will roll out as a free upgrade to eligible Windows 10 PCs.

According to Windows marketing general manager Aaron Woodman, Microsoft will use on-device data and other factors to determine whether your PC is qualified for the free Operating System upgrade. Among others, it will be “based on intelligence models that consider hardware eligibility, reliability metrics, age of the device, and other factors.” Microsoft has been using this method for quite some time now.

The new Windows 11 will bring back the modern look with “rounded corners and app icons displayed in the center of the taskbar”. Moreover, there will be new sounds designed to be less jarring. Microsoft also redesigned the Start menu, the app store, and the Settings app, hence it will be easier to arrange multiple app windows on the screen. 

Another notable feature of the new Windows is the availability of Android apps. This will be by way of Amazon’s Appstore. This update is said to be caused by rising competition from Chromebooks running Google’s Chrome OS, since Chromebooks are capable of running Android apps.

Those who have a Windows 10 PC will be notified when the update is available.  People can also go to “Settings > System > Windows Update” in their computers to manually check if the upgrade is ready.

Windows marketing general manager Aaron Woodman also wrote on his blog that “Microsoft said last week it will support Windows 11 when it’s running on a variety of PC processors, including Intel chips manufactured as far back as 2016. The company expects all devices that meet the Windows 11 requirements to receive the free upgrade by the middle of 2022, Woodman wrote.