The Evolution of Windows: A Deep Dive into Windows 11

As I sat down to explore the latest iteration of Microsoft's flagship operating system, Windows 11, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and trepidation. With its sleek new design and promising features, this update has been touted as a major step forward for the company. But, as is often the case with software evolution, there's more to it than meets the eye.

One of the first things that struck me was the attention to detail in Windows 11. From the rounded corners of the Start menu to the custom animations on click, it's clear that Microsoft has been pouring over every aspect of the user experience. The animations themselves are particularly noteworthy, with a smooth and fluid motion that makes interacting with the interface feel almost like a dance. Customization is also on full display, with users able to personalize their taskbar and notification center with ease.

But what really caught my attention was the way Windows 11 seems to have taken cues from its competitors. The right-click menus, for example, now feature rounded corners that make them look more modern and less like a relic of the past. And while the old-school control panel is still present in all its glory, Microsoft has also managed to integrate some surprising features into the new interface. Like the phone dialer, which can be summoned from the Run dialog box with ease.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "But what about the context menus?" Ah, yes, those too have gotten a makeover in Windows 11. Gone are the sharp corners and angular edges of the old design; instead, we get soft, rounded edges that make these little sheets look almost... playful. And it's this attention to detail that really makes Windows 11 feel like a major step forward.

Of course, one of the biggest challenges facing Microsoft is balancing innovation with backward compatibility. As you know, Apple has long been the master of this delicate dance, and their willingness to leave old software behind has allowed them to focus on new features without worrying about alienating their user base. But for Microsoft, it's a different story altogether.

As I delved deeper into Windows 11, I couldn't help but notice the DLLs (Dynamic Link Library) still lurking in the background, like ghosts from the past. And let's not forget about the registry editor, that old-school tool that's been around since the dawn of time. It's clear that Microsoft is trying to maintain a connection to its heritage, even as it moves forward into new territory.

And speaking of new territory, I noticed something interesting in Windows 11: mentions of Windows 10X. Ah, yes, that mysterious project that was rumored to be a lightweight, Windows-based OS for devices like tablets and smartphones. It seems that this feature is finally making an appearance in the mainline version of Windows 11.

So what does this mean for the future of Windows? Will we see more under-the-hood changes, or will Microsoft stick to its tried-and-true formula? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure: with features like live tiles and widgets, Microsoft is pushing the boundaries of what a desktop operating system can do.

But there's still plenty to discover in Windows 11. Let's take a closer look at some of the other features that make this OS so unique. For example, the Start menu has undergone a significant transformation, with a new design that incorporates live tiles and a more intuitive layout. And what about the theme settings? It seems like Microsoft is trying to give users more control over their visual experience, with options for custom sounds, fonts, and even the ability to create our own themes.

Of course, no discussion of Windows 11 would be complete without mentioning the infamous "Device Connect" feature. For those who may not know, this is a little-known tool that allows you to share files and devices between computers using Wi-Fi Direct. It's a fascinating example of how Microsoft is trying to bridge the gap between different devices and platforms.

But what really gets me excited about Windows 11 is the way it incorporates subtle animations and effects into the interface. From the way the icons slide into place on the taskbar to the kinetic motion of the widgets, every detail has been carefully considered to create a seamless user experience.

And then there's the matter of the dock, that ubiquitous feature found in macOS. Microsoft seems to be trying to give it its own twist, with an interface that slides out from the right-hand side of the screen like a magic trick. It's a clever move, and one that shows just how much Microsoft is paying attention to the competition.

Finally, let's not forget about the sounds. Ah, yes, those familiar beeps and chimes that have been a staple of Windows since its earliest days. In Windows 11, we get some nice touches, like the return of the old Vista sound effects. It's a small thing, perhaps, but it shows just how much Microsoft is trying to create a sense of continuity with its past.

As I conclude my exploration of Windows 11, one thing is clear: this is an OS that's all about balance and attention to detail. With its rounded corners, custom animations, and subtle effects, Microsoft has created an interface that feels both modern and familiar at the same time. And while there may be some room for improvement – after all, no system is perfect – I have to say: Windows 11 is a major step forward in the evolution of the desktop operating system.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(logo whooshing)- So Microsoft has a big announcementcoming up on June 24thregarding Windows 11,but it looks like there was a leak online.So we're gonna take a lookat it right now with anew installation sensationand you're coming with, lets go.(upbeat music)Hey guys, how are you all doing?If you're new here?Welcome, my name is Krazy Kenand what I love to do sometimesis what I'd love to callan installation sensationwhere we install a new operating systemthat we've never tried beforeand then we test it out.We like to look for bugs,we like to test featuresand of course, I like to usemy handy dandy flash drivethat I've had with mefor like a million years doing this stuff.So we're gonna plug this inand this is the leak build of Windows 11.So we may not see everythingin this particular build.We might see more on theJune 24th announcement,but we still have somecool stuff to explore.I've never tried this before.This is my first time,you're all witnessesand we're doing this straight up.We're installing this directlyonto a 2013 Intel MacBook Pro,no virtualization, none of that,we're doing it straight up.So as we can already seethe logo looks different.Ah! I feel like it was just yesterdaythat I released the Windows10 technical preview episodeof my old show, TidBytes.Actually, no, it doesn'tfeel like yesterday.It does feel like itwas like six years ago.I lost track of timebut we are using English, English, and US.So let's do that.And I love clicking onthe old school buttons.That just seems to be apattern that Microsoft does,the newer systems are always using olderlike previous versionUIs for their installers,that's typically how it goes.I don't have a productkey, at least not yet.So now we have a version selector here.It looks like Windows 11 home, Nand I don't remember whatend means in this case.We have Education, Education N,Pro, Pro N.There's a lot of different versions here,I'm gonna choose proand see what that does.And it should start up.Oh! No, wait, we need to,this PC doesn't meet the,Oh! my gosh, seriously.This PC doesn't meet thesystem requirements, what.It is an almost eight year old computer.So let's try Windows 11 home.Oh! Crap, we can't run Windows11 on your, all that sucks.I can bust out my ginormous iMacand we can try it on there.Okay, change of plans.And here we are,we have transitioned to a 10 core, i9,something gigahertz iMacwith a 5,700 STG GPU.Hopefully this is good enoughfor the Windows 11 leaked build.So lets boot it into that.Let's try the wholeWindows 11 pro thing again.We'll do next,Oh! This PC doesn't meet the system,I wonder if a driver issue.Yeah, I just, maybe thisthing just straight upcannot interpret the hardware properly.So I think we're gonna haveto go to a virtualization solution.Hey, this is tech misadventures,there would not be a techmisadventures episodewithout problems.Thus is the Krazy Ken curses missionto make my life a living dow.Okay, so we are now on plan Cof this installation sensation.Hopefully, it works,third time's the charm.I'm just gonna use VMware Fusion,I've used their stuff a bunch before,I put the ISO into their wizard.I don't know, man, what do you think?Give it at least four and RAM it does 192,we'll give it eight gigs.Hopefully this all worksand you are running this virtual machinewith side channel mitigations enabled.What are we in court?I've never seen them.I don't even care anymore.All right, let's do that, see if it works.Boot from the CDand Boom! We have some windows,which is good when you'reinstalling windows,you wanna see those.It's gonna be a little fuzzyand I'll squarebecause we do not haveall the display driversand everything installed right now.So it really doesn'tunderstand the capabilitiesof this computer yet.We're going to do windows 11 procause it sounds pro, okay?We did not get this far last timeand we got to read everyword of this, done.It's not an upgrade,we've got to do a custom install.So we have our unallocated space here,we'll make a new partitionon their full sizeto ensure when Windows featureswork correctly, whatever.Okay, so it's got all of its partitions,I guess it has to makesome reserved things.So we'll say, yep,install on drive partition three primaryand Boom!Okay, well this is already goinga billion times more smoothlythan installing it straight up.I tried to be a cool kidand not use a virtual machinebut whatever virtualmachines are so much easierwhen you have a life andyou want to get back to it.And it's just cruising along 35, 38.So now we're in theinstalling updates already.Okay, we're restarting.So we'll click restart now.It is going super fast,but it is coming from afast SSD just onto itself,it's not coming from aslow DVD or anything.And we're rebooting,getting devices ready,starting services, hold up, slow down.I can read.And we're restarting again.(logo whooshing)Ooh! Okay, we got a new sound.Oh! Okay, this is new animationsand graphics everywhere.Okay, the sound was okay,I kind of want somethingmaybe a little more exciting than that,but whatever, it's all good.But yeah, all of thislooks completely new.It looks like we have thatinitial scrolling thereand a different scroll bar look.Lot of rounded corners,it looks like they're pushingthe rounded corner thing.We have rounded corners on the Windows,rounded corners on the highlightsand the fills and on thebuttons, pretty sweet.Steve jobs would be happy.So, we have a cool littleloading thing there too,little different, niceanimations there, Wow!Looking pretty cool.Is this the right keyboard US?Absolutely, you wanna add a second?No fricking way.I've never done that in my life.Again. We still need to waitto see what happens on June 24th.We might see more featuresin bigger under the hoodchanges on that date.So subscribe and stay tunedbecause I want to cover that news as well.As of right now,I can't expect anythingmajor aside from UI tweaks.It's probably still a lotof the same underlying codewhich has been around for a long ass timebut maybe that'll be changing on the 24th,we'll find out as soon as we can.So set up for personal use, yes.Boom! Security questions, really?What is this?2002, okay, what wasyour first pet's name?None of your business.What was your childhood nickname?I can't believe it's not blubber.So location, no.Find my device, no.diagnostic data, no.Anyway, advertising, no screw you.And accept, now let's seewhat's new from Windows.I wonder if they leaked this on purpose.You ever think about that?Do you think they did thatto like drive up the hype?Ooh! wait a minute.(beep)Sorry, it almost knockedmy phone off the table.This like a ethereal blurryglow in the background is new.I'm digging it.Ooh! Nothing new sound there.I'm guessing the wholesoundscape has been...Oh! Okay, all right.We're just jumping right in.So yeah, I'm guessing the themesand everything had been tweaked as well.New wallpaper that looks pretty smexy.So first glance.Yeah, we're gonna getthe drivers installedso we can actually like usethe pixels that I paid for.But at first glance, iconslook refined and new,they are center aligned by default,kind of reminds me ofmacOS, which is sweet.And we have this newrounded corners start menuand it looks very inspired by Windows 10Xwhich was a system madefor dual screen devicesbut it looks like...And I don't know if this wasthe plan from the beginningthat Microsoft is actually pivotingor maybe this again was intentional.Pivoting to make that dualscreen device aestheticactually be the mainstreamlook for their desktop iOS.So yeah, okay, good start.We do need to get drivers andother things Bob's on here.So, but I am liking the colors of thishowever, the inconsistencyof square corners hereand rounded corners here is weird,but this isn't really official yet,this is a leaked build.So we'll see what happens.Any, who's all set up 64 bitand we do have rounded buttons here.So it looks like that's working.So let's see.Okay, so far so good.So welcome to the installation.We'll do that, we'll do complete.Oh! Wow, that threw me for a loop.I did not think the radiobutton was selected.Usually when I click a radio buttonthat fills in this system,it just kind of highlights the rim.That was really confusing at first,but I guess that's justwhat they wanna do.Okay, so now we are installingand now we have rounded corners on here.That's interesting.So I wonder if it needed a driverto put rounded cornerson these Windows here.You must restart, okay.Yes, now we have roundedcorners on the file explorer.Okay, so yeah, that wasclearly a driver issue,but as we can see rounded corners there,rounded corners here,animation is working.This is cool.Okay, do we have like frosted Glasgow?Oh! Yeah, we got like the frostglass look in the task bar.Oh! Hello, hello, nicefrosted animation there.Okay, I had a feeling, we'dsee something like this.This is kind of like in Mac iOSwhen you hover over the green button,you get a pop-up menu,but of course it's okay.It doesn't really matter whocame first with the feature.I really couldn't give a crap,but Microsoft, they reallymade the whole snapping featurelike mainstream from the beginning.That's one teacher, they do really well.So now it looks like we can trigger itfrom clicking like that,which is pretty sweetand we can pull it out.Let's actually take alook at the settings.And again, as part of aninstallation sensation,we're just experimenting,I have never used this before.So, it looks like we have someof that fluent design inspiration there.You can see like as Ihover the cursor around,it kind of like triggerslike a highlight fade aroundthe buttons, interesting.Let's see if we can get a dark mode.Yeah, I know, we need toactivate that customize.That's gonna be interesting.How do you activate aleak build of windows?I mean, I'm sure people have customized.Well, I do have a product keyfrom like a million years ago,can I just type that in?Actually I wonder, hang on.Windows activated, hell yeah dude,like fricking key from nine years ago,still fricking works, dark mode.Oh! Yeah, need changemy pants, just kidding.That looks really cool in dark mode.I am a dark mode sucker.I am all for dark mode.We can get the nice transparencygoing on in the task bar thereand in the start menu there, look at that.Okay, that is hot.And it looks like we canturn the transparency offif we want it to be more opaqueor we can keep it onand get that likefrosted, glossy and blur.Lets go to themes,let's just see what the,okay, here we go Windows dark.Yeah. Oh! Yeah baby, that'swhat I'm talking about.I love me some dark mode.So we have Windows light,Windows dark, glow,captured motion, sunrise and flow.A couple of differentthemes going on here.Okay, pretty cool.Let's see flow here, not from progressive.Very nice, very cool.I'm gonna stick with windows dark.I really liked this wallpaper here.I don't know really...It's abstract, it looks likemaybe like paper or somethingbut looks really cool.Okay, so now let's see,we have search here.Ooh! You see that, whenyou click at highlight,kind of animates around the icon.That is fascinating.All right, we got here,this is probably the task view.Oh! Dude, the icons havetheir own custom animation,look at that.Oh! That's a little touch, I really like.What do we got here?So we have widgets.Hello, that's a name I haven'theard of in a long timein the windows space.You need a Microsoft accountto use windows dashboard?Screw you dude, I don't want.No, fine you win, I'll sign in.Okay, so for the fourthtry, widgets, there we go.We have weather, stocks, NBA.I don't really care about news stuff,if I can find a way to get rid of that,I would love to get rid of that.I don't need to be bombarded with that.But whether in stocks,I guess I'm cool withthat's pretty coolthat we know havelike a kind of like the old Windows 7or even Vista days with the sidebar.Remember that, those widgets?That was fun.So yeah, now we have that little thingthat pops up there, okay.So it looks like we have like a bitof a bevel highlight hereand on the tool tips as well, very cool.And again, custom animationsfor what you click on.But another thing I noticedis when you quit an application,the icons kind of just likebumped down, take a look,see what I mean?They kind of just like shuffled downand if I open it up,they kind of just animatekind of playfully.I think that's pretty sweet.Got the right clickmenus, rounded corners,pretty sweet.Oh! That one does, there'sno rounded corner there.That's interesting, the right click.Okay, the right click menu here.You still get these cool shortcuts.This has the rounded corners,but if you right click on edge,you don't get the rounded corners.But if I right click onthese other apps, I do.Now, there's no rounded cornerfor when these pop out.I forgot what the formal nameof these little sheets are.Nice sound, but yeah, there'sno rounded corners there yet,but it looks like we doevery rounded cornersin most other places.And it looks like thecontextual menus here tooalso have rounded corners.So that's interesting.So, let's see if we cansummon the old stuff.So it looks like we still havethe old school controlpanel in here, if we want.Let's see, Oh! Let me see phone dialer,might be hidden somewhere.You can still go to run, type in dialerand you get the phone dialer,that's so freaking cool.It just looks so out of place.Yeah, this is a masterpiece right here.Anyway, there we go.Windows 11, Windows 11Pro, OS build 219960.1.I am really curious to seeif they're gonna do anysignificant underpinning changes.The one thing that's tricky for Microsoft,is they have so many usersthat rely on backward compatibility.They can't really do what apple doesand burn the past and move on.That would be a disadvantageto their business.So I don't knowhow they're gonna pull offunderlying code changesbecause I'm guessingjust like Patreon certainly to joke about,you still have DLLs, the registry.- DLLs is a registry,disk defragmentation,no end user should everhave to know about that.(audience laughs)- You could probably stillpull up the registry editorand have this old school looking thingbut like there's pros that need this stuffand actually circling backto the Windows 10X thingI mentioned before,someone did notice there were mentionsof Windows 10X inside of Windows 11 here.So yeah, I don't know, I guess this stuffis just always gonna be in hereor maybe there's gonnabe like a, I don't know,some sort of rollout of thisstuff, getting phased out.Okay. So let's see whatelse we got in here.This is the new start menu design.Looks like live tiles are gonewhich I'm personally okay with,I thought like it was kind of goofyso it looks like alignment we canOh! that's nice.Nice animation, we canmove it back to the leftif you are used to it being on the leftand we can also triggeron and off widgets.Man, I love these littlelike kinetic animations.I don't know if that'sthe physics term for them,but they're just really playful looking.Let's take a look here,go away macOS dock, we don't need you.They just pop up, they slide overand kind of like have a little bitof inertia and momentum on them.Just very cool little touches like that.Let's take a look at sounds really quick.So we have in our themes here soundswhich still comes up in theold Wind 32 control panel,but hey, wouldn't expectanything different.I'm not sure how manyof these are really new.Again, I haven't used one in a long timeand when I use windows,I don't really have sounds on.Device connect, or no sounds.Oh! They still got the oldlike, that was a Vista sound,that goes way back.So as Microsoft teased on Twitter,this is just the start.So I'm sure we'll see alot more news on June 24th.So feel free to subscribeand stay tuned for thatbecause I'd love to coverthe news as much as possiblewhen I can.Also, I do other episodes on this channel,in addition to new technology stuff.I love making episodesabout rare technology, retro technologyand of course I lovedoing tech scam busting.So feel free to check outall of those other episodes on the channeland there's more coming.Feel free to drop a comment down belowand let me know what youthink about Windows 11.Thanks for sticking with me.Catch the crazy and pass it on.(upbeat music)\n"