Pcworld November 2021

REVIEWED: SURFACE LAPTOP STUDIO FEELS LIKE THE FUTURE

NOVEMBER 2021

2R8REINE-V-APDDIEAEPOWGTUHRE

≥ BEST ≥ HOW TO
HIDDEN UPGRADE

FEATURES

≥ SPEED UP ANY THE PCWORLD REVIEW ≥ 6 NEW
WINDOWS 11 FEATURES YOU

LAPTOP HAVE TO TRY

WINDOWS 11
≥ EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

AM I
OKAY
TO
DRIVE?

BUZZED DRIVING

IS DRUNK DRIVING

CONTENTS

≥ DEPARTMENTS NOVEMBER 2021

≥ FEATURES

7 News

25 Reviews & Ratings 110 Some of the best Windows 11 features are hidden

127 Here’s How

156 Tech Spotlight 118 Ultrawide vs. dual monitors: Which should you choose?

COVER IMAGE COURTESY OF MICROSOFT NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 3

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4 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

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NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 5

“ Everything was always very tidy.
Then my family noticed how
disorganized I had become.”

—Theresa, living with Alzheimer’s

When something feels different,
it could be Alzheimer’s.
Now is the time to talk.

Visit

alz.org/ourstories

to learn more

News TECH NEWS AND TRENDS THAT WILL
AFFECT YOU TODAY AND BEYOND.

6 new Windows 11 features you
should try

You may find one that surprises you—positively. BY ALAINA YEE

J ust three months after its yourself to check things out. You may
announcement, Windows 11 is here. discover something new to like, and if you
With it comes some major overhauls to don’t…well, good news is that Microsoft
existing features—and the arrival of seems to be listening to feedback these days.
new ones. You may wonder where to
begin with this new OS. 1. TASKBAR

To help get you started, we’ve picked the Much has changed about the taskbar in
top six features that deserve at least a closer Windows 11. All your pinned and open
look. Enough has changed that you owe it to applications exist as centered icons on the

IMAGE: MICROSOFT NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 7

NEWS 6 NEW WINDOWS 11 FEATURES

The new Taskbar has a dramatically different look and layout—and far more restrictions.

taskbar, including the Start menu button. It’s a control over how pinned apps are sorted, nor
bold move after decades of left-aligned icons can you group them as you could in Windows
and tabs—one that ostensibly has a mobile 10. Nor can you resize the menu.
friendly vibe, but also potentially a more
familiar one to curious macOS users. Also This streamlined approach may work for
bold is the more prescriptive nature of the you—or it may absolutely not. The good news
taskbar. For example, you can’t move it to the is that for those who hate the new Start menu,
right or left sides of the screen anymore, or you can use a registry edit hack (see page
make it taller—and those aren’t the only 134) to force it back to Windows 10’s style.
personalization options that have Leery of accidentally messing up something in
disappeared. the registry? You can use a third-party app like

You can at least shift the taskbar’s
icons back to the left side (fave.
co/3DNIo1G) by fiddling with the
settings, but not so for the other
changes. For more details on what’s
disappeared, read our Windows 11
review (see page 25).

2. START Like the Taskbar, the Start Menu has gotten a major overhaul.

The new Start menu is very different
than in Windows 10. Gone are the
live tiles—instead you’ve got a fixed
set of simplified icons under two
categories, Pinned and
Recommended. You have little

8 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

Stardock’s Start11 (fave.
co/3j8wQ0T) to adjust
the look.

3. WIDGETS

Widgets serve as an

activity hub for your life’s

interests. This enormous

card slides out from the

left-hand side of your

desktop and shows a

mix of news, Windows 11’s take on widgets feels a bit similar to iOS’s approach.

notifications, and

personalized information that gets pushed to Some folks will see this centralization as a

your PC. Like many other elements of benefit. Others will definitely not. Love it or

Windows 11, the Widgets drawer isn’t hate it, you should at least give it a whirl.

resizable, but you can customize what you You may find it reduces how much you have

see—similar to iOS and its widgets, which to be in the full Teams application, if you

also appear when you swipe to the left of an catch our drift.

iPhone’s home screen.

4. TEAMS CHAT Interacting with Microsoft Teams from the Taskbar
could be handy for some folks.
Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to push its
apps to manage communication with
friends, family, and acquaintances takes the
form of the Chat app (sometimes referred
to as Teams Chat) in Windows 11. Chat
puts control over video calls, chats, and
more right on your taskbar—you can use it
to mute and unmute people or even start
presenting during a Teams call. The app
even allows you to message anyone with a
profile in Teams if you have their linked
email or phone number.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 9

NEWS 6 NEW WINDOWS 11 FEATURES

6. MICROSOFT
STORE

Windows 11 bestows

much-needed love upon

the Windows Store. PC

fans can say what they will

about macOS, but its App

Store always has edged

out Windows 10’s in

function and elegance.

That has changed now.

The interface is sleeker

and better organized as a

start—and Microsoft has

Windows 11’s Settings is much clearer about what each category covers. promised a wider array of

5. WINDOWS SETTINGS available apps that include
Zoom, Adobe Creative Cloud, Disney+, and

The Settings app has gotten a major overhaul Microsoft Teams. Leaving a device in

in Windows 11. Not only do you get more Windows 11 S mode may be more feasible in

granular control over various aspects of the the near future, which would make remote

operating system, but you can more easily tech support much easier.

understand what each

category covers and drill

down from there. Overall, the

interface strikes a good

balance between simple and

clear—it’s not as bare-bones

as in Windows 10. If you

don’t like it, you can still

access the legacy Control

Panel (thank you, Microsoft),

but this approach to settings

may make the new layout

worth sticking with. Windows 11 may finally make the Microsoft Store appealing to use.

10 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

Adata’s first SD Express card is faster
than an SSD

Adata’s NVMe-based SD Express 7.0 card doubles UHS-II performance and runs faster than
a SATA SSD. BY GORDON UNG

T he memory card wars are about to Adata also pointed out that is about 1.5 times
heat up again. This week, Adata faster than a standard SATA SSD (fave.
showed off its first SD Express co/2Z26gQg). Compared to existing SD
memory card. cards using the UHS-II SD and UHS-I SD
Adata said the device, dubbed the interface, it’s about 2.7 to 8 times faster.
Premier Extreme SDXC SD 7.0 Express Card,
will use PCIe Gen 3 x1 and hit read and write SD Express is an evolutionary upgrade to
speeds of 800MB and 700MB, respectively. the familiar SD cards used in cameras,
laptops, and connected devices such as

IMAGE: ADATA NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 11

NEWS ADATA’S FIRST SD EXPRESS CARD

security cameras. It basically integrates PCIe that supports SD Express, you can hit that
Express and NVMe standards into SD card 1,000MBps speed rating, and you will still
bodies. SD Express and microSD Express 7.0 be able to access the card’s contents on
will max out at about 1,000MBps read speed. your laptop if it has an older SD Card reader
SD Express 8.0 will increase speed by built in.
doubling the PCIe lanes to get to 2.1GBps.
The fastest SD Express 8.0 implementation So where does SD Express fit in the
will hit 4GBps when introduced. memory card pecking order? We’d guess SD
Express will make its way into becoming the
Today, though, we start with SD Express standard card format in consumer and
7.0 such as Adata’s card. One strength of SD prosumer grade cameras. Its main competitor
Express is its backward compatibility. The is CFexpress, which is also built around PCIe.
cards feature multiple rows of pins, with the CFexpress got off the ground first in
first row supporting legacy SD access and the professional cameras, though, so it’s likely to
other two rows used for PCIe access. dominate in that arena.

This means if you buy Adata’s fancy new Adata didn’t say when exactly the card
SD Express card and pair it with a camera would go on sale or announce pricing.

All three cards here are SD Express cards. The first row of pins is used for legacy SD card I/O, while the
second row is used for a single-lane card. Cards with three rows will support two lanes of PCIe.

12 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

3 things we love in Windows 11
(and 3 things we hate)

Windows 11 has some great features, as well as reasons not to upgrade. BY MARK HACHMAN

W indows 11 is now available and it actually removes some key functionality
(see page 25) as a free you might have used in Windows 10.
upgrade from Windows
10. Should you jump on In the spirit of that mixed reception, here
board, or sit tight for now? We’re currently are three things we love in Windows 11—and
recommending that most people wait to three things we hate.
install Windows 11 (fave.co/3DQeFVJ), with
the emphasis on most. That article explicitly WE LOVE: THE SETTINGS
lays out our reasons for that recommendation, MENU
but it really boils down to this: While
Windows 11 offers some excellent new Nearly a decade after the new Settings menu
features, it also has plenty of rough edges, appeared in Windows 8, Microsoft has
finally made a real effort to not only fill out
the Settings menu with more options, but

IMAGE: MICROSOFT NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 13

NEWS WINDOWS 11: 3 THINGS WE LOVE AND HATE

also organize it well. Microsoft has done WE HATE: THE NEW START
away with the home screen of the Settings MENU
menu, relying instead on a left-hand nav bar.
A “breadcrumb” navigation system has been Yes, Microsoft removed the lively Live Tiles.
added to the top, so you can skip back and But the real crime is simply the poor
forth inside of a particular directory. Search organization of it all. In Windows 10, you can
exists, too, of course. Finally, each page of click on the Start menu and see your grouped
the Settings provides dense information app icons and documents next to an
without being overwhelming, with drop- alphabetical list of your apps. In Windows 11,
down menus and graphics to assist you. It’s apps are first dropped into the secondary “All
quite useful. apps” overflow menu. From there, you can
then add them to the main Start menu, aka
For years, Microsoft’s Windows Settings “pinned apps.”
menu has wrestled with the legacy Control
Panel. If you need to do something, where Those pinned apps can be moved
should you look? In Windows 11, you’ll find around, but they can’t really be grouped.
most of what you’re looking for inside the While Live Tiles could be resized to add visual
Windows 11 Settings menu. weight to an app, Windows 11 apps cannot.
Windows 11’s Start menu now feels lifeless

and less functional. Yes, it’s pretty, but
it’s simply a poorer experience overall.

Windows 11 Start certainly looks intriguing, but the WE LOVE: THE OUT OF
functionality certainly takes a step back from Windows 10. BOX EXPERIENCE

You may only see the Out of Box
Experience (OOBE) once while
you’re setting up a new Windows 11
PC, but it’s a triumph. Setting up a
Windows 11 PC takes just a few
minutes, and Microsoft uses those to
its full advantage, taking you on a
virtual tour of Windows 11’s key
features, including ones you may not
encounter without some poking
around. It’s clean and professional—
perhaps a bit too much so—but it’s a

14 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

account requires you to put in a

personal Microsoft email

address and password such as

[email protected],

uniquely identifying your PC.)

But if you’re the type of person

who prefers (or perhaps

demands) to use a “local” or

“offline” account with an

anonymous login, you won’t be

able to do that with Windows 10

Home. And no, the old “router

Microsoft steps you through the best features of Windows 11 as trick” (fave.co/3BVEUK6)
part of its OOBE experience. doesn’t work, either.

Instead, only Windows 10

night-and-day improvement over the Pro users who upgrade to Windows 11 Pro

Windows 10 experience, which wasn’t bad will be able to use a local or offline account. If

to begin with. this matters to you, you’ll need to upgrade

When the OOBE completes,

hunt down the Get Started and

Tips apps, too. Microsoft

doesn’t do a great job pointing

you in the direction of either

app, but they provide some

additional supplementary help

you’ll find useful.

WE HATE: THE If you prefer using a local or offline account, you’ll need to use
LACK OF LOCAL Windows 11 Pro. And yes, even offline accounts can access the
ACCOUNTS Internet. This is just Microsoft playing head games with you.

If you already use a Microsoft

account to log into your

Windows PC, this won’t apply to

you. (Logging in with a Microsoft

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 15

NEWS WINDOWS 11: 3 THINGS WE LOVE AND HATE

from Windows 10
Home to Windows
10 Pro first, for an
extra $100, and
then upgrade to
Windows 11 Pro.

WE LOVE:
WIDGETS

I’m warming to

Windows 11’s Trying to choose Google Chrome as your default browser brings you to the
Widgets. Widgets, choice on the left, where there’s a simply unmanageable selection of options.

the ginormous

panel that slides out from the left side of your our best browser roundup (fave.

display, contains all sorts of useful information: co/3DOPmn4). Yes, you can download

local weather, your calendar, photos you took Chrome and use it as you wish. But if you

on this day a few years ago, and so on. Yes, want to make Chrome the default browser

there’s a lot of fluff, as the overriding Microsoft on your PC, the one-click “set as default”

Start service will feed you a lot of gossip and option that was available in Windows 10

other extraneous news if you don’t configure has vanished.

your settings appropriately. Instead, you’re presented with one of the

On the other hand, I’ve criticized most obtuse options screen Windows has

Windows 11 for its lack of life, and Widgets ever presented, which asks you to set your

(and the updated Xbox app, complete with browser choice by individual file type. No,

cloud gaming [fave.co/3jdys9J] for Xbox there’s no option to “select all.” If you’d still

Game Pass Ultimate subscribers) is where the like to switch file types, Microsoft will then ask

fun lives. you, yet again, if you’d like to try Edge

WE HATE: THE LACK OF instead. It’s clingy and extraordinarily passive-
BROWSER CHOICE aggressive, and it absolutely tarnishes the
entirety of the operating system.

Many people use the built-in Edge browser. What’s reassuring is that, whichever

Many more users, however, use Google operating system you choose, your choice

Chrome, Firefox, Vivaldi, Opera, Brave, or isn’t a bad one. Both Windows 10 and

the other niche browsers we’ve covered in Windows 11 offer their own advantages!

16 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

Netgear reveals the world’s first
quad-band Wi-Fi 6E router

It’s all about the backhaul. BY WES DAVIS

N etgear has announced the first MHz–capable devices. In contrast, every WiFi
quad-band WiFi 6E router, in the 6E router broadcasts on the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz,
form of the Orbi Quad-Band and 6 GHz frequency bands; hence they are
Mesh WiFi 6E System (fave. all necessarily tri-band. Unfortunately, this
co/3DU7kEW) AXE11000 (RBKE960). means you lose that second, higher-
Historically, high-performing, hot-rod routers throughput 5 GHz band in exchange for a
have been tri-band, meaning they have an band that very few devices currently use. This
extra WiFi 5 band to cover the higher doesn’t generally matter in any practical
channels and offer more throughput for 160 sense, but it’s worth acknowledging.

IMAGE: NETGEAR NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 17

NEWS NETGEAR’S QUAD-BAND WI-FI 6E ROUTER

Where this new Orbi mesh system pandemic, remote work, digital classrooms,

diverges from the norm is in adding a fourth and even socialization via video call have all

band, which you will not be using directly per put much more emphasis on the importance

se, but which will instead be a second 5 GHz of upload speeds than ever before.

band that functions as a dedicated wireless Netgear’s Orbi also looks quite future-

backhaul for the system. In networking proofed, with a 10Gbps WAN port, a 2.5

parlance, a backhaul is an exclusive data link Gbps LAN, and three gigabit ethernet ports on

that functions as a back channel for the primary gateway and an identical port

communication between nodes in a mesh layout—minus the 10 Gbps WAN port—on

system, preserving throughput for the band each satellite. That’s a nice change relative to

used by your devices. Why choose 5 GHz the previous WiFi 6 version (fave.

over 6 GHz for the backhaul? In a briefing, co/2Z0VQAg), the RBK853, which has a 2.5

Netgear said it was about range: While the 6 Gbps WAN and four gigabit LAN ports on the

GHz band is currently free from congestion, gateway router and just four gigabit ports on

enabling higher practical throughput, it each satellite unit. That 2.5 Gbps LAN port on

simply can’t be used to transmit as far as each satellite means you can run a very fast

devices can on the 5 GHz band. wired backhaul—however, doing so will not

This new iteration of the Orbi mesh system free up that fourth wireless band for use by

is pitched as a response to the increased your network devices, as Netgear reserves it in

upstream throughput needs of today’s the event that you’d like to add satellite nodes

households. Since the beginning of the wirelessly to make up a hybrid network.

Netgear says its Orbi system

is geared toward a good IoT

experience as well, offering a

separate, WPA2-only IoT network

that is unexposed to your home

and guest networks for better

security and more efficient

bandwidth use, and it also claims

to have solved issues with fussy

IoT devices not rejoining the

network after power outages or

A dedicated 5 GHz wireless backhaul means more throughput for upgrading the router––a pain that

your devices. enthusiasts of smart home

18 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

Lastly, Netgear is releasing a

limited edition black version of

the mesh system called—you

guessed it—Orbi Black Edition.

This version of the routers can

only be purchased on Netgear’s

website. Both variants of the

Orbi Quad-Band Mesh WiFi 6E

system will be available in three

configurations: a single unit, a

gateway plus one satellite, and a

Orbi in its natural environment: The inoffensive design blends in gateway plus two satellites,
with modern decor. rated to cover 3,000, 6,000,

and 9,000 square feet,

devices know all too well. Beyond a distinct IoT respectively. They are available for pre-order

network, you’ll also be able to configure a now, with shipments going out later this

guest network, a combined 2.4 GHz and 5 month, at an eye-popping $1,499.99 MSRP

GHz network for the bulk of your devices, and for a 3-pack and $599 for each additional

a 6 GHz network for your fastest devices. satellite. Netgear has not yet announced

The Orbi system will also use Netgear pricing or availability of a 2-pack

Armor, Netgear’s Bitdefender-powered configuration.

network security suite, as well as its

Smart Parent Controls, which look

very much like a network-level version

of the iOS Screen Time feature.

Additionally, this new Orbi will of

course use the updated WPA 3

protocol, which introduces new

handshaking protocols and promises

to compensate for your bad WiFi

passwords by preventing devices on

the network from exchanging that

password during handshakes, among Orbi is the new black: A limited release of Orbi Black Edition

other important security changes. is available at Netgear’s website.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 19

NEWS

Massive Twitch hack reveals
source code, creator payouts,
and a Steam rival

Change your passwords pronto! BY BRAD CHACOS

W ell, this is bad. Twitch, the source code for the streaming service, along
ultra-popular streaming with payout information for creators and
site, appears to have been details about an unreleased Amazon Steam
hacked. An anonymous rival dubbed “Vapor.”
leaker on the 4chan message boards released
a 125GB torrent that allegedly contains You can’t trust anonymous hackers at their
word, but noted security journalist Catalin

20 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021 IMAGE: ELLA DON/UNSPLASH

Cimpanu of The Record (fave.co/3DRTGlv) because Twitch’s community is “a disgusting
downloaded some of the files and confirmed toxic cesspool.”
that “the content of the leak is in tune with
what the hacktivists claimed to have shared.” Fortunately, user passwords don’t appear
Meanwhile, security researcher Troy Hunt has to be part of the files, but the leak was labeled
compiled a Twitter thread (fave.co/3lSInUc) “part one,” and Cimpanu notes that the
of various Twitch streamers confirming that torrents include folders “holding information
the payout data is legitimate, and Video about Twitch’s user identity and
Game Chronicles (fave.co/2YXmLNO) says authentication mechanisms, admin
“an anonymous company source” told them management tools, and data from Twitch’s
that “the leaked data is legitimate, including internal security team, including white-
the source code for the Amazon-owned boarded threat models describing various
streaming platform.” parts of Twitch’s back-end infrastructure.”

We’ve reached out to Twitch for Between that information, and the fact
confirmation, but this hack certainly appears that the source code for the site and its
legit. We will not be linking to the torrent. The various clients were released, we highly
files allegedly contain a treasure trove of recommend changing your Twitch
deeply held secrets, including: password and enabling two-factor
authentication for the site, just in case user
• Three years’ worth of payout data was—or will be—compromised in
information to creators some way. Head to Twitch’s security settings
page (fave.co/3DNWSi0) to adjust both.
• Twitch source code “with commit Our guides to the best password managers
history going back to its early beginnings” (fave.co/3lRkfRz) and 2FA solutions (fave.
co/3jeMfgu) can help you set up strong
• Source code for Twitch’s desktop, protections if you’re unfamiliar with either
console, and mobile game clients technology. They’re both vital in the
breach-rife modern world.
• An unreleased Steam competitor
code-named “Vapor” by Amazon Game And if you’re a content creator who
Studios streams to Twitch, ensure that your banking
credentials also use a strong, unique
• Information about other properties password and are protected by two-factor
Twitch owns, such as CurseForge, along with authentication if possible. This leak
SDK and internal Amazon Web Services tools shouldn’t jeopardize those credentials in any
used by Twitch way, but better safe than sorry.

The poster said the leak was intended
“to foster more disruption and competition
in the online video streaming space,”

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 21

NEWS

New USB-C logos make picking USB
cables, chargers less confusing

Look for these USB-C power rating logos to ease your shopping headaches. BY BRAD CHACOS

C hoosing the correct USB-C can hit the new 240 watt rating. Previous
charger and cable for your laptop USB-C chargers and cables were rated to hit
is about as fun as visiting the 65 watts or 100 watts, but a new version of
dentist, but new logos released USB Power Delivery released this May has
today should go a long way toward making pushed the limit to an impressive 240 watts.
things easier.
Obviously, that means if you’re looking for
The USB Implementers Forum group that a 240 watt aftermarket charger for a new
oversees the USB standard has released logos gaming laptop that supports it, you don’t
that easily indicate whether a cable or charger want to settle for a lesser product. With the

22 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021 IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK/ALEXANDER_EVGENYEVICH

new USB-C logos, all you have to do is look organization that certifies cables, chargers,

for a Certified USB Charger 240W logo with a and other USB-C products, but it can’t really

lightning bolt, like the one from the chart below. enforce anything. This has lead to small-brand

The other component you may need is a and no-name manufacturers getting the spec

240 watt USB-C cable, so consumers need wrong in the past. The good news is the

only look for Certified USB Charger 240W cables from companies that actually obtain

with a cable in its logo. Both logos can also certifications correctly should work correctly.

be paired with USB 40Gbps bits to indicate if So we recommend that you look for these

the cable is certified to support USB4’s 40 logos as you shop for the new higher-output

Gbps speed. cables and chargers.

The higher-output 240 watt power range If you don’t need these higher-output

is a welcome addition to USB-C as it should options, you can hit up our roundup of the

allow laptop makers to bring universal USB-C best USB-C cables (fave.co/3aLBOfJ), where

charging to far more powerful laptops, we put 14 different options to the test in

including gaming laptops (fave.co/3n3aNKv) both charging and data transfers. If you want

with discrete graphics chips—something that to do your own shopping on Amazon

was out of reach for previous USB-C instead, we also have an explainer on how

chargers, cables, and ports. In fact, we found to choose a USB-C cable without losing

that we probably wouldn’t want to use a small your mind (fave.co/3j9yEXO).

USB-C charger

(fave.

co/3AReibJ) in a

gaming laptop

with today’s

technology. But

with 240 watt

USB-C charger,

we’d probably

change

our mind.

The

problem, of

course, is that

the USB-IF is an The USB Implementers Forum has released a chart featuring the new logos.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 23

Remember the last time your family visited the forest? It’s a place
of wonder and imagination for the whole family—where stories
come to life. And it’s closer than you think. Sounds like it’s time to
plan your next visit. Make the forest part of your story today at a
local park near you or nd one at iscover2he orest.org.

Reviews & Ratings TESTED IN PCWORLD LABS

WE PUT HARDWARE & SOFTWARE
THROUGH RIGOROUS TESTING

Windows 11: An unnecessary
replacement for Windows 10

Windows 11 contains some good ideas. But it also feels like Microsoft made some
fundamental changes to Windows for no good reason. BY MARK HACHMAN

W indows 11 doesn’t often felt we had to do something, and for
convincingly answer the some very good reasons, but without a real
question every PC user sense of the way ahead. And so goes
should ask: Why do I need Windows 11. Aesthetically, Windows 11
this upgrade? The new operating system sacrifices productivity for personality, but
repurposes some of Microsoft’s cancelled
Windows 10X code (fave.co/2XoipOT), but VIDEO: WHY YOU
lacks the unified vision that 10X promised. SHOULD SKIP WINDOWS
11 (FOR NOW)
In some ways, Windows 11 feels very
much like a product of 2020. Last year, we Watch now at fave.co/3j8dglF

IMAGE: MICROSOFT NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 25

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

without cohesion. A new

Start menu seems

designed for enterprises.

A hyperactive Widgets

app pushes celebrity

gossip. Teams Chat asks

you to reorganize your

social circles around

Microsoft.

Yes, you’ll find things

within Windows 11 worth

applauding: the initial

installation experience, a

redesigned Settings menu, Here’s a Microsoft-provided example of how you’ll be asked to upgrade
Tips, and some improved to Windows 11, as part of the Windows 10 Settings menu. Note that you
Windows apps. Under-the- can “stay on Windows 10 for now,” too.

hood performance

improvements will collaborate with gaming Windows 10 October 2020 Update (fave.

enhancements like DirectStorage and co/3lPvtWH) usually occurred within a month

AutoHDR…eventually. For now, however, or so of when Microsoft began pushing the

most users will probably want to forgo the new feature update to PCs. You can delay the

update from Windows 10. update, but not for very long.

WINDOWS 11 IS A CHOICE, With Windows 11, users have much more
NOT A PROCESS free will. For now, Microsoft is giving you a
choice to upgrade to Windows 11 or to

Windows 11 will be a free upgrade to remain on Windows 10. If you choose to

Windows 10, which some compatible PCs accept 11, you can. But you can also decline

gained access to on October 5. (Microsoft the update and remain on Windows 10 until

says it will take until mid-2022 for the update 2025 or so, when support for Windows 10

to be made available to all eligible expires. The decision to upgrade to Windows

computers.) What’s important to remember is 11 is a real choice with consequences, and

that with Windows 10, mid-cycle feature one you should consider carefully.

updates like moving from the Windows 10 How long that choice will be available

May 2020 Update (fave.co/3jc8yDA) to the isn’t known. Even if you upgrade to Windows

26 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

11, you should have an option to “roll back” WINDOWS 11 PRO VS.
to Windows 10—a ten-day window, WINDOWS 11 HOME
according to information that Microsoft has
circulated to its customers (fave.co/3ATv0Y3). Windows 11 will ship in two different editions
for home use. Windows 11 Pro and Windows
And that all assumes that your PC will be 11 Home will each receive major feature
able to handle Windows 11. Windows 11 updates just once per year, rather than twice.
arrives with some very strict hardware (Windows 11 Home in S Mode will also be
requirements (fave.co/3C7aDbn) for which available, though we haven’t tested it.) It
PCs can run Windows 11, essentially requiring appears that Windows 11 Pro will leave the
the latest Trusted Platform Module (TPM; fave. functional differences between Windows 10
co/3lT7AOk) technology as well as a recently Home and Pro (fave.co/3aUbcsJ) intact,
released computer processor. Microsoft has offering features like BitLocker encryption,
the best of intentions here. In order to Hyper-V virtualization, Remote Desktop
provide a secure, managed PC, Microsoft’s Connection, and Windows Sandbox.
Windows 11 code must sync up (fave.
co/3vlsU1M) with specific PC hardware. But Though we didn’t try out Windows 11’s
those hardware restrictions have also proven Remote Desktop Connection, we confirmed
to be an enormous controversy in their own that the Hyper-V virtualization capabilities
right (fave.co/3lPuRjW). worked—generally. Windows 11 was unable
to find an Ubuntu ISO that Hyper-V
We reviewed Windows 11 on three PCs, downloaded, but it opened and installed a
including the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (Ice saved Windows 10 build just fine. Windows 11
Lake), running Windows 11 Pro, as well as the also opens a copy of Windows 11 (rather than
Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ tablet, also running Windows 10) with Windows Sandbox (fave.
Windows 11 Pro. A third device, the Surface co/3n8auxZ), a nifty—though we suspect
Laptop 4, ran Windows 11 Home. We began little-used—virtualized OS that you can use to
our formal review process with Windows 11 surf the gray areas of the Web. In all, the
Insider Build 22000.184 (21H2), part of the reasons to upgrade (or not) to Windows 10
Windows Insider Beta Channel, with the Pro seem to carry over into Windows 11 Pro.
intention of monitoring it up through the
formal release date of October 5. There’s a significant new reason to
(Microsoft moved the Dev Channel of consider Windows 11 Pro now, however. The
Windows 11 to future builds of Windows 11, Windows 11 Pro edition will be the only
with code that it did not release as part of the edition to allow local accounts (fave.
October 5 launch.) co/3DUzY8W), which Microsoft now calls
“offline” accounts. Windows 11 Home

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 27

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

requires you to initially sign in with a Microsoft guiding you throughout. For example,

account. We’ll talk about this a bit more in the Microsoft eliminated overt options to install

next section. This potentially makes Microsoft 365, Cortana, and Your Phone

upgrading to Windows 11 a pricey hassle for during the setup process—at least as part of the

people already using local accounts, setup process we tried out. Microsoft has tried

however. If you own a Windows 10 Home PC, out “personalized” setup processes before,

and you want nothing to do with a Microsoft which means yours may be slightly different.

account, it appears you’ll need to pay $99 to The most significant change is the

upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, and then on to elimination of local or “offline” accounts

Windows 11 Pro. within Windows 10 Home—a fact that we

WINDOWS 11’S were told in July (fave.co/3DUzY8W) and that
INSTALLATION EXPERIENCE appears to still be the case. At present,
Windows 11 Home PCs must be set up and

Both of our test PCs used an in-place upgrade administered with a Microsoft account,

to test Windows 11, which means that we though local accounts can also be added

didn’t get to fully experience the Windows 11 later for additional users.

installation process,

or the Out of Box

Experience (OOBE),

as Microsoft

characterizes it.

Instead, we installed

the Windows 11 ISO

via a virtual machine

to see how that

process plays out.

In general,

installing Windows 11

feels very similar to

installing Windows

10, though with a

rather lovely, While this is midway through the installation process, the excellent Windows
streamlined 11 OBE is both welcoming and informative, introducing you to the key features
installation process of Windows 11 while you wait.

28 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

To enable local

accounts as part of the

initial setup, you’ll need to

install Windows 11 Pro, via

either an in-place upgrade

from Windows 10 or a

clean installation. During

the setup process, you’ll

be prompted for your

Microsoft account

information. Simply click

the “sign-in options” link

instead. The next page will

offer you the option to sign

in with an offline account. The Get Started app serves as an introduction as well as a guide to
We need to be clear: new features. Clicking the app listing here, for example, opens up the
Microsoft Store app so you can download an app like Netflix.
the “router trick” that

Windows 10 allowed (fave.

co/3BVEUK6) has vanished. Windows 11 performing an upgrade or a clean installation,

Home doesn’t even offer you the option of the speed of your PC, whether your PC has an

proceeding without connecting to a network, SSD or a hard drive, the speed of your

and doesn’t allow you to bypass the account Internet connection, and so on. Installing

login screen, either. Windows 11 Pro does. Windows 11 onto a new virtual machine

(While Windows 11 tolerates local offline required about 25 minutes or so, including

accounts, expect to see numerous little installation, reboots, and updates. As always,

passive-aggressive nags here and there to we’d recommend backing up key files and so

“change to a Microsoft [online] account.” on (either locally [fave.co/3nlNb3Z] or in the

Incidentally, you’re perfectly free to go online cloud [fave.co/3FWaMk6]) before upgrading

with an “offline” account. You simply won’t your operating system.

be able to access Microsoft services like Microsoft smartly uses the installation

OneDrive cloud storage, which is keyed to process as an opportunity to familiarize you

your Microsoft account.) with some of the key new features in Windows

The time in which Windows 11 will install 11 while the process completes. When it’s

depends on a few factors: whether you’re done, you’re dropped into Windows 11 proper.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 29

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

These Device Usage options are all off by default. 11 tips [fave.co/3DOmhIo] that
Microsoft informed us of, but
If you’re still a little nervous, Windows 11 there’s a control in Settings >
provides a second introductory app, called Accessibility > Narrator >
Get Started, which happens to be the only Verbosity that may control it.)
Recommended”document in the Start menu
after Windows 11 is installed. Get Started is During our in-person
surprisingly good, offering you another demonstration of the Microsoft
overview of what’s new—a pointer to Surface Laptop Studio (fave.
OneDrive, for example, or a list of suggested co/3jcO9y3), Microsoft’s
apps in the Microsoft Store—but Microsoft corporate vice president of
doesn’t promote it at all, at least in the builds Surface, Pete Kyriacou, said
we tested. We’d recommend clicking that the laptop’s camera now
through Get Started, and then opening up can distinguish you and log
the Tips app if you need further instruction. All you in even with a hat, glasses,
in all, there’s quite a bit of help within or a surgical mask. Kyriacou
Windows 11 if you need it. calls this Windows Hello 2.0
(fave.co/3jcO9y3). As far as
(We haven’t yet seen the popup Windows we know, Windows Hello 2.0
may be limited to that particular device. Still,
Windows Hello was one of the standout
features of Windows 10, and the very first
way in which you interact with Windows
each morning. Now, Microsoft may be
readying its successor for Windows 11.
Finally, there’s an intriguing option that
you can manage within Windows: Device
Usage, which is controlled via the Settings
app. In Windows 10, you had the option of
telling Windows what you were going to use
it for. This is now formally part of Windows 11,
and you can select one or more of a number
of use cases for your PC. These generally
control what sort of suggested apps and tips
you’ll see. In certain cases, such as gaming,

30 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

you may be presented with special offers such display, leaving you to wonder why
as a month of Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft thinks it necessary to leave a large
swathe of your desktop untouched on your
TASKBAR secondary monitors.

Out of the box, you’re faced with the most A small but vocal portion of the Internet
significant UI change in Windows 11: the also has complained bitterly about Microsoft
updated Start menu and Taskbar. Both feel eliminating drag-and-drop functionality from
like a step backward, robbing the user of the Windows 11 Taskbar. In Windows 10, you
some functionality as well as visual appeal. can drag a file onto an open File Explorer
folder, for example, and it will simply drop in.
Let’s take the Taskbar, for example. Your Other apps work similarly. I don’t use this
first glimpse of Windows 11 is a row of feature myself, but others swear by it.
attractive, minimalist icons centered at the
bottom of your screen. In Windows 11, you Naturally, one of the most common tasks
can hide the Taskbar, but you can’t resize or while using the Taskbar is to launch the Start
move it elsewhere on the screen—a menu, and here too Microsoft falls short. By
potentially significant issue on low-DPI default, the Windows 11 Taskbar’s icons are
screens found on cheaper laptops, where center-justified, expanding outwards as you
screen space is a priority. Want to use open more apps and Windows adds more
smaller icons? Windows 10 allows this; icons. But the Start menu icon now appears to
Windows 11 does not. Within Windows 10, the left of the icons.
you have the option to use labels instead of
taskbar icons; Windows 11 eliminates this, In Windows 10, muscle memory tells you
forcing you to parse the new icons blindly. that the Start menu can always be launched
Other small annoyances include locking the by moving your cursor down to the lower
clock to the Taskbar on only your primary left-hand corner. In Windows 11, it’s always…
somewhere down to the left, and it’s

As you open more apps within Windows 11, the Taskbar widens, pushing the Start button further and
further to the left. Horizontal lines underneath the icons indicate how many windows are available to
each app, but numeric badges are also used for email.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 31

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

distracting trying to find it. To be fair, you can THE NEW START MENU

configure Windows 11 to push the centered Instead of a lively, reconfigurable Start menu

Taskbar apps to the left (fave.co/3DNIo1G), filled with colorful tiles, Windows 11 adopts

placing the Start icon back in its familiar the rather plain look of Windows 10X, the

lower-left location. That is not the default would-be Chromebook killer that Microsoft

however. (You can also still use Win + R or canned in May (fave.co/2XoipOT).

just the Win key to search for/launch apps, Windows 11’s Start menu is simply a

as I do.) collection of rather simplistic icons, seemingly

Finally, Microsoft has largely done away at random, with a list of Recommended (or, to

with its explicit tablet-mode UI shifts. If you be more accurate, “Most recent”) documents

own a Windows 11 tablet and detach the at the bottom. Within Start, two small buttons

keyboard, the taskbar icons will simply (“All apps” and More) open up to a list of

automatically space themselves a bit further alphabetically arranged apps and a longer list

apart to make them easier to interact with. of documents in a separate screen. Microsoft

Windows 11 will also display a small also put a search box at the top of the Start

keyboard icon in the taskbar to allow you to menu, which simply opens up the Search app

touch-type, too. to the right of the Start icon on the taskbar. It

all feels singularly uninspired,

dull, and slightly depressing, like

a store shelf of prepackaged

sandwiches or 1970s

architecture.

The Start menu also feels

functionally worse than Windows

10. While the “pinned” apps at

the top of the Start menu can at

least be manually moved around,

Windows 11 does not allow the

pinned apps to be alphabetized,

grouped, or even put into

folders, as with Windows 10.

(Apps can only be “moved to the

You can left-justify the Windows 11 Taskbar to push it more in line top,” which is just sort of sad.) A
with the traditional Start menu. minuscule pair of dots to the

32 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

right side of the app Windows 11’s Start menu represents a sharp break from Windows 10,
drawer is supposed to doing away with Live Tiles and limiting the way in which you can group
visually indicate that you pinned apps. Recently accessed apps and documents appear below in the
can scroll down to find Recommended box. Note the small “All apps” button at the top.
more apps. Good luck
figuring that out! Finally, That button leads you to the “All apps” overflow menu. Install an app, and
the Start menu as a it will land in this list first. Right now, this is the only area in Windows 11’s
whole cannot be Start menu where you can create an app folder.
resized, and there’s no
full-screen option.

Can you right-click
on an app on the
Taskbar and pin it to
your Start menu? Nope.
Installed apps drop into
the “All apps” overflow
menu within Start, and
only from there can you
then pin it to Start’s
pinned apps. I was at
least able to save an
Office.com document
as an app and save it
directly to the pinned
apps, but trying to pin
Slack to the Start
menu’s pinned
appsrequired fishing it
out of the “All apps”
overflow menu. Pinning
a webpage from Edge
almost requires its own
tutorial. And I spent far
too long trying to find

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 33

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

where Windows 11 had hidden our the primary or active display.

corporate VPN app—I finally found it, not as In Windows 10, the Action Center hides

a standalone listing, but inside a folder in all sorts of useful little functions, including

the overflow menu, which had been VPN options, screen snip, the ability to

alphabetized under the developer’s name. connect to other screens and devices, and

Confused? OK, now imagine actually so on. In Windows 11, this has been pared

using Windows 11. down considerably, to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

NOTIFICATIONS AND toggles, Airplane mode, a Battery saver
ACTION CENTER mode, Focus assist, and an Accessibility
menu. You still have the option to add

In Windows 10, the lower right-hand corner of functions like Nearby Sharing, the blue-light

your screen is known as the Action Center, blocking Night Light, and more, but you’ll

and each little icon is clickable. Not so in have to manually add them by clicking the

Windows 11, which

groups the icons into

two clickable

“buttons,” each of

which can be seen

when you hover over

it with the cursor. (To

the left of those icons

is the taskbar’s

overflow menu,

which hides icons

like OneDrive,

Windows Security,

and others behind a

caret menu.) As you

may have intuited

from our discussion

of the Taskbar,

Notifications and the The Windows 11 Action Center. In Windows 10, the Action Center is kind of a
Action Center are mess; in Windows 11, it all looks neat and tidy. The small care menu to the right
only accessible from of the volume slider allows you to pick your preferred audio output.

34 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

tiny little “pencil” icon at

the very bottom of the

Action Center.

Notifications provide a

summary column of alerts

that Windows and other

apps send: new email,

upcoming meetings, and

so on. Oddly, in Windows

11 part of this column has

now been replaced by a

nonfunctional calendar.

Say you want to add an

event to your personal

calendar. In Windows 10,

a small pane allows you to

do this. In Windows 11,

that small pane is gone,

and right-clicking or If Microsoft could do something with the calendar below, we’d chalk this
double-clicking a date up as a win for Microsoft. As it is, it’s wasted space. Fortunately, the caret
does absolutely nothing menu to the right of the date can minimize it.

to what is basically a bit

better than wasted space. users to overflow menus like the Start menu’s

To be fair, in Windows 11 notifications “More apps.” In the redesigned Settings

seem to be organized far more usefully than menu, however, Microsoft uses these buttons,

they are within Windows 10. That may be drop-down menus, and “breadcrumb”

because the calendar reduces the available navigation (placing, for example, a clickable

screen space for notifications, forcing System>Sound>Properties at the top of the

Microsoft to be economical. screen) so that you can navigate back and

REVAMPED WINDOWS forth) to much better effect.
SETTINGS MENU That’s good, because Settings now

oversees a ton of information. Yes, it can feel a

I don’t really like how Microsoft scatters trifle overwhelming in places as you dig down

buttons throughout the Windows shell to point through layers of menus. A search box to the

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 35

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

current theme or background

you’ve set within Windows, too.

If your Windows 11 desktop

background is dark, you may see

Windows 11 automatically enable

Dark Mode.

Windows 11’s Settings menu

hides little goodies like Game

Mode, a toggle that allows

Windows to turn off unnecessary

The front page of the Windows 11 Settings menu. There are some tasks while playing a game—
nice touches here: the desktop theme at the top of the page, and including Windows updates and
the status of OneDrive and Windows updates. Microsoft has had restarts!—and smooths frame
years to refine the Settings menu, and it shows.

rates by default. (We didn’t test

upper left helps here, with dynamically this latter function in Windows 11 yet, but it

generated results as you type. sometimes proved invaluable in Windows 10

Settings also does

away with the

overarching Settings

index page found in

Windows 10,

launching directly from

within Settings >

System, with direct

shortcuts to Display,

Sound, Notifications,

and other pages. This

eliminates an

additional click,

though it’s a bit

disconcerting to be This is a nerdy little screen within Settings. At the top, you can adjust what
dropped right into a was formerly referred to as the Windows 10 power/performance slider. The
Settings section. At the bottom graphic of battery levels would be more interesting and informative
top, you’ll see the if our test laptop had run on battery power. This would be a great place to
put a “time to empty” estimate of your PC’s battery life, too.

36 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

Windows Update’s Delivery
Optimization ever really
worked? Why is Windows
Security still located in its
own separate menu when
it should be just part of
Settings? And yes, the
Control Panel still exists,
too. There’s just far less
reason to visit it these days.

SEARCH,
CORTANA, AND
TIMELINE

Windows 10 launched with

helpful assistant Cortana

The Win+X “power menu” remains within Windows 11. perched next to a dedicated

search box designed to

[fave.co/3aKmxvE].) I also like the visual search both your PC and the web for

representation of Windows 11’s battery whatever you were looking for. Over the past

consumption, which sort of reproduces the six years, Cortana has faded away, relegated
Command Line command powercfg / to a semi-functional app that really doesn’t
batteryreport and its

graphical report of your

laptop’s power usage. This is

also where the performance

slider is hidden, by the way,

to get more performance

out of Windows 11 (fave.

co/3DOnyiE).

There’s still a lot of cruft.

Do I really need to

download offline maps and There are Search boxes all over Windows 11. Here’s one just above
manage them? Has the Search icon on the Taskbar.

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REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

do all that much any more. Cortana isn’t and more to match your search terms. Search

even one of the pinned Windows 11 apps! also dynamically searches as you type, which

Instead, Microsoft has scattered search speeds up the process. Nevertheless, it all still

bars around Windows 11 seemingly willy-nilly. feels somewhat incoherent.

There’s a Search icon on the taskbar, and a Next to the Search icon is Task View,

search box at the top of the Start menu, and which hasn’t changed much from Windows

another at the top of the new Widgets pane, 10 (fave.co/3lP6fb0). Task View and the Alt +

which we’ll talk about later. Only the former Tab functionality still overlap considerably.

two search your PC; the latter only searches The Alt + Tab functionality shows all of the

the Web, using the Bing search engine by windows that you have open, including the

default. It doesn’t matter whether you use the option to include the most recent three or five

Search app or the Start menu, or even the tabs within Edge. Microsoft introduced Task

search box that appears when you hover your View in Windows 10 as a way to shift between

cursor over the Search icon on the taskbar, arrangements of various windowed apps on

however. You’ll end up in the Search app laptops and other single-screen devices. It’s

regardless of what you do. still an excellent tool for working on the road,

To its credit, Search does a solid job of but you might not find it as useful when your

listing relevant apps, documents, web results, PC has access to multiple physical monitors.

What doesn’t

come with Task View

is the Timeline

function (fave.

co/2Z5r21x), which

tracked which

documents and

Web pages you’d

used as a way of

picking up where

you left off on

multiple PCs.

Timeline is

somewhat

preserved within the

The Windows 11 Search box looks very similar to Windows 10’s Search function. shared browser

38 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

history within Microsoft
Edge—if you use Edge—but
the lack of Timeline has
prompted howls of sorrow
(fave.co/3BSSuxL) from
some corners of PCWorld.

TEAMS CHAT

After the death of My People

(fave.co/3DUMvsC),

Microsoft’s latest effort to

connect you with your

friends via your PC is Chat

(sometimes referred to as

Teams Chat), which lives in Windows 11 Teams Chat offers quick shortcuts to friends to either

your Taskbar right next to the chat with them or initiate a video call.

File Explorer folder icon. It’s

slow and unnecessary, and the privacy The transition from the Chat icon to the

implications are somewhat unsettling, too. fuller Teams experience required several

We’re not sure you’ll want to have anything seconds to complete, and that experience felt

to do with it. very simplistic and slow. I have concerns on

Chat expects you to manage your several fronts. First, anyone who has your

personal life via the personal Microsoft Teams linked email and/or phone number can

experience (fave.co/3lS72rP) Microsoft message you—there’s no global “do not

launched earlier this year, via a separate disturb” feature, and you can’t simply delete

mobile app and now Windows 11. During your profile in Teams (fave.co/3pfsZDg) to

setup, the app asks you to log in and connect make yourself non-discoverable. Yes, you can

your Microsoft account to any Outlook.com remove your email or phone number from

and Skype.com contacts, then provides you a your Microsoft account to hide yourself, but

Teams-like interface to hold chats, launch why should you? Why does managing your

video calls, and so forth. Upon clicking the presence in Teams (fave.co/30Cvjdj) require

Chat icon a second time, a list of frequently downloading the mobile app? It also seems a

accessed contacts appears, with shortcuts to bit arrogant for Microsoft to expect that we’ll

perform chats and make video calls. drop our own established networks of

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 39

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

co/3vl1YPM), and review my

Outlook calendar, see Windows

tips, photos, and more. I also

appreciated the Cortana-powered

summary of your day that originally

appeared in Windows 10. In a

not-so-strange way, Widgets is

simply the “Live” in Windows 10’s

Live Tiles, relegated to its own

corner of Windows. It’s as if

someone at Microsoft said, “Let’s

separate what makes Windows fun

Part of the problem with Teams is that it would ask my father, from what makes Windows
who communicates with me via text, to join Teams. That seems practical, and assign them their
unreasonable to ask of friends and family. own locations.”

But from a user’s perspective,

messaging apps to migrate them all to Teams. Widgets can be a distraction, too. Microsoft

It’s this last point that will likely doom

Teams Chat, eventually.

WIDGETS Windows 11 Widgets: useful or a distraction? You decide.

Widgets is one of the major new
additions within Windows 11, a
gargantuan drawer of news and
information that slides out from the
left-hand side of the screen at the click
of its Taskbar icon. Like many other
things in Windows 11, the Widgets
drawer isn’t resizeable.

I’m torn on the concept of
Widgets. As a journalist and hungry
news consumer, I love that I can pop
out Widgets, see relevant Windows
Start news and information (fave.

40 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

evidently took its News Bar concept (fave. windowed organization largely unchanged.

co/3BRIkxq) and rejiggered it into a quasi- Microsoft’s File Explorer and other Shell

Facebook feed: an endless scroll of celebrity apps show off the rounded corners and

gossip, news, and more. If Microsoft still had Fluent Design principles that first emerged

its so-called network (fave.co/3lS8tXf), it within Windows 10, evolving them to include

would live here. Widgets can be “removed” “materials” like Mica (fave.co/3lOU7qD).

from Windows 11 (fave.co/3G8hNP1), but I’m Microsoft also reworked some of the system

not entirely sure they deserve to be there in icons, so the Pictures and Downloads folder,

the first place. for example, feel fresh and modern.

NAVIGATING FILE For me, that’s where Windows 11’s design
EXPLORER, WINDOWS, improvements stop. Icons are one thing. But
AND THE NEW SNAP VIEW Windows 11 also adds a row of shortcut icons
to File Explorer that, even after using the OS

Navigating File Explorer in Windows 11 feels for weeks, simply don’t effectively

like Microsoft ignored what users wanted in communicate their purpose. I can certainly

favor of what its engineers could add instead. figure out that the “scissors” icon means

Remember Windows Sets, the 2017 tabbed “cut” and that the “garbage can” icon means

interface that incorporated File Explorer, Mail, “delete,” but I still have trouble recognizing

Edge, and more (fave.co/3vus8j9)? Users may which icon represents “rename,” “paste,”

not ultimately

have wanted

the Sets

interface as a

whole, but

they’ve been

asking for a

tabbed File

Explorer for

years.

Microsoft

hasn’t given

that to us,

leaving File

Explorer’s Windows 11’s File Explorer unfortunately lacks the tabs feature some had hoped for.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 41

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

options. It feels like Windows 11

was simply tacked on to it all.

The one place I feel Microsoft

got it right was in the expanded

Snap View icons that appear

when you hover your cursor over

the “maximize window” shortcuts

in the upper right-hand corners

of window panes. Remember,

Windows Snap allows you to

drag a window into the sides or

corner of the screen; they’ll then

expand to fit that quadrant,

The new shortcut icons in File Explorer are disconcerting, as are allowing you to neatly organize
the multiple layers of menus. up to four windows on your

monitor. In Windows 11, you have

and “share,” without specifically thinking more options: thin columns, wider columns,

about which icon represents which of those and so on. Snap is essentially a simplified

functions. version of the Fancy Zones app (fave.

Right-clicking on a

file places these UI

shortcuts at the top of

the menu, where at

least I can hover over

them. But the option to,

say, rename a file only

appears there in that

row of icons. Or does

it? No, you can also

scroll down to “Show

more options” and get

a second, expanded,

Windows 10–like The improved Snap View within Windows 11 organizes the windows
column of menu on your screen into new layouts.

42 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

co/3n44Fl3) from

Microsoft’s Power

Tools, but it’s still a

solid, useful addition

to the Windows 11

user interface.

Windows 11’s

behavior has also

drastically improved

when undocking a

laptop or tablet, or

connecting a second

monitor. If you have an

additional display or If you click the “Set as default” button in Google Chrome as you see on the
two docked to a left screen, you eventually wind up on the Windows 11 Settings menu as
Windows 10 laptop, shown on the right-hand screen. Here, you’re presented with a mishmash of
choices, none of them particularly useful.

you undoubtedly have

your app and file windows arranged just so. overtly Windows 11–ish enhancements to the

After undocking, however, all of that careful browser. Internet Explorer has also

organization dissolves into chaos, especially disappeared, save for running within Edge as

when redocking. Windows 11 now Internet Explorer Mode (fave.co/3DVLdhl). As

remembers where those windows live, it is, Edge is Windows 11’s default browser,

minimizing them when undocking and then and that’s fine. Edge runs on the Chromium

returning them to their proper locations when underpinnings, accepts Chrome plug-ins,

redocking. Bravo! and runs smoothly and efficiently. I often use it

MICROSOFT EDGE AND THE as my daily driver, with no regrets.
LACK OF BROWSER CHOICE But there are many good to excellent

browsers (fave.co/3DOPmn4) in the market,

If Microsoft Edge were the dominant browser and there’s absolutely no reason not to simply

within the PC ecosystem, we’d call Microsoft’s experiment with our recommended browsers

browser “choice” behavior in Windows 11 to find one you’ll love. Microsoft makes this

monopolistic. As it is, it’s terribly sleazy. vastly more difficult than it needs to. In the

Microsoft Edge is now decoupled from Windows 11 Settings menu, Windows 11 now

the operating system, and so there aren’t any forces you to enter a default app for each file

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 43

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

Microsoft’s new
Microsoft Store
app is much
more visually
interesting than
before, but its
fundamental
weakness
persists: a lack of
content.

type: HTML, WebP, XHT, HTTPS, and so on. It all still feels somewhat lifeless, like a
There is simply no “all” option or checkbox to sports arena when no games are being
change your browser in one fell swoop—as if played. The Apps section simply highlights
they were even necessary. It’s a steaming pile how few apps move through Microsoft’s
of unfriendly corporate behavior, and it stinks Store, especially the Games section. If
to high heaven. Caesars Slots Free Casino is still listed among
your “best-selling games,” Microsoft, you
THE REVAMPED have many issues to work out.
MICROSOFT STORE
The most significant objection I have to
The Microsoft Store app has felt incomplete the Movies & TV tab is that there’s a staggered
for years, and the admittedly attractive list of New Movies, then “Best TV streaming
overhaul of the app does little to change that. apps,” then “Top-rented movies,” and then
Microsoft Store serves an update center for “Explore a world of music.” Microsoft, you
any built-in Windows apps, plus anything don’t even sell music any more, remember?
you’ve purchased from the Store itself. That died with Groove. At the very least,
Everything here is more nicely organized, Microsoft, focus Movies & TV on genres and
with attractive, dynamically refreshing blurbs new releases, with prominent shortcuts to
at the top of each section: Home, Apps, new movies to rent and buy. Tell me what’s on
Gaming, and Movies and TV. sale. Relegate the music apps to, you know,

44 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

the Apps tab. There’s so much that Microsoft Windows’ Focus Assist, where notifications are

needs to fix with its Store app that goes automatically blocked. Still, this is a good first

beyond simple UI issues. step. Microsoft is feeling its way forward in a

CHANGES AND UPDATES TO direction many of us can appreciate.
WINDOWS 11 APPS Our original review indicated that the

updated Photos app and the update to Paint

Microsoft has detailed some of the proposed had been left out of the “release” version of

changes arriving in the built-in Windows apps Windows 11. On October 3, we began

(fave.co/3n4ZuBp) in our separate story. So seeing those release as part of a Windows

far, we’ve seen updates including the Store update. Photos’ most significant

rounded corners and other visual elements of change is a row of thumbnail images at the

Windows 11 across the board, but there have bottom of the app for easier image picking,

been other, more functional additions we’ve which you can use to select and compare

had a chance to try out. multiple images. Unfortunately, it can take

The humble Clock app has been revamped roughly twenty seconds or so for OneDrive to

to include Focus Sessions, which simply “find” the photos and present that navigation

incorporates the Pomodoro Technique: Focus bar. (I imagine it’s much faster for photos

intensively on a task for a

period of time, then relax

briefly, focus again, and so

on. The idea is that you

mentally agree to shut

down distractions to get

the job done. Clock now

links to Spotify, for those

who like to listen to music

while concentrating. For

me, anything musical is a

distraction—that’s why “no

whistling in the

newsroom” is a thing! I

also don’t know why

Focus Sessions doesn’t Windows 11’s Clock app now includes an option to set times during
automatically trigger which you can focus intensively on a single task.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 45

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

connection, cloud

gaming streams

1080p quality games

from Microsoft’s

cloud servers directly

to your PC, provided

that you pay for a

Game Pass Ultimate

subscription. It’s a

surprisingly good

replacement while

Xbox Series X

The newly updated Photos app adds a photo picker and a comparison tool. consoles or GPUs

remain in short

stored locally on a PC.) supply, although it will never quite replace a

Paint, too, lives on within Windows 11, console or a dedicated gaming PC.

with a redesigned, more intuitive interface. It’s We’re not seeing changes to other built-in

otherwise the same app, however. apps like OneDrive, To-Do, and Maps, some

Microsoft also appears to

give the revamped Xbox app

pride of place during some

installations. Part social network,

part games library, the Xbox app

connects you to your friends,

letting you see what they’re

playing, team up for multiplayer

adventures, and so on. The

piece de resistance (fave.

co/2YXI4hR) is Xbox cloud

gaming, which has finally arrived

on the Xbox app for Windows.

Provided you have a game Xbox cloud gaming under Windows 11 is surprisingly decent,
controller (Bluetooth or wired) offering a console-like experience if you have a normal
and a 10Mbps Internet broadband Internet connection.

46 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

of which continue to toil

in obscurity. (Did you

know that Maps has

access to traffic cameras,

so you can actually look

at your commute before

you set out?) We should

also note that you

should see Office apps

like Word and Excel

finally reflect the

thematic choices you’ve

made in Windows,

flipping to Dark Mode if

you’ve selected it for the

operating system. Windows 11’s Your Phone, like Windows 10, allows you to pin Android
Windows 11 also apps to your Taskbar and Start menu. You may see something similar when
Android apps arrive on Windows 11.
includes a somewhat

improved way of

interacting with apps: voice dictation, which its Teams Chat app on the Windows 11 desktop,

has been present in Windows for years but you should know that you can connect your

has now steadily improved. Tapping Win+H Android phone to your PC and interact with it

opens the dictation microphone, which in via Your Phone to place calls and send texts. The

Windows 11 includes an additional option for only odd aspect to this relationship is that

injecting AI-determined punctuation. No Samsung phones (as well as the Surface Duo)

dictation app is perfect, though Otter.Ai and benefit from a beefed-up Your Phone

Google’s Live Transcribe work best for me. experience. Here, Your Phone allows you to

Windows’ transcription accuracy is within remotely interact with your phone’s desktop—

shouting distance of the other two, however, even pin multiple Android apps from phone to

and I expect that the more I use it the better your Windows 11 PC’s taskbar and Start menu!

it will become. That is very, very cool…and a nice stopgap until

Finally, Microsoft deserves a quick shoutout you can run Android apps inside Windows 11, a

for the Your Phone app (fave.co/3lTafHM). If much-touted feature that wasn’t ready in time

you don’t like what Microsoft is doing with the for launch.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 47

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

Why use a

command prompt

of any sort? For one

thing, there are still

commands that can

make your life

easier (fave.

co/3perzcm). But

perhaps more

important, it’s an

easy way of

exploring a

simplified version of

Support for Linux GUI apps within the Windows 11 Windows Subsystem for the Linux operating
Linux 2 means you can check out apps like the xmahjongg app running in system via the
Ubuntu and Windows Terminal. Windows

TERMINAL REPLACES Subsystem for
POWERSHELL, Linux, which was introduced early in
UPDATES WINDOWS Windows 10’s development. Microsoft has
SUBSYSTEM FOR LINUX now moved on to Windows Subsystem for
Linux 2 (WSL2), which introduced GPU

Windows has three (!) command-line utilities: compute (fave.co/3BVdeVo) last year as well

Command Prompt, PowerShell, and Terminal. as support for GUI apps in May (fave.

You can think about each one as sort of a co/3j8RNJe). There’s even a simplified

superset of the others, with Terminal, command that Microsoft has added to WSL2:

debuting in 2019 (fave.co/3DODem4), being wsl.exe --install

the most powerful. All three are present in That will take care of much of the nerdy

Windows 11, though you really don’t need to setup in just a single line of code. For more,

open any of the three beyond Terminal. here’s our tutorial on how to add Linux apps

Terminal, in fact, allows you to create to Windows (fave.co/3j8RNJe), either

additional tabs in which you can open Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Command Prompt, PowerShell, or more. To be fair, WSL2 is largely a curiosity, since

(You may find yourself wondering why you’ll probably find most Linux apps have a

Windows 11’s File Explorer can’t do this.) Windows counterpart. Still, if you’ve ever

48 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021

wanted to play around in Linux or see what That flies in the face, somewhat, of what
Linux apps look like, WSL2 in Windows is still Microsoft calls foreground prioritization, a
a neat way to do it. fancy name for simply giving the apps you
want to work on their fair share of CPU and
UNDER THE HOOD: DIRECT memory resources. Microsoft has previously
STORAGE, DYNAMIC showed this off by opening Word and Excel
REFRESH, AUTOHDR, while a resource-intensive application was
PERFORMANCE INCREASES already running in the background. In
Windows 11, some of the resources that “big”
In addition to what you can see and interact app consumes will be routed to those
with in Windows 11, there are also foreground apps, allowing them to run more
improvements and conveniences Microsoft smoothly. I’m not wholly convinced.
made under the hood. Some of these could
eventually sell Windows 11 all by themselves. Microsoft’s statements about Windows 11
laptops resuming more quickly from a sleep
Microsoft told users of three ways that state feel right, though. Ideally, we’d have a
performance will improve under Windows 11 pair of identical laptops running Windows 10
(fave.co/3pe22zK): foreground prioritization, and Windows 11 to compare. But simply
sleeping tabs within Edge, and quicker putting Microsoft’s Surface Laptops and
resumption from sleep. Surface Books into sleep mode, resuming,
and then comparing them to our test
Performance can be measured in several machines does show a noticeable difference
ways. In terms of actually running apps, our of a second or two. It’s a far cry from the bad
early performance benchmarks of Windows old days when rebooting or resuming your PC
11 (fave.co/3jcVkGA) indicated that there meant fetching a cup of coffee while you
was not an enormous difference from waited, but yes—there’s welcome
Windows 10, within expectations. Those improvement here.
observations were in line with what we saw
as development continued. Anecdotally, Sleeping Edge tabs make a difference,
however, Windows 11 feels less responsive, too. As you probably know, many browsers
slower, and heavier than Windows 10— preserve a row of tabs while closing them,
there’s some lag during app startup, and including Microsoft Edge. In one test I tried,
there have been cases in which Edge pages I took my window of 35 tabs, closed it, and
took a second or two to load when paging restarted Edge. Most of the tabs opened in a
forward and back. Some apps just loaded “sleeping” state, not consuming resources.
more slowly than we expected, compared to Those 34 tabs required 1.47GB of memory
Windows 10.

NOVEMBER 2021 PCWorld 49

REVIEWS WINDOWS 11

to maintain. After clicking on

all of them to put them in an

active state, they required

4.07GB before further

settling down to about

3.6GB. Either way, Edge’s

sleeping tabs saved my PC

quite a bit of RAM.

Windows 11 also includes

certain improvements that

won’t appear within a

particular app, but will

improve Windows 11 overall.

These include both general Usually, Edge will dim “sleeping” tabs to show that you’re not
performance improvements, actively using them. But you can also check by hovering your cursor
but also new features like over them.

DirectStorage, Dynamic

Refresh Rate, and AutoHDR. similar to Quick Resume. Right now, we don’t

As we noted earlier this year (fave. know if or when we’re going to get it.

co/3DM75eO), DirectStorage (and Nvidia’s DirectStorage support will be present in

RTX IO) lets NVMe SSDs (fave.co/ Windows 11 at launch, Microsoft has told us.

2Z26gQg) send data directly to the lightning- (Games that implement DirectStorage will be

quick dedicated VRAM on your graphics card compatible with Windows 10 version 1909 or

(fave.co/3DOEuWk), bypassing the usual later, too.) But game developers will also

route through the CPU and general system need to support the DirectStorage SDK,

memory. Microsoft has already implemented Microsoft added, and so far Microsoft has not

DirectStorage on the Xbox Series X, and it’s announced any Windows 11 PC games that

surprisingly powerful: Microsoft calls this have done so. Microsoft has also said (fave.

Quick Resume, and switching to a Quick co/3BU2jLU) that DirectStorage will require a

Resume game means switching to the game— terabyte NVMe SSD to enable DirectStorage,

no introductory title screens, menus, or so you’ll need to own one in addition to just

whatnot. Implementing this on the PC in Windows 11.

some fashion would be a decided plus for PC Dynamic Refresh Rate (fave.co/3BUtOF9)

gaming, especially if we see something is another Windows 11 feature that utilizes a

50 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2021