The Windows 11 introductory event showed some glitzy new features focused primarily on the new experiences consumers will have. However, there was some mention of issues important to business users, too. Yes, this came with the usual dearth of details common to early Microsoft announcements, but the upshot is that the company wants to help businesses across five key areas:
- Hybrid work
- New commerce opportunities in the Microsoft Store
- A low IT learning curve for deployment and management
- Beefed up security across devices and the cloud
- New tools and an easier Windows 11 application process for developers
Some Subtle Hybrid Work Features
Microsoft has been promoting the hybrid work scenario for over a year because (a) it's a real trend that has, in fact, changed how most of us will work going forward, and (b) because it represents a juicy opportunity to combine client sales with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 services. So it makes sense that Microsoft is positioning Windows 11 as being hybrid work-centric.
From a purely Window 11 perspective, however, you won't see new features so much as you'll have a slightly better experience if you're working in multiple locations. For example, Microsoft promises that Windows 11 will remember your desktop layout once you undock from work and take your PC home. That'll certainly be unlike what happens now when Windows 10 seems to rearrange your icons as inconveniently as possible with every move.
Another, and unexpected, new feature is really a revival of an older idea: Microsoft is bringing back widgets. If you're wondering how that's a hybrid work feature, Microsoft is billing it as a quick way to get a mental reset for all those stressed-out hybrid workers. Read the fine print, however, and the company is also foreshadowing that widgets will be a feed powered by a back-end AI so you'll get content that's as curated and personalized as possible. That apparently includes content from "global brands" so you can expect some annoying advertising here, too.
Overall, that won't markedly change a hybrid worker's life, but there are some additional capabilities on the back end that will help IT endpoint and security managers (see below).
Windows 11's New Commerce Opportunities
If you're an app developer, then Microsoft is definitely looking to spark your interest with the new Microsoft Store. It's looking to make the Store attractive to a much broader audience than just customers looking for the latest games. Microsoft is promising a better search experience and it says it's adding more business-oriented apps to the store, including Microsoft Teams, Visual Studio, Disney+, Adobe Creative Cloud, Zoom Meetings, and Canva, all optimized for Windows 11.
What'll also make developers smile is that their customers will soon be able to find Android apps in the Microsoft Store, buy them there, and then download them using the Amazon Appstore. On the back-end, this will be powered by Intel Bridge Technology. This enables mobile apps to run natively on x86-based devices. It essentially looks like the Amazon Appstore will show up inside the Microsoft Store, according to a demo shown by Microsoft Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay. While part of the Windows 11 event, the new Store will be available to both Windows 10 and Windows 11 users. The commerce opportunity looked even better when Microsoft announced it was changing its revenue-sharing policy. The new Store will now let vendors use their own commerce engines inside the interface. If you opt for this, Microsoft says it will let you keep all the revenue from your sales instead of the 85/15% revenue sharing split that Microsoft app developers currently see.
Microsoft made no mention of the Microsoft Store for Business. The company had announced it was planning to get rid of that Business and Education Stores last year, and the silence on this during the Windows 11 event seems to indicate the company is going to follow through on that. That's not certain though, as spokespersons gave no details.
A Steady Course For IT
Microsoft wants IT managers to be involved as little as possible in its push to Windows 11, probably because those folks are usually the biggest blockers to business adoption with their pesky need to automate deployment and test out apps and security policies before letting users move. To keep them calm, Microsoft made sure to harp on Windows 11 being fully compatible with how IT is managing Windows 10 today. For example, even though Windows 11 Home users will now be required to have an internet connection and a Microsoft account to get their operating system set up, business users will still be able to set up offline and login using Active Directory. That sounds nice, but if Microsoft hadn't done that, Windows 11's business share would have tanked.
IT managers worried about app compatibility should also be mollified by Microsoft's promise that Windows 10 apps will work just fine on Windows 11. The company promised a consistent app experience and says it'll support that with its App Assure service designed to let developers fix any compatibility issues they might come across. How long such a fix might take wasn't addressed. Microsoft is also launching Test Base for Microsoft 365, which will let IT managers test an app in preview mode to see what'll happen to a business-critical app on Windows 11 or in the cloud before deploying yourself into a potential buzzsaw.
Lastly, Windows 11 will also work with all the current methods IT managers are using to deploy and manage Windows 10. Microsoft promises that upgrading to Windows 11 will be like taking a Windows 10 update, and if you're working IT, you'll be able to use all the day-to-day management tools you're using now, like Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager, Azure cloud configuration tools, Windows Update for Business, and Microsoft Autopilot. All of it will work the same on Windows 11 as it does on Windows 10.
Beefier Security...Mostly
Microsoft is trying to keep IT security managers happy. The company says Windows 11 will be a zero-trust platform and that this approach will span the entire OS landscape from the hardware chip level on up to every Azure cloud app and service. That'll include features like hardware-based isolation, encryption, and malware prevention all being turned on by default. Nixing password access should also be easier with a better deployment process for Windows Hello for Business.
The company hasn't ignored Windows 10 users, however, as it announced earlier this month that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly known as Defender ATP) will now let IT administrators see any unmanaged devices that might be running on their networks. Just know that this is a cloud service, it is not part of the Microsoft Defender antivirus utility that ships inside the Windows operating system.
Tools For Developers
Aside from all the goodies Microsoft has promised as part of the new Microsoft Store, the company also announced that app developers won't have to change how they build apps in order to compile for Windows 11. The company says Windows 11 will add a new PWABuilder3 tool so you can build Progressive Web Apps (PWA) much faster than before. Using the Windows App SDK (formerly called Project Reunion), developers will be able to build new apps for Windows 11 that'll still work on Windows 10.
Those looking to simply give their current apps a Windows 11 facelift will be able to do so using WinUI3 to get all the updates to the user interface, like the new round geometry, new icons, the new color palette, and more.
ARM compatibility was an attractive announcement but the details were a little vague. Microsoft is touting a new ARM64 Emulation Compatible tool. With this, it says you'll be able to mix native ARM processes and x64 code in the same program. That'll be great if it works, but wait for independent testing results before diving into this.
A New OS Or Simply A New Look?
Overall, Microsoft made a lot of announcements during the Windows 11 event, but for business users, this is really more of a surface change than a whole new operating system. The real news is on the commerce side if you're building apps for the Microsoft Store. For day-to-day business users, the new operating system promises a more modern look and feel and somewhat better security foundation, but one that'll also be mostly available for Windows 10 users. Developers also get some new tools, but again, these seem more like dev speed and rollout enhancers than anything revolutionary.
So as long as the Windows 11 upgrade process is as seamless as Microsoft is promising, it's probably a good idea for business users to move to the new platform. Then again, no rush.