It should also be faster, 'We rebuilt for speed', said Panos Panay during the Windows 11 announcement. This new store is meant to have an easier to use and better-curated digital storefront. Windows 11 features a new version of the Microsoft Store (opens in new tab), with a new interface and a broader selection of apps. Don't worry though, that BSOD acronym will still be preserved (in English at least), as it's changing to the Black Screen of Death (opens in new tab)-which sounds far more metal. One aesthetic change that is rumored to be coming to Windows 11 is an end to the Blue Screen of Death, or BSOD if you prefer. This is particularly useful if you're rocking a large 4K screen and you want to view several apps at the same time. You have some control over such things in Windows 10, but with easy support for windows taking up a third of the screen, or quarters, this can make for a much neater layout. Hovering your mouse over the maximize icon results in a drop-down palette that lets you select how you want the various windows to be arranged. How you arrange your windows on the screen has also enjoyed a long-overdue shot in the arm. Worry not though, you can move it back to how it works in Windows 10 with the flick of a switch on the Taskbar Settings screen. The other major change is the shifting of the taskbar to the middle of the screen, as opposed to being squeezed into the bottom left-hand corner.

It's a subtle change, but it's it does have a different feel-at least it does when the windows are not full screen. Windows no longer has the right-angle corners we've become accustomed to but are rounded instead. The general ethos is a move to a softer, more-rounded theme.

The start button has moved, widgets are making a comeback, and There's a new look for existing windows, and it's revisited its frosted-glass effect for some overlapping panels. Microsoft has always had a tendency to mess with its UI, and for Windows 11, it hasn't held back. The most obvious changes to Windows 11 are on the user interface (UI) front.

Windows 11 reveal date