A planned October 2021 release date for Windows 11 has been accidentally leaked in support documents from both Microsoft and Intel.
When Microsoft formally announced Windows 11 in June, they did not provide an official release date, only saying it would be released later this year.
"Upgrade rollout plan is being finalized and is scheduled to begin late in 2021 and continue into 2022. Specific timing will vary by device. Certain features require specific hardware," revealed Microsoft in their Windows 11 announcement.
However, support documents released over the past two months from Microsoft and Intel have revealed that the plan is to release Windows 11 in October, or at the latest, in November this year.
Intel's July graphics driver release notes stated that the drivers are compatible with Windows 11, which they listed as the "October 2021 Update (21H2)," as shown below.
Operating Systems:
Microsoft Windows* 10-64 - October 2018 Update (1809)(RS5)
Microsoft Windows* 10-64 - May 2019 Update (1903)(19H1)
Microsoft Windows* 10-64 - November 2019 Update (1909)(19H2)
Microsoft Windows* 10-64 - May 2020 Update (2004)(20H1)
Microsoft Windows* 10-64 - October 2020 Update (20H2)
Microsoft Windows* 10-64 - May 2021 Update (21H1)
Microsoft Windows* 11-64 - October 2021 Update (21H2)
While Intel has removed the name of the Windows 11 update from the support document, an archived version shows the original compatibility list.
Today, WindowsLatest noted that a Windows Hardware Certification blog post from June announced that Microsoft was accepting Windows 11 driver submissions.
Towards the end of the document, Microsoft notes that Windows partners had until September 24th, 2021, to submit their drivers for compatibility if they wanted their drivers to ship with Windows 11, version 21H2.
"Windows 11, version 21H2 based systems may ship with drivers that have achieved compatibility with Windows 10, version 2004 until September 24, 2021," reads Microsoft's support document.
"Partners looking to achieve compatibility for systems shipping with Windows 11, version 21H2 Release may factory-install drivers for components that achieved compatibility with Windows 10, version 2004 until September 24, 2021."
While Microsoft may adjust the release schedule, since the release of Windows 10, a new version of the operating system has been released every fall, either in October or November.
Windows 10 Version | Feature Update Name | Release date |
---|---|---|
1507 | July 29, 2015 | |
1511 | November Update | November 10, 2015 |
1607 | Anniversary Update | August 2, 2016 |
1703 | Creators Update | April 5, 2017 |
1709 | Fall Creators Update | October 17, 2017 |
1803 | April 2018 Update | April 30, 2018 |
1809 | October 2018 Update | November 13, 2018 |
1903 | May 2019 Update | May 21, 2019 |
1909 | November 2019 Update | November 12, 2019 |
2004 | May 2020 Update | May 27, 2020 |
20H2 | October 2020 Update | October 20, 2020 |
21H1 | May 2021 Update | May 18, 2021 |
With the deadlines and clues from the support documents, we expect Windows 11 to be released in October 2021.
However, even if the update is called the 'October 2021 Update,' Microsoft could still push it back to November, as seen with the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.
Comments
ladyh - 2 years ago
I have a feeling windows 11 will make it so you cannot do anything to your computer...they will totally block everything. I will NEVER EVER EVER upgrade or get a PC with 11 on it. They control too much as it is..
Warthog-Fan - 2 years ago
Since Microsoft seems to get it right every other time, and since Windows 7 was a great OS and Windows 10 has been a mess, then maybe they will get it right with Windows 11. I'm not going to find out though because I've been using Linux for the past two and a half years (since Microsoft announced that they would end Windows 7 support on January of 2020) and I sure don't plan to go back to any Microsoft products at this point. Linux is a much better OS for the average user and small businesses and if you use a distro like MX Linux it's much more stable.
ladyh - 2 years ago
Right on...windows 7 was/is great and still have a laptop with 7 on it. I upgraded this laptop from 8.1 to 10 and I lost everything. It was horrible.firefox even with backup (and upgrade) lost contacts everything. Same with thunderbird. It even had dual boot, which was useless because blank screen if I tried windows 8.1. Microsoft keeps trying to control users and not leting them take responsibility of their own stuff. I have Mint on the laptop with 7 and found out you just can't get rid of it LOL I have multiple PCs with just about every OS. downside amazon, google etc keeps warning me "security alert" when I use other PC's. Then I can't get email until I verify...arrggghhh getting sick of it. Amazon and google are taking over the internet as well.
noelprg4 - 2 years ago
well my father's old Toshiba Satellite 2013 laptop came pre-installed with Win8.1 home and it was pretty stable, aside from missing a start menu which that can be resolved by installing either Classic Shell or Open Shell (hah!). had no problems with W8.1 on there, even with the latest patches for 8.1.
and I can control updates on Win8.1 (either enable or disable them), unlike in Win10 or greater :)
and as a guy named doriel recently said here:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/windows-11-is-coming-soon-but-users-want-these-features-back/#cid20657
"8.1 was usable much more, then 8"
ladyh - 2 years ago
Exactly what I did always had classic shell and had 8.1 but again upgrading to 10 screwed up my pc bad and lost data...had files backed up but sometimes it's not all there :-(