Ebook: Windows 11 Field Guide

The Windows 11 Field Guide is a full-length e-book about the latest version of Microsoft Windows, aimed at those users who will upgrade from Windows 10 or acquire Windows 11 with a new PC.

Microsoft describes Windows 11 as being “fresh and familiar,” and while that sounds paradoxical, it’s true. That is, Windows 11 offers a fresh new user experience that is simpler, prettier, and more modern than that of its predecessor, Windows 10. But it is also instantly familiar, providing all of the same basic interfaces that Windows users expect, know, and use.

Windows 11 soldiers forward with all of the security features from Windows 10. But it also includes some enhancements. Windows 11-based PCs must have Secure Boot and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 chipset available and enabled, for example, which raises the security baseline for the entire ecosystem, for example. And Smart App Control takes the browser-based SmartScreen technologies from the past, improves them with AI-based application trust prediction capabilities, and integrates it directly into the operating system, ensuring that unsafe apps won’t run.

Like its predecessor, Windows 11 ships with two command-line shells–the MS-DOS-like Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell–and you can optionally install one or more Linux command-line shells via the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) as well. But Windows 11 also includes a new application called Windows Terminal that lets you access these command-line environments–plus the Azure Cloud Shell–from a single, tab-based interface.

Windows 11 also ships with Microsoft’s Power Automate for desktop, a so-called “low-code” automation solution that helps you optimize workflows and automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks visually.

Windows 11 includes a hardware virtualization feature called Hyper-V that lets you run Windows and other operating systems in virtual machines (VMs). This technology is useful for a variety of reasons. For example, developers can use Hyper-V to test their applications and other software in other versions of Windows or in other operating systems.