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Although it was leaked ahead of the official announcement, many of the vital details about Windows 11 ended up declared within an emotional livestream fronted by Microsoft's Panos Panay. All the specifics, that is, except for its release date. But now, in a blog post, the company has revealed that it will be available from 5 October 2021.

The post explains, though, that you won't necessarily be able to get it on that date: "Following the tremendous learnings from Windows 10, we want to make sure we’re providing you with the best possible experience. That means new eligible devices will be offered the upgrade first." In other words, Microsoft doesn't want a repeat of the Home windows 10 rollout where some apps and hardware simply didn't work with the new OS and caused plenty of grief.

This time around, the rollout "will be phased and measured with a focus on quality". The company says it expects all eligible devices to be offered the free upgrade by mid-2022, and that it will use 'intelligence models' that consider hardware, reliability metrics, age of device and other factors. So don't be surprised if you don't see a pop-up giving you the option to upgrade from Home windows 10 on 5 October.

You should, however, start to see laptops and PCs running Home windows 11 start to be sold from that date.