Windows 11 (original release)

Windows 11 is the next major version of Microsoft Windows that will succeed the Windows 10 series. It is based on the Cobalt codebase and is linked to the Sun Valley user interface refresh effort.

The rumor was initially sparked by comments made by Panos Panay, Microsoft's chief product officer, and Satya Nadella, chairman of Microsoft, both talking about a next generation of Windows. "Soon we will share one of the most significant updates to Windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunity for developers and creators. I’ve been self-hosting it over the past several months, and I’m incredibly excited about the next generation of Windows. Our promise to you is this: we will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative, new, open platform to build and distribute and monetize applications. We look forward to sharing more very soon."

- Satya Nadella at Microsoft Build 2021

The aka.ms/windows11 redirect has been found to exist in late May 2021, similarly to redirects for other major Windows releases. At the moment, the link merely redirects to the Microsoft homepage, while non-existent links are redirected to Bing.

An special event will be held on 24 June 2021 where Microsoft is expected to introduce the new user interface as well as position the update as Windows 11.

Documentation for Windows 10 telemetry also shows that Microsoft may plan to release both the Vibranium-based Windows 10 version 21H2 and a Cobalt-based 21H2 release, the latter of which could potentially be the initial release of Windows 11. A 22H2 feature update based on Copper, the development cycle that will take place in the first half of 2022, is also mentioned in the document.

Despite the efforts to prevent any leaks prior to the event, build 21996 has leaked online on 15 June, nine days before the keynote. The build already includes Windows 11 branding and much of the user interface work, although the internal version is still kept as 10.0, its interface resembles Windows 10X, which was discontinued in early June 2021.