Windows 11 has leaked: Here’s a sneak peek before next week’s launch!

Windows 11 has leaked: Here’s a sneak peek before next week’s launch!

First of all, we should be clear that this is very much a new edition of Windows 10. It has a new look, but it's still the same operating system underneath. Because Microsoft intended to create a buzz around it, we're receiving new branding. As a result, when you boot up this leaked build, the first thing you'll notice is a very familiar out-of-box experience.

Indeed, all of the different Windows 11 versions, including Home, Pro, Enterprise, and others, are the same as they were for Windows 10. When you get past the section where you pick your edition and partition your drive, and it actually installs the components, the OOBE takes a sharp turn away from what you're used to.

The questions are the same, and at this point, you might have realized that this looks a lot like Windows 10X. That’s because it is. Windows 10X promised a lot of under-the-hood changes, such as running apps in containers so they couldn’t access the rest of the file system. That’s not happening here.

What’s happening here is that Microsoft is pretty much bringing over the Windows 10X shell on top of Windows 10, and calling it Windows 11.

You also may have spotted a new Windows logo, which is a blue Microsoft logo. It’s replacing the trapezoidal logo that we had before and flattening it out into a square. This is likely a big part of the Redmond firm’s move to make things more Microsoft-branded instead of Windows-branded. We’ve seen various references to Microsoft Server in Windows Server.

Another thing that you’ll surely notice, and it’s a big part of the Sun Valley design refresh, is rounded corners. While Microsoft has included sharp corners since the days of Windows 8, it’s finally scaling that back.

The Start Menu is what you'd expect it to be. The taskbar is perfectly positioned, and if it weren't for the new rectangular logo, you'd swear this screenshot came straight from Windows 10X. The Windows 11 logo, on the other hand, gives it away.

Here, Windows Search gets a completely new design. With these floating, centered fly-outs like these, the new Sun Valley UX appears to be on a roll. You may filter results by apps, documents, settings, and more, as shown in the image.

If you check File Explorer, you won't find any surprises. Sure, all of the icons are visually different from those in Windows 10. All of that is, however, already in preview. You've probably noticed the new Windows 11 icons if you're a Windows Insider on the Dev channel.

Nothing is changing with the Microsoft Edge browser. It's worth noting that, in terms of apps, not much has changed. These features are still available in Windows 11 and Windows 10, as well as prior versions of Edge. This is independent of the operating system.

Another thing that’s new is that you can simply configure multiple split view choices, right from the maximize button in any program. You can pick between a split view or a view with three or four apps on the screen at the same time. It simplifies things significantly more than the current side-by-side view.

Apart from that, there's not much more to see. Windows 11 is later this year, but Microsoft's big unveiling is just a week away.