It’s not often I’ll just lift a headline from the Windows Blogs as my lead graphic. But today is a notable and valid exception. You can read Microsoft’s own words on this for yourself: Windows 11 available on October 5. The biggest take-aways from this promise are pretty interesting. But when Windows 11 release commences October 5, I suspect we’ll be learning more about what all this really means.

Windows 11 Release Commences October 5 via Trickle-Out

As with other Windows feature upgrades in recent memory (back to 1909 and perhaps earlier), WU will offer the upgrade to the safest machines first. Over time, it will expand the scope of its offer. But that offer will NOT include machines that don’t meet Windows 11 system requirements. In fact, here’s what WU tells me on my Insider Preview Surface Pro 3 under the Windows Insider Program heading:

With its 4th-generation Intel CPU, the Surface Pro 3 does not meet Windows 11 CPU requirements.

WU Should Provide Upgrade Status Info to All

By the time October 5 rolls around — usually called the GA date (for General Availability) — some broader Cumulative Update (CU) will add compatibility checks to all older and still supported Windows releases. These will inform users about their PC’s eligibility for a Windows 11 upgrade. I imagine the language will be same as in the 21H2 Insider Preview screencap shown above.

I guess it’s nice to know that GA is coming soon. As I write this post, it’s exactly 32 days in the offing. I need to accelerate my production desktop refresh plans. I imagine I’ll order those parts today. Just another glorious day, here in Windows-World!