First official Windows 11 ISO image is now available

Martin Brinkmann
Aug 20, 2021
Windows 11 News
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17

Microsoft released the first official Windows 11 ISO image today. You can head over to the official Software Download page on Microsoft's website to download the ISO to your system.

Note that you need to be a member of the Insider Preview program to download the ISO image. Since it is not stable, but a preview release, it is recommended to download and install the operating system only on test systems.

Windows 11 ISO is available as a Dev and Beta channel release for non-Enterprise and Enterprise use. All versions have the build number 22000.132

  • Windows Insider Preview is built for users across the globe and includes Home, Pro, Education, and Home Single Language.
  • Windows Insider Preview Enterprise is built to address the needs of large and midsize organizations and comes with the management tools that IT administrators need.
  • Windows Insider Preview Home China is built for consumers in?China and is delivered in Simplified Chinese.windows 11 iso download

Once you have selected an edition, you are asked to select the desired product language before you get a download link that is valid for 24 hours.

Downloads have a size of about 5 Gigabytes each. Once downloaded, you may install the Windows 11 operating system in a virtual environment, or copy it to USB devices for traditional installations on physical devices.

PCs that you install the Windows 11 Insider Preview image on don't need an Insider account for sign-in or activation.

The Windows 11 ISO can be used to perform a clean install or in-place upgrade on a system running Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Windows 11 In-Place Upgrade:

  1. Double-click on the downloaded Windows 11 ISO image to open it. Windows mounts the image so that you may access the files it contains.
  2. Double-click on the setup.exe file to start the installation process.
  3. Make sure you select "Keep Windows settings, personal files, and apps" during setup.

Windows 11 Clean Install:

  1. Double-click on the downloaded Windows 11 ISO image to open it. Windows mounts the image so that you may access the files it contains.
  2. Double-click on the setup.exe file to start the installation process.
  3. Make sure you select "change what to keep" and then "nothing" during setup to perform a clean install of Windows 11.

Now You: have you tried Windows 11 already? Do you plan to?

Summary
First official Windows 11 ISO image is now available
Article Name
First official Windows 11 ISO image is now available
Description
Microsoft released the first official Windows 11 ISO image today, which you may download to install Windows 11 using it.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. X said on August 25, 2021 at 12:25 pm
    Reply

    The only reason I would download any ISO from M$ website would be to burn it to a DVD then feed it into a shredder. The sound of Windows X,Y,Z being crunched is so satisfying.

    Screw you, M$ and your minions.

  2. Tom said on August 24, 2021 at 5:59 pm
    Reply

    It would be great — if possible — to install and run Win11 on Win10 Pro’s SandBox (virtual machine)…

  3. RobG said on August 23, 2021 at 5:53 pm
    Reply

    ‘First official Windows 11 ISO image is now available’.

    Thanks, but ‘no thanks’.
    (I’d equally like to avoid Covid if at all possible;-)

  4. Peter said on August 22, 2021 at 7:16 am
    Reply

    Finally! Now we can all enjoy being unable to use windows without a mandatory microsoft account. Nothing is more assuring than a company with incentive to profit from your data, that promises to protect your integrity.

  5. EP said on August 22, 2021 at 5:03 am
    Reply

    hi Martin

    do these fixes to work around the “This pc can’t run Windows 11” message during setup work with these recent Win11 ISOs from MS?
    https://www.ghacks.net/2021/07/06/try-this-fix-if-you-get-this-pc-cant-run-windows-11-during-setup/

  6. Hunter said on August 21, 2021 at 9:56 pm
    Reply

    Same old tick tock strategy. Windows 11 is the tick, Windows 12 will be the tock. Tick users are the beta testers for tocks.

    1. RobG said on August 23, 2021 at 5:55 pm
      Reply

      I’ve no idea what you’re ‘Tocking’ about!
      ;-)

  7. Robert said on August 21, 2021 at 7:12 pm
    Reply

    I downloaded an insiders ISO off of The Pirate Bay and tested it out for a while in VMware first before upgrading to Windows 11. I upgraded on a Asus Rog Z590-E motherboard and the only requirement I had for upgrading was to turn something on in the CMOS settings. I haven’t had any issues yet and am really liking the changes they have made other than the “Recommend” section on the start menu.

  8. Snoopy Snow Cones said on August 21, 2021 at 7:16 am
    Reply

    >It’s really nice of Microsoft to acknowledge the mistakes they made with forcing Windows 10 on users, by adding hardware requirements is so onerous that the majority of existing PCs won’t be able to install it.

    Money truly does talk, otherwise they would tell MS to fuck off.

  9. common sense computing said on August 21, 2021 at 12:31 am
    Reply

    It’s really nice of Microsoft to acknowledge the mistakes they made with forcing Windows 10 on users, by adding hardware requirements is so onerous that the majority of existing PCs won’t be able to install it.

  10. Anonymous said on August 20, 2021 at 10:46 pm
    Reply

    Does it contain that ugly new theme with the useless taskbar and start menu?

  11. Peter Newton said on August 20, 2021 at 10:18 pm
    Reply

    Listen to the views of Steve Gibson on Microsoft’s attitude towards patching bugs, on the following up to the second link. Then ask yourself 1/ Have I been ripped off ? 2/ Should I seriously consider a Win 11 upgrade ? 3/ Should I be investigating an alternative OS ? [You all know which one I have in mind] :)

    https://youtu.be/KgOKt_FYrOg?t=4288

    Peter Newton [London UK]

  12. Ryan F said on August 20, 2021 at 5:02 pm
    Reply

    > have you tried Windows 11 already? Do you plan to?

    I got a new computer at work recently and decided to take the opportunity to put Windows 11 on it while still having my old Windows 10 machine to RDP to. I’ve had two minor superficial issues and no “real” issues so far. I really like it a lot more than Windows 10, honestly. I’ve even kept the taskbar centered and honestly I don’t see what the “crisis” is with it. I seriously think a lot of the doom and gloom attitude toward Windows 11 is over-the-top. It’s not that I don’t have qualms about Microsoft and some of their business practices, but I’m not going to lie and act like I hate Windows 11. I genuinely find it to be a breath of fresh air after feeling very meh about Windows 10 since its release.

    1. RobG said on August 23, 2021 at 8:44 pm
      Reply

      > I got a new computer at work “recently” and decided to take the opportunity to put Windows 11 on it…..I don’t see what the “crisis” is with it. I seriously think a lot of the doom and gloom attitude toward Windows 11 is over-the-top. <

      Ryan. Three little words: "Give it Time". Its obviously very early days for you and Windows 11, its a sort of honeymoon period.

      From what Ive read: Windows 11 is a cut-down version of W10, i.e. with quite a few functions chopped out or cut back. – within control panel for example.

      You'll obviously need to see how these, and future issues and update glitches, pan out for you.

      Best of luck.

  13. John G. said on August 20, 2021 at 3:49 pm
    Reply

    Nice free idea for Microsoft: please release Windows 11 on 11 November, Veterans Day. :]

  14. Anonymous said on August 20, 2021 at 1:56 pm
    Reply

    Nahh. Let someone else be the guinea-pig in this first release. Too many ‘requirements’ listed.

  15. Paul(us) said on August 20, 2021 at 1:02 pm
    Reply

    I am still concerned about the security. I do not concur that its necessary and wise to give Microsoft so much information thru the installation.
    So up to now I say “I do not install it wright now!”

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