Windows 11 is now generally available. How ready is your organization for Windows 11? Some will say that Windows 11 is just an update to Windows 10 but we’ve done our testing and that’s not altogether true. Remember when Microsoft said that Windows 10 was “the last OS” and the “forever version of Windows”? Well, now we know it clearly was not.
Windows 11’s interface is being called “Mac-like.” This new look comes with many changes. The Start Menu and task bar are notably different and there are also new capabilities called Windows Widgets, Snap Layouts and Groups, and Android apps are also coming to Windows 11 OS a little later. With all of these changes, the Windows user profile is also very different between Windows 10 and 11. If your profiles today are reliant on basic profile tools such as roaming profiles or FSLogix, they will not work seamlessly between Windows 10 and 11.
Before your organization moves even one workspace to Windows 11 or Azure Virtual Desktop on Windows 11 you should practice a tried and true methodology for migration success. We’ll be delivering a webinar later this month entitled, “Ready for Windows 11? Get the 411 from Liquidware” – be sure to register now. But prior to that, here are some key points to consider as you start planning for Windows 11.
- Assess – take a complete inventory of the hardware and software your enterprise is running. Then you’ll know which machines are capable of running Windows 11 and what applications you need to make available to users. Liquidware Stratusphere UX will ship an update next month (planned) with new Windows 11 readiness reports that can assess your organization for all key requirements including CPU (≥64bit, 2 cores, 1 GHz), clock speed, RAM, storage, UEFI Secure Boot capabilities, TPM 2.0, display resolution, DirectX compatible graphics, and connection speed.
- Plan and Design – Given the knowledge you learn in the assessment above, plan on reallocating hardware to specific groups of users and procuring any new hardware you have decided your organization needs. Next, carefully consider your application strategy. How will you deliver applications in the new environment? Which apps will be SaaS? Or require isolation to be compatible? Or which ones can be dynamically attached with Liquidware’s FlexApp layering solution? Liquidware FlexApp keeps base images clean and devices easy to maintain. Unlike Citrix App Layering and others, you won’t have to repackage your apps with FlexApp, they work across Windows OS versions if the app supports the OS.
- Migrate – leave no user data behind! Ensure that user authored data is not left on old workspaces before they are re-imaged or destroyed. Automate the harvesting of such data wherever possible. Also, be sure that users are kept productive by not destroying their user profiles but make sure they are compatible to flow seamlessly to Windows 11. We’ve tested profiles and, without ProfileUnity’s Portability, you can count on them breaking between Windows 10 and 11. ProfileUnity’s data management and Profile Portability capabilities cover all these points. Don’t let your users and your organization down with a haphazard migration. ProfileUnity supports many features in Windows 11 now and will offer enhanced support in the v6.8.4 r2 release.
- Validate – just because you moved users over to Windows 11 does not mean it’s a better experience for them yet. Stratusphere UX can baseline user experience on prior OS versions and check it against Windows 11. Ensure you pilot Windows 11 with a select group of users before you adopt it wholesale. Also, be sure you can quickly troubleshoot and diagnose user experience concerns, you’ll be able to do that easily with Stratusphere UX.
Stay tuned for other blogs and guidance on Windows 11. Remember to register for our webinar later this month entitled, “Ready for Windows 11? Get the 411 from Liquidware.”