Did Intel just leak the Windows 11 release date?

Support document suggests it’s coming soon

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Intelmay have accidently revealed theWindows 11 release date, with its latest drivers referencing “Windows 11-64 – October 2021 Update – version 21H2”.

This gives extra weight to the rumors thatWindows 11will be releasing in October 2021. So far,Microsofthasn’t officially revealed theWindows 11release date,instead simply statingthat it is “due out later in 2021 and will be delivered over several months”.

However, this latest leak, which is found in therelease notespublished by Intel alongside its latest GPU driver, makes a clear reference to October 2021.

Will it launch in October?

In the past, Microsoft has named its majorWindows 10updates after the month in which they are going to be released (which hascaused issues in the pastwhen there have been delays), and the release notes make reference to existingWindows 10updates as well, such as theMay 2021 Update (21H1).

The ‘21H2’ part of the update name in relation to Windows 11 suggests, as with other Windows updates, that it will release in the second half of 2021.

There will also be aWindows 10 21H2 update, but that’s expected to bring minor updates, maybe because Microsoft is focussing on Windows 11.

So far, the evidence seems pretty conclusive that Windows 11 will launch – for some people, at least – in October 2021. Microsoft itselfrecently showed off new Windows 11 screenshots that contained references to October, so, barring any unforeseen delays, we’d say that it’s very likely you could be running Windows 11 by the time Halloween rolls around.

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However, we’re still not surewhowill be able to get Windows 11 then. It’s likely that we’ll start seeing new laptops and PCs being sold with the newoperating systemalready installed, but people with existing Windows 10 devices, the wait may be a little longer for the upgrade.

Windows 11 is due out later in 2021 and will be delivered over several months. The rollout of the upgrade to Windows 10 devices already in use today will begin in 2022 through the first half of that year.June 25, 2021

Microsoft usually rolls out big OS updates, so it can keep an eye on any issues, and in a Tweet a while ago, it said that the “rollout of the upgrade to Windows 10 devices already in use today will begin in 2022 through the first half of that year.”

If youreallycan’t wait to try out the new operating system, you can try an early build. Check out our guide onhow to download and install Windows 11for more information.

ViaWindows Latest

Matt is TechRadar’s Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there’s no aspect of technology that Matt isn’t passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops in our best laptops guide - and since joining TechRadar in 2014, he’s reviewed over 250 laptops and computing accessories personally.

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