Microsoft has already revealed what many of the versions of Windows 11 will be . In the version for Insiders we can install Home or Pro, but in the leaked build there were many more versions. Now, a record in the Bluetooth SIG has revealed a new version that was not showing up.
In the leaked build days before the Microsoft conference we find more than a dozen different versions of Windows 11 . All of them were 64-bit, but they had differences depending on whether it was the version for homes, for schools or for companies. Thus, the versions that appeared there were the following:
- Windows 11 Home
- Windows 11 Home N
- Windows 11 Home Single Language
- Windows 11 Education
- Windows 11 Education N
- Windows 11 Pro
- Windows 11 Pro N
- Windows 11 Pro Education
- Windows 11 Pro Education N
- Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
- Windows 11 Pro N for Workstations
For more than a decade, Windows has come in versions N and not N. The reason for including version N is that the European Union ordered Microsoft to pay a fine of 497 million euros for including Windows Media Player in the operating system, which could harm competition.
For this reason, multimedia elements are no longer included in the N versions . As codec support has improved, Microsoft has removed more of the required items in version N. For example, VP9, WEBM, HEIF, Skype, Movies & TV, Groove Music, Xbox Game Bar, and Recorder are not installed. Apps like the webcam, Windows Hello or Alarms stop working. Luckily, there is a pack that can be installed additionally to recover all these items.
Beyond the versions that appeared in the leaked build, we will also have a version for Enterprise , another for Mixed Reality , and an S mode compatible only with UWP apps is also expected. While the first one was quite logical that it would be available, the version for Mixed Reality was not known until now. To use mixed reality with Windows 10, you had to install the Mixed Reality Portal app, and we had the flexibility to activate one or the other mode as we wanted. Therefore, we do not know exactly what this version will offer different, but it may be directly ready from the beginning to be compatible with mixed reality without installing the app that enables it.
What differences will there be between Windows 11 Home and Pro?
One of the most important differences for users will be to know what we will be losing with the Home version compared to the Pro version. One of the changes that we already know is that, to install the Home, it will be mandatory to have a Microsoft account, something that is not Required on the Pro. Also expect there will be differences in the software they include for business, such as managing other devices.
Beyond that, it seems that a difference between the two versions in Windows 10 will disappear. And it is that with Windows 10 Pro we had BitLocker to encrypt storage units. With TPM 2.0 as a requirement, this should be enabled in both versions, so it will no longer be a difference. To know the rest we will have to wait for Microsoft itself to detail it officially.
