Update 1 (06/15/2021 @ 02:12 PM ET): We have confirmed this Windows 11 leak is legitimate and have installed the build in a VM. Click here for more information. The article, as published earlier today, is preserved below.

Next week, Microsoft is set to announce Windows 11. A major part of it is that it's going to have a big overhaul in the UX, the codename for which is Sun Valley. As we know, a large part of the UX shift is going to come from the Windows 10X shell, and as we also know, Windows 10X is not coming to market. Now, Windows 11 is starting to leak, as expected.

Some alleged screenshots appeared on Baidu (via BetaWorld) today, showing the least surprising look for Windows 11 that we could have imagined. As you can see from the image below, the taskbar is centered and it has the fly-out Start Menu, just like we've seen with the now-defunct Windows 10X.

Alleged Windows 11 Start Menu

In other words, assuming that these images are legitimate, when Microsoft said it was taking some parts of Windows 10X and putting them in Windows, it meant that literally. We can see that Live Tiles, or any kind of tiles, are gone entirely. They've been replaced by transparent icons. The one thing that looks different from Windows 10X is the rectangular Windows logo, which is no longer trapezoidal. It's more of a blue version of the Microsoft logo.

The one other image that was shown is a screenshot of the Settings page, showing Windows 11 Pro as the SKU.

Settings app showing Windows 11 Pro

It seems that Microsoft is going to be sticking with its same SKUs of Home, Pro, Enterprise, and so on with Windows 11. This is no surprise, since Windows 11, under the hood, is still Windows 10 version 21H2. You can see that the Settings app is identical to what you'd find on Windows 10, only with a different edition and build number. Speaking of the build number, 21996.1 is not the RTM build. It's going to be at least 22000, so it's safe to say that some things will change here.

Microsoft is set to announce Windows 11 on June 24 at 11am Eastern Time. You can expect that there will be plenty more leaks between now and then. We made a list of features that we want to see in Windows 11, but based on this leak, it seems like it's mostly going to be just a visual refresh on Windows 10.


Update 1: This Windows 11 leak is real

We managed to download the leaked build in question, and we can confirm that it, indeed, is a real build of Windows 11. Here's our first impressions of the release. If you want to download the wallpapers, here they are. Want to tell the world your thoughts on Windows 11? We're listening. Thinking of upgrading from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1? It may be possible.

We're really excited about the next version of Windows, and we're looking forward to the official announcement next week!