- Microsoft has released the first Windows 11 Insider Preview.
- It includes the new taskbar, widgets, and other features, but there’s no Android support.
- Install it on your own PC only if you’re comfortable with the risks.
You can finally try the future of Windows for yourself, although one of its signature features is currently missing. Neowin reports that Microsoft has released the first Windows 11 Insider Preview with many of the new interface features, but none of the vaunted Android support mentioned during the introductory event.
Microsoft didn’t say why Android compatibility was missing from the Windows 11 Insider Preview, but it did promise that the feature would be ready in the “coming months” alongside Teams integration and other promised additions.
Related: Bluestacks CEO on Android apps coming to Windows 11
The focus is instead on core interface upgrades. The Windows 11 Insider Preview includes the new centered taskbar (you can restore the old left-aligned buttons), widgets, improved multitasking, and the new Microsoft Store. You can even try a Dynamic Refresh Rate feature that automatically lowers the frame rate in certain situations to save power for laptops, much like you see on certain high-refresh smartphones.
Not that you’ll necessarily want to use this Windows 11 Insider release on your primary PC. Microsoft warned of multiple broken features in the preview. The taskbar won’t display across multiple monitors, for instance, while Settings won’t launch if you’ve upgraded to Windows 11 from a PC with multiple accounts. Search doesn’t always work correctly, and widgets can misbehave.
As such, you’ll likely want to limit the Windows 11 Insider Preview to a secondary system you can afford to do without. It’s just as well — many of you want to run Android apps on your PC, so there’s not as much point to trying the early Windows release until mobile software is an option.
