Windows 11 will be released on October 5, according to Microsoft. After that, Microsoft will begin offering the stable version as an update for existing Windows 10 customers.

Microsoft will gradually phase out the free upgrade to Windows 11 for eligible users starting on October 5. Users will be able to upgrade manually from that point forward, or they can purchase Windows 11 separately. Microsoft anticipates that all eligible PCs will have received the upgrade by the middle of 2022.

Today, we are thrilled to announce Windows 11 will start to become available on October 5, 2021. On this day, the free upgrade to Windows 11 will begin rolling out to eligible Windows 10 PCs and PCs that come pre-loaded with Windows 11 will start to become available for purchase. A new Windows experience, Windows 11 is designed to bring you closer to what you love.

The initial release will lack support for Android apps that are available through the Amazon Appstore. Microsoft had previously indicated that it will be one of the features of Windows 11, but it has now stated that it will first be tested in the Insiders version of Windows in the coming months before being released generally. It is not yet known when support for Android applications will be included to the final version of the software.

According to Microsoft, users of Windows 11 will require a supported 64bit processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage space, a graphics card with DirectX 12 compatibility, UEFI with Secure Boot, and TPM 2.0, among other requirements. Users may not receive updates if the software is installed on a machine that contains, for example, an unsupported CPU. That last bit remains to be a bit fuzzy though.

Windows 11 arrives on October 5th