Analysts Don't Recommend Businesses Rush to Windows 11, Despite New Security Features

If you own a business and are thinking of upgrading to Windows 11, you might want to wait. Yes, even with the OS' new security features. Analyst firm Gartner is recommending its customers to take time to prepare and avoid rushing in before adopting Windows 11, according to The Register.  

Specifically, Gartner's research vice president, Stephen Kleynhans, recommends businesses should do an evaluation of Windows 11 starting in 2022, before introducing an implementation phase after the second half of 2022 when Windows 11 22H2 ships.

Kleynhans did not give a precise answer as to why businesses should wait a whole year to implement Windows 11. However, it's expected that businesses, especially large companies, will require at least a few months of time and evaluation after any new OS launch just to ensure all of its usual apps work properly.

Windows 11 is A Marketing Opportunity for the PC Ecosystem

Even though most of Windows 11's features could have been released in a simple feature update for Windows 10, the analyst firm believes Windows 11 gives the industry something to rally behind, and create a new modern baseline in the PC space.

The problem with Windows 10's 'Windows As A Service' model was the blurred lines between outdated hardware and new feature sets. Windows 10 has been out for six years now, and getting all the Windows 10 support apps and features to operate well under 5-year-old hardware can be difficult.

With Windows 11, Microsoft was able to create a new foundation with new system requirements, to give developers more time to work on supporting newer platforms instead of trying to support both new and old hardware.

So, while the Gartner firm is recommending everyone take their time to upgrade to Windows 11, it also believes Windows 11 is a step in the right direction. It just believe that the next two years will effectively be Windows 11's adoption phase, giving IT support time to get all workstations and systems ready for the new OS.

Aaron Klotz
Contributing Writer

Aaron Klotz is a contributing writer for Tom’s Hardware, covering news related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.