The new version of Microsoft's venerable operating system has now been officially available for a few weeks now. However, it's pretty unlikely you'll have been offered it yet. It is possible to proactively install it in advance of it being pushed via Windows Update. More specifically, you can do so by going here and downloading and running the update assistant:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
However, before you rush off and do that, let's consider whether you should.
Looking around at various write-ups around the internet, the launch has actually been pretty smooth for a brand new Windows release. The opinions on the changes have been almost all positive too. This is likely down to the fact that, as new versions of Windows go, this one is pretty restrained. It is largely Windows 10 with a lick of paint rather than anything fundamentally different. The version shift here is likely more to do with dropping support for older machines than because they thought the changes couldn't have been included in one of the Windows 10 feature updates.
Good news for people that don't like change then, and good news for businesses who are often wary about installing new Windows versions as staff may have to adapt their workflow to factor in changes to the operating system.
So, there's little to be afraid of when your machine does get upgraded, but should you try and force the issue now? In our opinion, probably not yet. As with any new release, there's reports of various issues from the early adopters. Nothing too serious (indeed, some Windows 10 updates have been more problematic), but it's generally worth leaving these things a little while for the biggest initial bugs to be found and fixed.
The other reason not to jump yet is that as the changes are largely graphical, you're not going to be missing any must-have features just yet by sticking with Windows 10. In fact, one of the biggest new features isn't actually quite ready yet. Microsoft have said it will be a little longer until it's possible to run Android apps within Windows.
So, for most, we'd suggest waiting until Windows Update offers the upgrade to you, or at least waiting until the new year. However, if you're particularly keen, then we haven't yet seen anything to suggest that you definitely shouldn't give it a go now. Indeed, a couple of us in the office are already using it without any notable problems. The curse of every other Windows version being troublesome may be broken!