Not only Windows 11, Microsoft is about to launch Windows 11 “SE”

While waiting for Microsoft to reveal details of Windows 11 at its June 24 event, a build has leaked and users were able to experience Windows 11 right before it was announced. However, Microsoft still seems to have some other “cards” in the event.

A new SKU called Windows 11 SE has been discovered. This appears to be a feature omitted version of the Windows 11 operating system. The last time Microsoft used “SE” in product names was more than 20 years ago, since the “SE” moniker in Windows 98 Second Edition.

Windows 11 SE

It was the successor to “Windows 10 Cloud Edition,” the name used for what was eventually called Windows 10 S. It was also a locked version of Windows and didn’t support apps from outside the door. Microsoft products. The reason for this is security and performance, but users are not excited about the idea. Microsoft has finally changed Windows 10 S to “Windows 10 in S mode”. Hints of another Windows 10 Cloud SKU have surfaced with build 21364 for Insiders in the Dev channel. Looks like it will actually be called Windows 11 SE.

Windows 11 SE is an Enterprise SKU and it looks like users can switch to another SKU, you can change it to Enterprise, Education, Pro for Workstations, etc.

However, Windows 11 SE seems to have some more limitations. In the images below, you can see that the Settings app is missing some pages. Normally, you’ll see phone and search settings, but they don’t show up here.

We can also see that Microsoft Store is locked in this version. This is an odd limitation as Microsoft often considers its Store a safe place for apps. The app shows an error saying that the Store is blocked and to contact the IT admin.

Windows 11 SE, on the other hand, supports Win32 apps from outside the Store, which Windows 10 S doesn’t support. The operating system shown is running a Steam-only game. Maybe this is because some companies need very specific applications for the job.

Another obvious limitation is that you have to set up your PC with a Microsoft account. Microsoft has encouraged users to do this, and the only way to avoid using a Microsoft account is not to connect to the internet. However, creating an offline account is not possible, but you can switch back to a local account.

Of course, some of these limitations may be errors due to the unfinished state of the build.

Only Microsoft can say for sure which versions will come out and for what use cases. We’ll have to wait for next week’s event to find out more.

Reference: XDA Developers