Windows 11 SE will only be available on new computers and cannot be reinstalled if it has been previously installed

Now that Windows 11 SE has been released, crafters are asking what the prospects are for putting it on older machines, updating it, and so on. In a long Q&A PDF document, Microsoft has provided some answers, and the TLDR version is "no, you can not."

According to Microsoft, the only way to get Windows 11 SE is to buy a new device. If you have an older laptop that is suffering from the weight of Windows 10, do not expect the simplified Windows 11 SE to help you, because it will not. The basis is actually quite simple: "Windows 11 SE is not designed for personal use", according to the newspaper. We expect most users to find that Windows SE on a personal computer is too limited. "

Regarding a related topic, if you were thinking of buying Surface Laptop SE for $ 250 and then putting Windows 11 on it (it comes with Windows 11 SE pre-installed), you can do it, or you can do it, or you can use any licensed version of Windows, but 11 SE must never be reinstalled. ".... If you need to use a Windows 11 SE device for personal reasons, you can purchase a license for the version of Windows you want. Delete all data, files, settings, favorites, and the Windows 11 SE operating system from your device and then install your licensed version of Windows "Again, read the article. After that, there would be no way to return to Windows 11 SE. "This does not exclude the possibility of using the recovery CD to reinstall 11 SE.

With that said, it's probably a good idea to avoid installing Windows 11 SE on your own device. It is an operating system that is meant to be managed by an IT department rather than an individual user. This means that you can not install third-party applications because Edge and Chrome can only run "web apps". To put it another way, "for this specific version of Windows 11, app installation, advanced functionality, and configuration changes are handled by IT administrators rather than end users."

None of this comes as a surprise. Most end users would not want a super-simplified operating system with a lot of accessibility issues on their system, and it's not that you can simply buy a copy of Chrome OS for your device, so Microsoft is not alone in this. Not to mention that you may not be able to buy a device with Windows 11 SE installed, as it seems that they will only be offered to schools and such institutions. According to Microsoft's Q&A, you may "perhaps" be able to buy one as a private individual, which does not seem encouraging.