Windows 11

There's significant backlash against calling this new performance improvement a band-aid for underlying bloat within the operating system. Microsoft defends it as standard industry practice for perceived responsiveness. Microsoft VP Scott Hanselman defended the approach on X, saying that many modern operating systems, including Apple's macOS and Linux distros, already use this approach to make the experience feel snappier.

Announced by way of the recent Witcher 3 DLC reveal, The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 will end Windows 10 support. This comes as a direct response to Microsoft, which is ending support for the platform as a whole, forcing publishers to scramble and plan for the future. As CD Projekt Red notes, without official security updates, they will need to drop the platform. Here's the full statement from the studio: "Windows 11 will be the minimum required OS for both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 following Microsoft's end of support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Without ongoing security update