You can remove Windows 11 SE if you want, but you won't be able to reinstall it when you need it

After a relatively long period of development and internal testing, Microsoft has officially announced Windows 11 SE and the first hardware product running on this operating system platform: Surface Laptop SE. From now until the beginning of 2022, there will be a series of more Windows 11 SE laptop models from major manufacturers Acer, Asus, Dell, Dynabook, Fujitsu, HP, JK-IP, Lenovo and Positivo. market. All promise to create an exciting laptop market in the near future.

It can be easily understood that Windows 11 SE is a shortened version of Windows 11. Although it still possesses typical elements in the overall interface, it has been streamlined by Microsoft in terms of features to mainly target customers. student and student audience, and compete directly with Chrome OS products.

In general, Microsoft recommends using Windows 11 SE on systems with not too powerful configuration. If you want, you can completely buy a Windows 11 SE device, erase all data both kernel and operating system, and then install another license of Windows. However, there's one important thing to note: You won't be able to reinstall Windows 11 SE on those devices. Microsoft's release document says:

'…if you want to use your Windows 11 SE device for personal use, you can license another version of Windows you want, completely erasing all data, files, settings, favorites and Windows 11 SE operating system on your device. Then install the version of Windows you want. However, if you later change your mind, there's no way to go back to Windows 11 SE on that device'.

Thus, if you intend to buy a device running Windows 11 SE, which will be relatively affordable (such as the Surface Laptop SE for $250), then switch to another version of Windows, this is entirely possible. However, in the future, should you change your mind and want to go back to Windows 11 SE, there will be no way to do that. Assuming Windows 11 doesn't run well on the Surface Laptop SE you just bought, that would be a 'dilemma' situation.

It has been suggested that Windows 11 SE can be reinstalled via recovery partition, but this remains to be verified and is certainly not easy to do.

Basically, it's Microsoft's policy that devices that ship with Windows 11 SE should only be used with this operating system. In fact, you also can't download and install Windows 11 SE on any PC system — you'll have to purchase a device with the operating system pre-installed. So if you have an old computer running Windows 11 that isn't so smooth, and you think it will work better with Windows 11 SE, that may be true, but there's currently no way to test it. .

In short, Windows 11 SE is an operating system for the education sector, not the personal. So it's not surprising that Microsoft's restrictive policy is not surprising. This is similar to the policy that has been applied to Windows 10 S Mode before, and nothing unusual here.

Kareem Winters

Update 13 November 2021