Testing Windows 11 Upgrade

In collaboration with Abhinay Pal

Will start straight with unmissable banner on Microsoft sites stating "Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10, and all editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date. Existing LTSC releases will continue to receive updates beyond that date based on their specific lifecycles."

Organization still on Windows 10 are racing against time to plan for upgrading to Windows 11. Understandably, one of their many concerns is to ensure upgrading to Windows 11 will not cause any business impact due to disruption of key features and/ or business apps.

Here is one such list of test parameters that we have put together that could be used as a starting point and can be customized per the organization requirements. All these parameters must be recorded for each test device during initial testing (PoC/ UAT/ Pilot etc) and in case of any issue appropriate resolution must be applied before moving to Production roll-outs.

Please do let us know in comments if it helps and if there are any more test parameters that we can add here.

Happy testing Windows 11.

Basic Features

• Search feature
• Wi-Fi and LAN
• Camera
• Audio
• Bluetooth
• If applicable, Touchscreen and Docking station working as expected
• Start Menu Layout is in center and in order
• Printers printing as expected
• No errors in Device Manager

Applications

• VPN is connecting
• BitLocker - Encryption is ON and PIN not suspended
• Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Language and regional settings retained
• Collaborations apps like Teams, Outlook and One Drive etc accessible with all the data
• Browsers - Edge/ Chrome/ Firefox working with favorites and history etc retained
• Any critical business apps as applicable

References: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-enterprise-and-education

Acronyms used:

PoC - Proof of Concept

UAT - User Acceptance Testing