Microsoft indirectly confirms the leaked Windows 11 ISO is legit

Microsoft’s Windows 11 has certainly made a splash over the past few days, but it is unlikely Microsoft wanted it to be this way. The company, of course, has the official launch of Windows 11 scheduled for 24 June, which is only a few more days away. However, we already have a pretty good idea of what Windows 11 is going to look like thanks to a massive leak of a pre-release build that has been circulating the internet.

Until now, however, there have been more than a few sceptics suggesting that the leak isn’t legitimate as elements of the build clearly aren’t finished. One instance of this are the widgets that were originally launched with Windows Vista that have been said to make a return in Windows 11. However, no one expected that to be literally the case with the widgets uncovered in the build taken directly from Windows Vista and looking seriously dated as a result.

It has now been discovered that Microsoft has issued a DMCA copyright infringement take-down request to Indian website Beebom which had been hosting the leaked ISO. This effectively confirms the ISO is an early version of Windows 11. As for the Windows Vista widgets, it simply looks like Microsoft was adding that framework back into build at the time it leaked and that it will be much more polished when we see it finally released.

Windows 11 features a much more streamlined and simplified UI that has effectively been lifted directly from the now cancelled Windows 10X project. Microsoft did say at the time of its cancelation it would take parts of the Windows 10X project and integrate them into Windows 11. Reaction to the new look has been mixed with some likening it to macOS because Microsoft has shifted the main app launching functionality to the middle of the taskbar. Of course, the taskbar and macOS dock function quite differently in practice.