Microsoft officially launched Windows 11 in 2021, allowing users to upgrade on their personal PCs. Shortly before that, laptops and desktops with Windows 11 built-in started arriving on the market. Although nothing but digital copies were available until now, digital-only access did kind of make sense. Many PCs these days don’t come with disc drives. Though it is still common to see pre-built machines include them. Still, having the ability to buy physical copies of Windows 11 gives users more choice in how they install. And it definitely has the potential to make future installations easier if they ever decide to build other PCs.

Windows 11 physical copies include both Home and Pro versions

The installation comes on a USB with the key license on it. Which means the installation will work for any PC that’s compatible even if it doesn’t have a disc drive. Again, this makes perfect sense given the nature of how many PCs come without a disc drive these days. But you’ll be hard pressed to find a PC that doesn’t have a single USB port. Physical copies won’t cost any more than the digital copies either. So you’re looking at paying $140 for Windows 11 Home, or $200 for Windows 11 Pro. When it comes down to it, buying the physical USB copy is all about convenience going forward. You won’t have to mess with creating images on a separate USB to get the same effect. And for the average users, this simplifies things a whole lot as installation should have fewer steps. Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Pro