Microsoft has made it easier than ever to upgrade to Windows 11 and you can do so now, ahead of the launch, for free.

How? Well, assuming you are running Windows 10, your PC is compatible, and you’re registered as a Windows Insider (it’s free). If you meet that criteria, you can download the latest Windows 11 ISO from the Microsoft website. Well, not the latest: What you want is the Beta channel build, which represents the version that the public will start getting next week. So scroll down to the bottom of the page and select the following choices:

Select edition: Windows 11 Insider Preview (Beta Channel) – Build 22000.194

Product language: (Your language. For example, “English”.)

64-bit Download. (This choice will be different if you visit the website using Windows 10 on ARM.)

Once the ISO file downloads, just double-click it to add it to File Explorer as a virtual optical drive. Then, run Setup and upgrade to Windows 11. After it’s done, be sure to run Windows Update to check for any updates.

Note: The old method of enrolling in the Windows Insider Program, updating, and dis-enrolling the PC is time-consuming and, for this release, prone to failure because you will get Windows 10 version 21H2 if you try to force it. The method above works best.