If you’ve ever wanted to own a tiny Windows 11 boot drive, you’re in luck. Microsoft now sells physical copies of Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro. In theory, these official boot drives should help people install Windows 11 on custom PCs or offline machines, though many people will see them as a novelty or collector’s item.

I’ll say something up front; you probably don’t need to buy a Windows 11 boot drive from Microsoft. If your Windows 10 PC meets the hardware requirements, it can install Windows 11 through a software update. And if you need a Windows 11 boot drive or DVD for the PC you just built, you can make one using the Media Creation Tool.

This retail version of Windows 11 is just cool, and hey, it could help you upgrade or perform a clean Windows 11 install without an internet connection (until Windows 11 fully requires a Microsoft account, that is). Plus, it comes with a single-use product key, saving you the trouble of buying a key online.

And surprisingly, these pre-packaged boot drives cost the same price as a digital Windows 11 product key. The Windows 11 Home drive is $140 while Windows 11 Pro is $200. (I’m honestly not sure why Windows is this expensive.)

I should mention the most inexpensive way to get Windows 11—buy a cheap Windows 10 CD key. Once you install Windows 10 on your PC, you can perform a free upgrade to Windows 11. You know, so long as your computer meets the strict hardware requirements.

Source: XDA Developers