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Windows 11...

The Nameless Pirate

The Nameless Pirate

Just a pirate
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So Windows 11 as you may know is a thing. Even if Microsoft said that Windows 10 would be the last one.
I never actually believed that, and for better or for worse, this was right.

I must say that for the longest I had been using Windows 7. And I didn't switch to 10 while Microsoft was pestering us with pop ups for it. I switched sometime around when W7 support was dropped.
Personally I don't have anything major against W10. After tweaking some settings to have it closer to 7 and send less data to Microsoft that is.
For me W10 works. Not sure if I like it more than 7, but it works.

With that said, here comes the "fun" part, Windows 11...
Windows 11, the next "great" thing from MS... Or is it? Of course it's not out yet (aside from leaks and the Windows Insider program), thus my opinion is from what we have seen so far.
And... I don't like it, not at all.

Fine there is one improvement, Android apps can run natively. But not from the Google Play Store mind you, from the Amazon store. All right whatever, better than nothing I guess.
Thing is, I really don't see myself using mobile apps on Windows.
Maybe once or twice, but everything a phone can do, a PC does better in my eyes. On the department of programs at least. "But look, rounded corners!"

Also by default W11 will have the start menu and taskbar icons on the center.
You can change it later, but I do wonder if this could signify some change in the way things work.
Anyway that's really something minor.

Now come the real problems...
For one apparently W11 Home will need an Internet connection and MS account to install.
W10 pushed for this, but ultimately you could just tell it to... Leave you alone, but with a more rude expression.
In W11 Home you can't do that, you can yell all you want, but no. Gotta have an MS account it seems.
If you are wondering, I am getting this from the official requirements from the MS website.
In fact, let's take a look at the requirements shall we?
Windows 11 requirements - What's new in Windows

Fair enough I guess, aside from the account/Internet in the home version.
I would consider 4GB to be the minimum nowadays, though it is quite the jump from the previous 1GB. And a dual core at 1GHz isn't too high end.
But the reality isn't like this, far from it. You may have a better processor than the minimum, sure.
But dear MS here won't let you run W11 on it if it's a few years old, its performance be damned.

You can see the lists for AMD and Intel support bellow.
Windows Processor Requirements Windows 11 Supported AMD Processors
Windows Processor Requirements Windows 11 Supported Intel Processors

For example I have a Ryzen 5 2400G. It's not top of the line, but it's a good CPU, far better than a 1GHz dual core.
For comparison have a look at this. Ryzen 5 2400G vs Ryzen 5 3400G. The latter of which is supported.
https://www.game-debate.com/cpu/index.php?pid=2709&pid2=2522&compare=AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 4-Core 3.7GHz-vs-AMD Ryzen 5 2400G

The 3400G is better sure, it's newer after all, but not faster enough to justify it.
Going through the list I don't see any 1st gen AMD Ryzen CPUs either. The first generation of AMD Ryzen released on, 2017. There are some 2nd gen CPUs supported though.
Maybe Intel fares better? Nope, things don't look good there either.
There are no Intel Core i CPUs older than 8th gen there. And that generation also launched on 2017. So you have an Intel Core i CPU from 2016 and before? Nope, no Windows 11 for you either.

Add to all that there is also the issue of requiring TPM 2.0, UEFI, and Secure Boot.
Perhaps Microsoft want us to "upgrade" so that we actually pay for Windows 11? I am not sure, but I wouldn't rule it out. Very good for the e-waste problem!
When they tell you "Prepare for Windows 11", they aren't just spewing marketing. You really do have to prepare for it because it's not going to be nice.
For now I will just continue using Windows 10 until this is fixed and the end of W10 support comes. Which is in this date: 14/10/2025
Windows 10 Home and Pro - Microsoft Lifecycle

So what do you think? Will you switch to Windows 11 in the near future? Stay on 10? Perhaps switch to Linux, or maybe you are already using it?

Links:
Windows 11 requirements - What's new in Windows
Windows Processor Requirements Windows 11 Supported AMD Processors
Windows Processor Requirements Windows 11 Supported Intel Processors
https://www.game-debate.com/cpu/index.php?pid=2709&pid2=2522&compare=AMD Ryzen 5 3400G 4-Core 3.7GHz-vs-AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
Windows 10 Home and Pro - Microsoft Lifecycle
 
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The only reason I could see for upgrading would be if they figured out how to do updates properly :rofl

This just looks like another attempt at them pushing their spyware and advertisements, and I'm also not interested in another round of half-baked UI/UX rework

So I'll probably wait until 2025 to be honest, and use my Linux computer more

Good thing we might have the Storm Engine running on Linux by that point
 
Agreed, unless they fix all this AND make 11 actually better than 10 (and 7), I will steer clear from it.
Plus Storm Engine natively on Linux would definitely make things easier even after 2025. :cheers
 
I'll be sticking to XP until I have no option but to change, works for me quite happy with it.
 
Well XP is quite old, and thus doesn't have support.
But it's definitely better than something that may refuse to run.
 
Yes it's reliable plus I don't know if half the games I have would work on other systems.
 
Personally only one game I have tried as of writing this didn't work on Windows 10 at all.
The original Age of Empires II. Other than that I don't remember any major problems.
 
There are, but at least for AoE II it didn't work.
Perhaps I could find some way if I retry it.
For now the HD version runs.

As for the TOOL it probably has to do with the older .NET version and Windows XP.
 
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Probably.
Some version must have changed something that makes it so some files can't open.
I have no idea what was actually changed though.
 
I installed the Developer Preview of Windows 11 on my notebook today, and so far, I quite like it. The new start menu is a bit weird, but other than that, there are a number of small improvements that are decent. Examples are the new spacing between folders in the Windows Explorer and the new window snapping possibilities. From a graphical perspective, I am not very keen on the new front facing Windows logo and front facing icons, but it's not too bad.

On the other hand, I fully agree, that the system requirements for Windows 11 are ridiculous, especially with the list of compatible processors only reaching to the eighth generation of Intel-processors and only a couple of generations back with AMD as well. If they don't change that in the next couple of months till full release, this would mean for me, that I would have to get 20-25 new computers for my company, just to upgrade to Windows 11. If that were the case, I would certainly wait until 2025 for the upgrade at my job.
 
DH27 said:
I installed the Developer Preview of Windows 11 on my notebook today, and so far, I quite like it. The new start menu is a bit weird, but other than that, there are a number of small improvements that are decent. Examples are the new spacing between folders in the Windows Explorer and the new window snapping possibilities. From a graphical perspective, I am not very keen on the new front facing Windows logo and front facing icons, but it's not too bad.
Click to expand...
The changed start menu reminds me of Windows 8 a bit, but not as over the top with the touch stuff.
Perhaps this could be modded to a more classic one? I remember seeing such mods for 8 and 10. Though I never tried them as of yet, so I don't know how reliable and safe these mods are.
Other than that it indeed doesn't look bad, and I guess you can get used to the icons. Plus as I stated earlier you can move the icons to the left, and Pro may not need an account to install.

DH27 said:
On the other hand, I fully agree, that the system requirements for Windows 11 are ridiculous, especially with the list of compatible processors only reaching to the eighth generation of Intel-processors and only a couple of generations back with AMD as well. If they don't change that in the next couple of months till full release, this would mean for me, that I would have to get 20-25 new computers for my company, just to upgrade to Windows 11. If that were the case, I would certainly wait until 2025 for the upgrade at my job.
Click to expand...
The more I think of it, the more I believe that if Microsoft doesn't change the requirements, this will basically be Vista all over again, if not worse.
From the time I had spent with Vista, I don't remember it being a bad experience.
It too was considerably more demanding than its predecessor, even though it was more justified back then. Which lead to people just sticking to good old XP.
Windows 7 was actually quite similar to Vista, but more polished. Plus it came later so computers were more powerful.
Now they just drop support of quite capable machines, for "safety".
For now some have manged to get around the lock by copying some files from the Windows 10 setup files to the 11 ones.
But Windows' selling point is convenience and compatibility, and I am not sure if Microsoft will find ways to block you from tampering with the setup files.

You also raised another point that came to me after writing this. Many businesses have computers that aren't in the list.
If MS will flat out won't let you install W11 on them by 2025, all of those may become useless for the job they did before.
Which not only creates e-waste, but also adds extra cost for companies. Especially for smaller ones where such costs really matter.
 
The Nameless Pirate said:
Plus as I stated earlier you can move the icons to the left, and Pro may not need an account to install.
Click to expand...

Moving the taskbar back to the left was the first thing I did :D. Having the Home-Edition already sucked with Windows 10, but they definitely made it even worse with Windows 11 and the requirement of an online account.
Still, at least there is the possibility of upgrading to Pro and avoiding many annoyances, although even with Pro all the bloatware-apps that I previously uninstalled in Windows 10 were back after today's upgrade.

The Nameless Pirate said:
You also raised another point that came to me after writing this. Many businesses have computers that aren't in the list.
If MS will flat out won't let you install W11 on them by 2025, all of those may become useless for the job they did before.
Which not only creates e-waste, but also adds extra cost for companies. Especially for smaller ones where such costs really matter.
Click to expand...

I can definitely relate to that point. At my small to medium sized company, we have around 110 PCs in total, out of which I am responsible for 40 at the moment. Only around 10 of these have an eighth generation Intel processor,
another 20 have sixth generation Intel processors and the rest are a mix of third and fourth generation Intel processors. What's crazy is that all the sixth generation Intel machines fulfill the Windows 11 TPM 2.0 requirement
through a firmware update that's easy to download on the manufacturers website as well as all the other listed requirements. However, so far, I won't be able to upgrade these machines because their processors allegedly just aren't
compatible, which is not only incredibly annoying for me but also results in a needed investment of 25000 Euros, even though the machines are still working perfectly well and offer more than enough performance.
 
Can anyone explain to me why:

- Digital appliances these days more and more rely on being ON all the time AND connected to the internet?
Whatever is wrong with ONLY using power when you need it; and ONLY communicating with the wide world when you have something to say?

- The minimum specs keep increasing, the hardware keeps becoming more fancy, but the amount of work we can comfortably do with our computers ourselves remains more-or-less the same?
I keep being reminded of Jurassic Park with its "scientists were so occupied with whether or not the could; they didn't stop to think whether or not they should".

Of course the answer to both is: profit and power.
Companies that make products that are just good for life are the companies that go bankrupt.
Not because they made bad stuff; but specifically because they make GOOD stuff.

Is this understandable? From an economic point of view?
Absolutely.

Is this desirable? From a green global point of view...?
Weeeeell... different story, no? :facepalm
 
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Good News!
Recently, I found an article that may interest people.
You’ll be able to run Windows 11 on older PCs—if you install the update manually
As the article says, you'll be able to run windows 11 older "unsupported" CPUs.
This does NOT mean the TPM and Secureboot requirements are lifted though, but registry hacks shall come to the rescue.
Now, here's hoping Microsoft doesn't break registry hacks.
Maybe that makes Windows 11 slightly less evil...
 
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Bad news!
Microsoft is threatening to withhold Windows 11 updates if your CPU is old
Microsoft may just not let us have updates if we do install windows 11 manually.
They may even block security updates!
WHAT IS GOING WRONG WITH MICROSOFT!!!??
They surely know that that doesn't mean everyone will buy a new PC, right?
They do know about Linux, and its increasingly good compatibility layers, right?
If they do not get their heads straight, then, bye bye Windows!
Even if I end up getting a laptop with Windows 11 at some point, unless they fix their heads, I will probably uninstall it, and install some Linux distro.
Maybe Windows 11 is still just as evil as it was before they said you can install it on older CPUs.
 
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