Windows 11

[TheOstrich]

From what I can glean, this upgrade (it seems more than just an update) of Windows 10 - which is being offered from 5th October - will not be compatible with many older computers' hardware.

I gather that the regular "automatic updates" you get on Windows 10, which is the medium that Microsoft will try to get people onto Windows 11, will simply not function on those older PCs; would that be correct?

[Workingman]

It is really is difficult to say, Ossie.

Try the search "Windows 11 to upgrade or not" and read a few articles where you will find links to ways you can check your own PC / Laptop. Or just try this: https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11

Scroll down to download then run.

Mine is an ex (early) Windows 7 laptop and it looks as though I will be an ex Windows user by 2025 (end of W10 support) if not before. It is not a bad spec, just not quite there.

As for W11 itself and the way it works - that's another thing. It has oodles of things I (most of us) will never use in a dozen lifetimes. A lot of my much loved software will no longer function. I don't want to empower my productivity and inspire my creativity, I just want something simple - that works.

It is a big "NO" from me.

I am currently dual-booting a few Linux distros from USB drives for testing purposes and I can see me jumping in the not too distant future..

[Suff]

Windows 11 running on a Raspberry Pi 4 8gb in the image below.

Microsoft will not offer the update unless your PC has

A trusted platform module 2.0 (or above), encryption module
A Ryzen2 or above processor
OR
An Intel 8th gen processor or above.

You can force the install by downloading the DVD image and it will do an upgrade for you. However Microsoft say they won't support it or provide you updates.

Right now it is quite a bit faster than W10 but, to be fair, it has no baggage and only half the feature set. So it is pretty hard to compare. I'd expect it to come out a bit faster on more modern hardware but nothing worth selling your soul for.

In use the experience sucks. MS have MANDATED you will use their interface one way and that is the way you get. It is more like a Mac or a Chromebook and they suck to use. I have installed a universal start menu tool to put a start menu in my notifications area which I can control. They also disabled the ability to add your own toolbars. Which also sucks because their taskbar is the last place I want to go or to use the way they want me to use it.

It is very much like the upgrade to Windows 8. Microsoft wanted everyone to go one way, everyone else told them to go lose themselves and Windows 10 resulted. It still uses that bloody stupid start menu sorted alphabetically for each app, but I was able to get around that with my own toolbars. Now Windows 11 has even disabled that and wants you to have the Chromebook experience. To be honest if I wanted that I'd go and buy one and leave MS to do whatever they wanted.

My latest laptop has TPM2.0 but the processor range doesn't fit. My latest desktop (literally, 6" square and 2.5" tall), is fully up to spec so I will probably be offered it.

Whether I take it or not will depend on whether I can override the stupid taskbar restrictions. I am certain that their, all signing all falling on the floor drunk, start menu will be the LAST place I go.

I'm sure people will make their own peace with Windows 11. But probably mostly only on a new PC they have bought with it in stalled.

[Workingman]

Love the image.....

Without all the swirly stuff and colours it reminds me of the panels of W 3.11. Back to the future?

Zorin. Solux and Robolinux look interesting for those of us used to Windows, and we can still use Windows legacy programs.

[Suff]

Yeah that background is stock 11.

One of the few benefits besides the speed. Which I believe is transitional and will fall as soon as they lump in all the compatibility baggage.

I'll have to go look at the Linux offerings again but I have an issue with them and it has never changed. When I first set up my Pi I changed cases and lost the network interface. This is an issue because it crippled performance, trying to make it work and also because wifi is not supported. I went to the support sites for Pi and they told me "change what you are doing and do use the OS I know. We don't support W11". No suggestions, nothing. Just "you're wrong and we are right".

Linux all over again and again and again.

So when I found the problem I told them I found the problem. When someone asked what the problem was, I told them. "I'm using Windows 11 and you don't support it so what I know is not relevant". Two can play at that game. They just never realise it. I've had my fill of that kind of stuff with Linux over the years. Not keen to go back there because we all need a different perspective or a bit if help from time to time and we're not all idiots either.

[Workingman]

I have been booting Solus, Zorin and RoboLinux from pen drives as they all aim to make the transition from Win much easier - some better than others. They do it without being patronising, as is the case with many Linux pros and their blogs. I did a bit of Unix back in the day but I cannot be arsed relearning at my age.

RoboLinux is interesting as it has a built in one-click VM that allows me to run some of my legacy Win programs directly. Time limited on the free version, but still. I "think" it might be possible to make the others work the same way, but that's further down the line.

However, I am leaning towards Zorin, at £39 for the pro version it's a steal.

[Suff]

I've been using Linux on and off since RedHat5. Loads of distro's and some of it was used in anger to get at the Unix services we used on the Mainframe when installing Lotus Domino servers on them.

I designed the first large Highly Available mail cluster in Europe On AIX and Domino, using AIX HA and Domino clustering, for Lotus at Deutsche Bank back in 97/98.

I designed the IBM AIX Unix architecture for the Domino mail servers for Philips, world wide, back in 98. Not in detail below the the command line but at the specs and build level and some of the OS settings. Had to understand how they all worked then direct the IBM team doing the server builds. I also had to learn how to install the whole thing and how it worked together. Including creating RAID 5+0 or RAID50 to overcome speed issues with the controllers. Something, as far as I was aware at the time, was not a documented standard. But the IBM architecture didn't produce enough throughput so I had to work out a way to do it. It only cost $3m..... But it did the job.

As you can imagine, when dealing with Linux developers and sysadmins, I don't take any attitude. They were "Cowboys" when I was building large enterprise systems with Unix hosts.

I like KDE, always have. Unfortunately it is rather anarchic (probably part of the reason I like it) and stability suffers a bit. Gnome and all the Mac wannabees just get the bums rush. As does the attempt to out google the chromebook in Windows 11. Bin, like Windows 8.1. Sadly Gnome seems to be the way they are going and most Linux dev's want to use it because they mainly hate Microsoft and Windows.

Linux has come a long, Loooong way since I first touched it. But if they want people to use it in anger it still has a lot further to go. Just stray off the beaten path into a drive controller which is not supported or a USB peripheral they haven't got around to yet and you'll understand why Linux hasn't made it yet.

With Windows nobody ships a peripheral without a Windows driver. With the Mac it is different, manufacturers specifically target the Mac and you get to pay for it too. Linux often falls through the gaps. The gap is closing, but it is still an issue.

[Suff]

A small update here. I will not be updating to W11 on any primary system I use unless I wind up in a driver issue.

The main reason is the Taskbar. I never used it in the way Microsoft wanted it and I never use other OS's which cripple it further.

So the attempts by Microsoft to turn the Taskbar into a dumb and useless Pos with an even worse and more crappy "start" menu, is a step too far.

Just as with Windows 8 I will skip this version until they get the message.

Shame too as the multi monitor work is really good. But I can live with multi monitor hassles, I can't live with the W11 Taskbar.

[Workingman]

I just bought a new Acer laptop with W11 and it is a chore to get used to. A lot of things can be changed but it takes a lot of work unless you install a third party app to help out. I will not do that.

I have also lost the use of some old programs from XP and W7 days. Compatibility mode does not like them - hey-ho.

Some things are quite a bit better and a lot faster than W10 stuff such as calendar, mail and Edge.

I am getting there but it might take a while. For those of you not as tech savvy as Suff and myself it might be a good idea to download a tutorial (or three) on your old machine to help you through the changes if you do opt to get W11. You have about three years to decide.

[Workingman]

Suff, if you go to taskbar setting and choose to use small icons they all move to the left, old windows like. I have even got the old style start button back somehow and if you L click Start then pull the tiles frame over to the right it becomes more like W10. You can add toolbars, I have the option by right clicking the taskbar but I cannot remember how I got the option in the first place. There are so many more things you can change in Settings to get it to look and work a bit like W10 that you lose track of what you have done - toggle this, untoggle that. If I find other stuff I will post it here as well