Windows 11

[Rare White Ape]

Windows 11 is announced and coming later this year.

https://images.idgesg.net/images/article/2021/06/microsoft-windows-11-start-menu-100892433-large.jpg

So far it has delivered a resounding "meh" from me, as it appears to be a few okayish under-the-hood changes in order to justify wrapping them in a platform for further delivery of ads... wait, I mean personalised user experiences to your desktop. Running Android apps natively is nice, direct storage access for the GPU is great.

I think I will wait to upgrade when I am forced kicking and screaming to let go of Windows 10 unless it is proven that it is an essential requirement to keep up with PC technology. I do envision Microsoft doing something shitty like blocking access to Game Pass to force users across in the near future, prior to Win 10's 2025 retirement date.

Information here!

https://www.windowscentral.com/windows-11

[FaultyMario]

Non-native Win10 is shit.

I do not expect upgraded Win11 to give more stable "user experience". Can't wait for Debian 11 to launch.

[Tom Servo]

The TPM requirement is going to be a sticking point, I think.

[Blerpa]

4gb of ram and tpm 1.2 (Microsoft confirmed the bare minimum is *not* 2.0) are not very high requirements for an OS that will be released in the market by the end of 2021/beginning of 2022, I'd say.
Also Microsoft today announced that Direct Storage is going to be a Win 11 esclusive, no compatibility for Win 10.
So, if you have NVMes and a decent gaming rig... prepare to upgrade, with calm, next year.

[Tom Servo]

Well, I accidentally ended up with Windows 11. It just came in with my other Windows updates. So far...it seems really similar to Windows 10.

[CudaMan]

I haven't liked Win10. In fact I'm basically not using my new PC as a desktop because I prefer trusty old Win7 on my ancient machine. Gotta use the new one for gaming of course, and I don't know if it's Win10 or nVidia doing it but triple screen implementation is constantly changing things up (icon locations, start menu and taskbar locations, etc). How I wish I could alt+tab out of and back into iRacing without it going into Windowed mode...

/rant :p

[Tom Servo]

I've had three complete lockups of the computer so far with Windows 11, but the most annoying thing is that the Windows store seems pretty broken. Flight Sim demands a mandatory update, but the Windows store doesn't think there is one.

The big benefit is that my bluetooth adapter seems much more stable with 11 than it did with 10, but we'll see if that lasts.

At any rate, it doesn't really seem worth updating to at the moment.

[FaultyMario]

I don't know if it's Win10 or nVidia doing it but triple screen implementation is constantly changing things up (icon locations, start menu and taskbar locations, etc).

/rant :p

Must be Win10. That happens with my newer machine, and that's running integrated intel graphics.

[Rare White Ape]

MOAR info about Win 11. I spotted a tidbit here that direct storage is coming to Win 10 as well, so that’s nice.


https://youtu.be/-rwoPiM-8Qk

[drew]

I used 7 until I absolutely couldn't (when I upgraded a PC a few years ago).

Come to think of it, I've only used 98, 7 and 10. I skipped all the bullshit between them. I will likely use 10 until I absolutely can't.

The multi-screen jumping shit is most definitely a Windows thing. My work PC does it and I don't even have a gfx card on it. It's annoying as fuck.

[Rare White Ape]

Heh. Good to see this thread taking off :lol:

Does anyone actually use Win 11?

Is there a reason why I should switch over from 10?

[dodint]

I have it on one of my machines. My recommendation is to avoid it at all costs. They broke some really fundamental UI stuff and I'm annoyed every time I use that machine. We're talking basic functionality, like taskbar behavior.

[Tom Servo]

Heh, I'm using it and I both agree with dodint and also think "once you learn the new way, it's not so bad."

It works well enough for me. They did do some questionable UI changes, but it really feels like that's the main difference from 10. I don't notice much in the way of performance or stability that changed. I wouldn't avoid upgrading, but I probably also wouldn't seek it out.

However, if you do anything with virtualization, like WSL or docker, I'd recommend it. It handles all that very well.

[dodint]

Not being able to expand taskbar icons is a dealbreaker for me. It's such a basic, fundamental thing. I should never have to rely on Alt+Tab to cycle through all open applications just to jump to another instance of my web browser. I also had to jump through some hoops, registry key maybe, to put my taskbar at the top of the screen. Just really dumb stuff.

[Blerpa]

No, I'm not switching.
It is only for Intel 12th and 13th gen and barely for Ryzen 7xxx (till recently Ryzen 5xxx had troubles with it, even).
Too many bugs, useless performance problems in games and so on.

[Yw-slayer]

I use 11 at work. I like it more than 10.

[Freude am Fahren]

Not being able to expand taskbar icons is a dealbreaker for me. It's such a basic, fundamental thing. I should never have to rely on Alt+Tab to cycle through all open applications just to jump to another instance of my web browser. I also had to jump through some hoops, registry key maybe, to put my taskbar at the top of the screen. Just really dumb stuff.

Seriously? You can't even hover over the group to see them all like you can on 10?

[dodint]

It's bizarre.

[Tom Servo]

Wait, you can totally hover over the icons to see all the instances open on Windows 11. Just did it now with Chrome, but of course the "Windows + shift + s" keystroke to take a screenshot gets rid of that expansion, so I'm not sure how to prove it.

[dodint]

When I hover I get the path of the application.

[Tom Servo]

Huh, yeah, I get the behavior you sound like you're looking for. Hovering over a non-running app will just pop the name of the app, and hovering over a running one shows a little screenshot of the app, with if there are multiple windows, I see a screenshot of each of them lined up in a row.

[dodint]

That would be more useful than what I have. It's possible my forcing the taskbar to the top ruined that hover behavior. Maybe it's hovering off screen. ;)

The functionality I truly want is the "fill taskbar until full" or whatever it was called under every previous Windows.

[Rare White Ape]

The functionality I truly want is the "fill taskbar until full" or whatever it was called under every previous Windows.

Combine taskbar buttons when taskbar is full

[dodint]

That's the one.

[Cam]

I have Win11 on my new box. I just decided to embrace the new way. It does not seem so difficult or different. It will be primarily just a gaming box anyway. My art/editing box is Win10. My new box is stupid fast, but I cannot tell if it is the OS or the new hotness.

[Tom Servo]

I have overall really liked Windows 11. There are a few warts, but it's been extremely stable for me and mostly stays out of my way.

I wish I could say the same for OSX. My work computer feels like it's constantly trying to get in my way.

[Yw-slayer]

Is it just me, did Adobe rewrite Acrobat, and/or has the latest Win11 patch made the OS now ultra-responsive.