Windows 11

[mosaix]

My daughter, using Windows 10, is getting prompts to upgrade to Windows 11.

Anyone tried it?

 

[Wayne Mack]

See Windows 11 launches

 

[biodroid]

Not sure, there are a lot of things they need to iron out and I'm worried my games won't work or I will get FPS drops

 

[Artoriarius]

As I understand it, it’s not all that different from Windows 10—a bit different in some areas, a bit worse in others—and the advice I’ve seen is generally “Don’t bother updating, but it’s okay if you’re buying a new computer.”

 

[The Judge]

I've been using a new laptop since the beginning of January, and it had Windows 11 installed so I didn't have a choice. There were some tears of frustration and a lot of curse words at the beginning, but some of that was just down to having a new machine and all the effort of getting everything transferred across and sorted.

There are some annoying changes but after 4 weeks I've just about got used to them. The changes are either aesthetic eg I don't like the new design for Word documents and the larger-feeling menu bars, and the bottom task bar has things centred not right aligned as I want:

or the changes are relatively minor where I've figured out work-arounds eg it takes two clicks to do some things where before it was only one, such as creating a shortcut. It's possible there are ways to change all these so they're more what I want, but I can't be bothered to go looking. (And probably wouldn't understand what to do if I did!)

The only things that are really p**ing me off are (a) the way it takes over when I try to move and/or resize Word documents -- if I take the document too close to the top or bottom edge, it decides that I really want full screen, which isn't the case, so I end up spending 10 times as long as necessary to get exactly what I want and (b) it keeps flashing up notices, trying to push me to do things with OneDrive which I just don't want. Oh, and for some reason the Chrons skin I had before won't appear now, but whether that's Windows or the new laptop at fault, I've no idea.

So thus far I've not come across anything major which is making me want to throw the laptop out. On the other hand, I've not seen anything that seems to be improved.

 

[Wayne Mack]

The only things that are really p**ing me off are (a) the way it takes over when I try to move and/or resize Word documents -- if I take the document too close to the top or bottom edge, it decides that I really want full screen

Windows 10 (and previous) also did this. Here is a fix that works on Windows 10 (I haven't made the switch to Windows 11).
Directions in 3rd reply
Same thing with Screen Shots

 

[Foxbat]

I’m somewhat alarmed by the opinion that Windows 11 is much like Windows 10. Why? Because after owning a Windows 10 machine, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is the worst operating system ever produced by Microsoft. Yes, worse than Vista and worse than the first version of Windows 8. There are numerous irritations and many are caused by updates moving things around. What was once easy to find via the control panel has been moved elsewhere. Older versions of Windows had visible scroll bars. Often now, I open a window and think I’m seeing all the available information but it’s not until I remember to mouse over the edge that the scrollbar becomes visible.

There’s an auto-reboot function which is on by default. At the slightest error, it reboots the machine. It took ages to find how to stop this. Then there are the common random freezes requiring a reboot (auto reboot is utterly useless for this, you have to do it manually). I say common because a quick search on the internet reveals that there are numerous complaints about this one. There are also numerous complaints about the IRQ is not less than or equal problem (which also prompts a reboot). I’ve never had as many problems with any other operating system and it begs the question: why release Windows 11 before fixing the problems with Windows 10?

Then again, perhaps Microsoft have already given upon Windows 10 but just don’t want to admit publicly what a piece of it really is.

 

[Pyan]

I think Microsoft reached a peak with XP and have been going downhill ever since...

 

[Elckerlyc]

I agree. Ever since XP Microsoft has forgotten what an OS at the core is for, namely running your PC in a trustworthy manner which benefits the user, and have lost themselves in unneccessary embellishments and putting their own interest to the fore.

 

[Wayne Mack]

why release Windows 11 before fixing the problems with Windows 10?

My understanding that Microsoft chose to name the update Windows 11 because it relies on a security feature only available on newer Intel chips (Microsoft had previously said that Windows 10 would be the last named release). I am sure that there is a large overlap in code bases and that most upcoming changes will apply to both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Note: I have never seen the scrollbar issue, as my windows seem to open with them when required. I have never done a setting change to enable this operation.

 

[AltThinking]

LONG LIVE XP ! my 18 year old computer with XP is still the one I use every day. The new one with W.10 has been relegated to the sell pile of rubbish technology along with my 24-pin dot matrix printer & 8" floppy-drive.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

My one drive is running out of space. If I don't fix the situation, one drive said it will stop synching all my devices. What couldn't be done gets done automatically - Die Hard.

 

[Av Demeisen]

I’m somewhat alarmed by the opinion that Windows 11 is much like Windows 10. Why? Because after owning a Windows 10 machine, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is the worst operating system ever produced by Microsoft. Yes, worse than Vista and worse than the first version of Windows 8. There are numerous irritations and many are caused by updates moving things around. What was once easy to find via the control panel has been moved elsewhere. Older versions of Windows had visible scroll bars. Often now, I open a window and think I’m seeing all the available information but it’s not until I remember to mouse over the edge that the scrollbar becomes visible.

There’s an auto-reboot function which is on by default. At the slightest error, it reboots the machine. It took ages to find how to stop this. Then there are the common random freezes requiring a reboot (auto reboot is utterly useless for this, you have to do it manually). I say common because a quick search on the internet reveals that there are numerous complaints about this one. There are also numerous complaints about the IRQ is not less than or equal problem (which also prompts a reboot). I’ve never had as many problems with any other operating system and it begs the question: why release Windows 11 before fixing the problems with Windows 10?

Then again, perhaps Microsoft have already given upon Windows 10 but just don’t want to admit publicly what a piece of it really is.

I had no idea things were this dire in Windows land. Can't see myself return there from the Apple orchard anytime soon as a consequence.

 

[Lumens]

I've not had any huge problems with either W10 or 11, and I also use them for music creation and video editing, including rendering 3D animations. Not happy about having to give my phone number to Microsoft to be able to log in to my new W11 laptop though. I'm sure there's a way around this but I realise that I prefer to sell my soul to the various competing devils and move on. Life's too short.

 

[Ursa major]

Not happy about having to give my phone number to Microsoft to be able to log in to my new W11 laptop though.

Is this a Windows 11 thing or is it specific to certain (makes of) W11 machines?

 

[CupofJoe]

Was it part of the multifactor verification? At work we have to use Office and Teams and it regularly sends me texts with a code so I can login.

 

[Foxbat]

Is this a Windows 11 thing or is it specific to certain (makes of) W11 machines?

I had to give a phone number to activate Windows 10. I think you can probably avoid doing this but I found the setup process so convoluted (I believe this to be deliberate in order to manoeuvre the user into this position). The phone is used if you need log in to Microsoft services and can’t remember your password (the phone gets a text code for log in). I was in too deep before I realised what was happening. And here’s the ironic thing, I no longer use any of Microsoft’s services (including Office because I refuse point blank to rent a product).

 

[Pyan]

I had to give a phone number to activate Windows 10. I think you can probably avoid doing this but I found the setup process so convoluted (I believe this to be deliberate in order to manoeuvre the user into this position). The phone is used if you need log in to Microsoft services and can’t remember your password (the phone gets a text code for log in). I was in too deep before I realised what was happening. And here’s the ironic thing, I no longer use any of Microsoft’s services (including Office because I refuse point blank to rent a product).

Have you tried Apache OpenOffice? A bit clunky at times, but a) it's free, and b) it does just about all the things Office will do.

 

[Laura R Hepworth]

I miss XP (or even Windows 7) .

My laptop asked me a few days ago if I wanted to update to Windows 11: answer, not if I can help it. It did do one good thing though, it prompted me to remember that I needed to update my backups . Saw some people lost files and programs when they updated to Windows 11. Might get forced to update at some point, but I'm going to put it off as long as I can.

 

[Justin Swanton]

I use Windows 7 and don't have any problems with it though, yes, I did prefer XP. My only problem is running old programmes on 7. DBA Online is one example - it doesn't run on anything later than XP and I really want to get it functional again, but so far no luck.