First Posted 08/10/2021 Updated 01/08/2023 ( Drop down to see the latest on Windows 11!) Includes Recommendations Thoughts on Windows 11 Windows 11 is now shipping on new PC'sThis page explores whether this is a good thing or not Let's hope they created a winner to replace a pretty decent and acceptable operating system that is Windows 10. Maybe Windows 10 isn't as elegant as the MacOS or as cheap (as in free) as are many Linux OSs, but it will do just fine until "something better" comes along. Keep your fingers crossed that "something better" will be Windows 11!
Windows 10 is good, not great, but plenty good enough and workable considering what it replaced. As popular as Windows 7 was, (mainly because of its simple and well-thought-out, and easy-to-use start menu and mature file explorer features) it was comparatively slow and woefully short of modern security and customization features. Then came Windows 8, which should have been an improvement. It was not too bad, that is, after you added a decent third-party start menu (Classic Shell). But it really sucked on its own, as introduced. I don't know what those guys at Microsoft were thinking when they introduced Windows 8 (that we all had tablet PCs with touch screens or that we were all on drugs like some of them apparently were) - Start Screen, Charms, yuck! And they actually thought a Win-X/Quick Link menu could replace a full-fledged Start Menu Enter the popular and free third-party Classic Shell Start Menu followed by Open Shell or the equally popular Start 8, which was followed by Start 10, now Start 11! and StartAllBack.
Definition of Microsoft Windows engineers and executives - smart aleck, smarty, smarty-pants, wiseacre, wiseass, wise guy, wisenheimer or simply arrogant know-it-alls who are certain they know how we (their customers) want the Windows user interface to look without bothering to really listen to us. Their arrogance has caused them to make changes to the Windows user interface, at times, simply for the sake of change, sometimes without any apparent rhyme or reason. Want more examples? Apparently, Microsoft does not believe or simply disregards the old adage: The Customer is always Right!
That has me wondering if there are still a few people at Microsoft on drugs considering some of the desktops images they created for Windows 11 and the standard features from Windows 10 they left out of Windows 11.Some of the images remind me of psychedelic fever dream images that were popular back in the 1970s.
Is there really a difference? Which one is Windows 11 and which one is an LSD fever dream?
Other than the psychedelic art what else can we expect from Windows 11 that
Windows 10 doesn't have? But first, PCWorld Magazine has an article which tells us what we will lose from Windows 10 with Windows 11. Now, the new stuff.
For more details see How-to-Geek's informative article - Windows 11: What’s New In Microsoft’s New OS
This is all wonderful, but what about that free Windows 11 upgrade?
It turns out that you will only be able to upgrade your current PC to Windows 11 if it is of recent vintage, three years old or less, perhaps much less. Your old PC must first have a 64Bit multi-core CPU of the type that came out with the Intel Core Processers.
As it is, I and many other PC users will not see Windows 11 until and unless we buy a new PC with Windows 11 preinstalled! It is apparent that Microsoft is covering their collective butts by offering free upgrades to PC users it knows will never be able to upgrade. Only those PCs sold this year, likely in the last few months, will be eligible for a free upgrade and they know it!
Come on Microsoft, you should be able to do much better than this!
For more on this see - Windows 11: Microsoft apologizes for compatibility confusion, hints at changes from Ed Bott at ZDNet. We'll see how it all shakes out. In another article Ed attempts to explain which PCs will be able to run Windows 11 - He mostly succeeds. In the meanwhile, Microsoft has set the retirement date for Windows 10 Operating System as of October 14, 2025.
So all PC users who want a new PC have plenty of time to buy a new Windows 11 PC before Windows 10 finally fades away.
Why Windows 11 is leaving so many PCs behind (it's not just TPM) From PCWorld Magazine
Latest: Beginning 10/11/2021 Bottom Line for those with PCs running Windows 10: Should You Upgrade to Windows 11 ASAP?
(assuming your PC is eligible) I answer that question below and the following PC World article helps - After 6 months, Windows 11 is still playing catch up to Windows 10 Related - See also: Windows 10 & 11 Help and Tips and/or How to Clean install Windows OS My advice: If you have an eligible-to-upgrade Windows 10 PC you might want to wait for a while (at least a few more months) before you upgrade to Windows 11. (It appears that Microsoft needs a lot more time to work out the deal-breaking kinks in Windows 11.) Note: I still recommend the same, now in 2023! Remember, you have plenty of time, until October of the year 2025, before Windows 10 goes Kaput (Retirement Date) and you are forced to make the decision to either upgrade your current PC's Operating System to Windows 11 or to buy a new PC with Windows 11 (or, by that time, Windows 12?) pre-installed! (Conditionally, This assumes that you do not prevent yearly updates from being installed.) But, if you just got a new PC with Windows 11 pre-installed, you may want to, at least, consider getting Start 11 $6 or StartAllBack $5. Especially, if you liked the way Windows 7 looked. (And you want to restore the taskbar functionality you had with Windows 10) I DO NOT recommend that you downgrade to Windows 10 if you can avoid it. Why go to all that trouble? When you can instead, try the inexpensive (5 or 6 dollars) Start Menu apps and/or the free registry hack that should fix the problems you have with Windows 11. (Both Start apps have a thirty-day trial period for you to decide if you like them.) Don't reduce your PC security or take the chance of introducing device driver problems by downgrading from Windows 11 to Windows 10! (Not to mention: Wasted time and unnecessary extra expense. Read on about how to fix Windows 11)
However, if it's only the Start Menu that you don't like (it's no wonder, because it sucks!) then install the free Open Shell utility, the successor to Classic Shell that still works with Windows 11. However, it doesn't do anything for restoring lost taskbar and lost context menu functionality from Windows 10.
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Here's an excellent idea Microsoft is making it (easy?) for anyone to get Windows 11. (For only $139.00) Wonderful! (Don't forget to add $4.99 for StartAllBack)
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