Win 11 pro's? con's? opinions?

philb2

[H]ard|Gawd
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So what do you guys think of Windows 11, based on information from Microsoft?

Me, I was pissed to just read that an AMD-based rig will not pass the "health test" for Win 11.
 
I haven't been that impressed with the little bit that I've seen but I'm not jumping to any conclusions. I really didn't like Windows 10 when it first dropped and waited as long as I could before moving on from Windows 7 but once I did, I really liked it. Yeah it ain't perfect but it's pretty good and still running smooth for me. So yeah, I'll wait til I can get some hands on with Win11 before deciding I hate it this time lol.
 
So what do you guys think of Windows 11, based on information from Microsoft?

Me, I was pissed to just read that an AMD-based rig will not pass the "health test" for Win 11.

You just need to enable TPM options in the bios.. Here as you can see my Ryzen 5 3600 Aorus Elite B550 / 16GB / RX580 is fine for win 11
win11_ready.png
 
I'm wondering if all of those OEM gray market Windows 7 activation codes will continue to work, or if MS will use this as an opportunity to bork those.
 
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I'm wondering if all of those OEM gray market Windows 7 activation codes will continue to work, or if MS will use this as an opportunity to bork those.
yes, as per techyescity's vid i posted somewhere around here...
 
I as a consumer don't mind Windows OS upgrades too much, I am fairly good with change. Heck I didn't prefer it but I got along with Windows 8 OK while everyone else was losing it and trying to download software to hack the old start menu back in place... I'll figure it out and customize it to my needs, I have no doubt.

From an IT perspective... this stuff is a huge pain... Users hate change and this generates calls for basic PC functions, IMHO. We had people calling our helpdesk because their background changed to a lighter blue color when we upgraded to 1909... It wastes time. The other aspect I see is hardware compatibility issues, especially for older hardware. Obviously I have concerns about software compatibility as well. Compatibility issues is the #1 thing I am looking out for...

One of the #1 hardware requirements that is generating a huge amount of discussion from what I see is the requirement to have a TPM 2.0 module. Ironically this isn't such a huge issue for businesses that have been buying business class computers. All of our equipment at least for the last 5-6 years has supported UEFI secure boot / TPM 2.0. This is a huge issue in the consumer space... My new system looks to have the ability to have a TPM hosted in the BIOS chip / AMD ageisa code. This isn't enabled by default and I am unsure what the complications of using this are. Can a BIOS flash potentially wipe out your TPM data and make your system unbootable? My motherboard has a TPM module header on it, but even though this is a high end board, Asus Crosshair VIII Dark Hero, they didn't bother to include a discreet TPM module, though it seems you can buy this for somewhere between $20-$40. My old Intel 6700k system doesn't have a TPM. Maybe the motherboard has a TPM header, I don't know, but as it stands that system would not be compatible with Windows 11 if they keep the TPM 2.0 system requirement.

For those saying that Microsoft's "PC Health Check" utility, that they are using to tell you if your system is compatible or not indicates that all AMD systems are not compatible... that just isn't true. I ran though this on mine after enabling the BIOS / AMD ageisa TPM in the BIOS and the utility indicates that my system is compatible.
 
I'm extremely not a fan of the new Taskbar (hopefully there will be an option to use the classic style), ambivalent about the rounded corners, hoping that Explorer won't change much, and mostly confused at how abrupt the announcement seems. I guess it's past time to increment the version # going by the chronology of past releases, but MS seemed awfully committed to iterating on 10 indefinitely. Guess Apple "turning it up to 11" made MS feel they had to do the same. Most likely going to wait for a bit after launch to switch, but at least my main hardware (10th gen Intel, GeForce RTX) should be very compatible.
 
I'll try it out when it pops, but the whole TPM thing for consumer use is a little sketchy IMO. While I can't guess (right now) what exactly they are going to do with it, I'm sure there are some nebulous anti-cconsumer use cases possible with the TPM being active all the time.
 
I think it's fine. I didn't like the visual look of 10 and this is an improvement. Being able to run Android apps natively on it seems nice too. At this point, I think we all reaize that the things that we hate about Microsoft and the new OS "features" are here to stay. You're going to get ads, you are going to be tracked, you will get forced updates that you will be beta testing, and you get "app" versions of stuff that you never asked for. The other options are the best they have ever been, so maybe its time to try something new.. but most of the world is going to install Windows 11 and accept it for what it is.
 
I'll try it out when it pops, but the whole TPM thing for consumer use is a little sketchy IMO. While I can't guess (right now) what exactly they are going to do with it, I'm sure there are some nebulous anti-cconsumer use cases possible with the TPM being active all the time.
No doubt there will be a robust market in after-market solutions for both desktops and laptops. I wouldn't be suprised if someone sold a TPM socket for regular PCI cards LOL.
 
I'll try it out when it pops, but the whole TPM thing for consumer use is a little sketchy IMO. While I can't guess (right now) what exactly they are going to do with it, I'm sure there are some nebulous anti-cconsumer use cases possible with the TPM being active all the time.
lots of new consumer units have them now and all ryzen chips have it built in, so....
OR it wont be a requirement once it actually launches, maybe a recommendation.
 
lots of new consumer units have them now and all ryzen chips have it built in, so....
OR it wont be a requirement once it actually launches, maybe a recommendation.
so do i have to enable this tpm in the bios before installing? i dont recall ever messing around with that setting so far
 
lots of new consumer units have them now and all ryzen chips have it built in, so....
OR it wont be a requirement once it actually launches, maybe a recommendation.
I'm hoping for the latter... I remember the big hullabaloo about TPM before Vista launched and how it mostly turned into a big nothing when the OS dropped
 
so do i have to enable this tpm in the bios before installing? i dont recall ever messing around with that setting so far
i just tested it with my existing install. left it as is(off) and ran the check too, said i failed. went into bios, enabled tpm, now it says i pass. it also told me that i wouldnt get the upgrade to 11, just continuing 10 updates, until i turned it on. so im assuming you have to have it on to do a fresh install or upgrade.
 
I'm hoping for the latter... I remember the big hullabaloo about TPM before Vista launched and how it mostly turned into a big nothing when the OS dropped
guess we'll see, and yeah i remember that too, lots of reeeeeeing then nothing.
 
This supported I Intel processors list only goes back to 8th Gen Intel Core processors... Not sure if they have a supported AMD processor list... I couldn't find it.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...pported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

Between this and the TPM requirement, a lot of people will be looking at a new PC instead of an upgrade. I guess 2025 is still 4 years away, so a lot of the devices that don't meet the requirements may be retired by then.
 
This supported I Intel processors list only goes back to 8th Gen Intel Core processors... Not sure if they have a supported AMD processor list... I couldn't find it.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/wi...pported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

Between this and the TPM requirement, a lot of people will be looking at a new PC instead of an upgrade. I guess 2025 is still 4 years away, so a lot of the devices that don't meet the requirements may be retired by then.
lists are in the other thread, one for each. all ryzens have tpm built in, new intels might, someone mentioned something about the new chips having it.
ps: supported and compatible are two different things.
 
I guess we'll see when we get closer to release and official builds are released instead of the leaked build that is floating around that most people are discussing at the moment.

The actual reality of all of this is that most consumers are going to see that their PC isn't compatible (if they even care enough to check) and they will move on with life.

This thread was asking about pros / cons...

Direct storage is a huge pro for gaming when game developers start implementing it in PC gaming... They made this seem like a Windows 11 only feature. To be honest, this seems like reason enough for gamers to want to upgrade. It isn't clear if this will stop games from running or just affect performance on Windows 10 PCs that don't support direct storage... Again, time will tell when we get further along with releases and see at least one game dev implement direct storage, so people have something to evaluate.

Another huge pro I saw was that the layout of your open windows will be remembered when you are using multiple monitors (see docking station setups in the Office). I can't express how nice that will be... Right now, when you disconnect the dock / multiple monitor setup, everything gets messed up, then when you connect it again, everything is all resized and messed up. Office workers are going to appreciate this long needed improvement.

I'm actually quite excited to see them build in some pre defined window layout buttons which is extremely useful for multitasking on ultra wide displays. I was instantly a huge fan when they introduced the snapping and windows key + arrow snapping stuff which basically does this, but this just makes it easier to get the windows snapped where you want. I am aware that there have been 3rd party utilities that do similar things, but I really prefer to use built in functionality in Windows as much as possible.
 
i just tested it with my existing install. left it as is(off) and ran the check too, said i failed. went into bios, enabled tpm, now it says i pass. it also told me that i wouldnt get the upgrade to 11, just continuing 10 updates, until i turned it on. so im assuming you have to have it on to do a fresh install or upgrade.
went ahead and turned mine on.......figured might as well be ready lol
 
Microsoft lol making sure all the semi Linux literate dual boaters will be annoyed. Lots of people disable that stuff and just install Linux in legacy mode. I can see some broken setups for some dual booters.
 
lol so did i cause i want to see if updates(im on insider) will offer it to me.
speaking of which....i was insider for years but got away when things went bonkers for a bit. Been thinking of getting back into it lately for kind of the same reason. You using it full time or is it too buggy?
 
speaking of which....i was insider for years but got away when things went bonkers for a bit. Been thinking of getting back into it lately for kind of the same reason. You using it full time or is it too buggy?
seems fine to me. i have only ever been on insider with my main home system. have only had a couple minor issues the whole time and they were fixed in the next updates. this install also started as 7, then upped to 8.1, then 10 and ill probably will try upping it to 11.
 
So what happens if you are multi-booting Win 10 and want to upgrade (for free of course!) ?
 
Between this and the TPM requirement, a lot of people will be looking at a new PC instead of an upgrade. I guess 2025 is still 4 years away, so a lot of the devices that don't meet the requirements may be retired by then.

The leaked Windows 11 ISO installs just fine with no TPM module. Everyone is making assumptions based on what is "supported", when in reality it's looking more like anything that can run Windows 10 will be able to run Windows 11.

I've installed the leaked Windows 11 ISO on a Pentium D and Athlon 64 X2, both 15+ year old CPUs, no TPM module. So far the only actual limitation I've run into is that that Dual Core is an actual requirement now apparently. In my quest to try this on a bunch of older computers I tried to put it on a computer with a Single-Core Celeron 430. This is Core2 architecture, just only 1 core. Newer than the Pentium D that I was able to get it working on. But it flat out refuses to install with only 1 core.

We'll see if the actual requirements (aka what works, not what is "supported") change as we get closer to RTM.
 
So what do you guys think of Windows 11, based on information from Microsoft?

Me, I was pissed to just read that an AMD-based rig will not pass the "health test" for Win 11.
5800x
x570 Taichi
MSI 6700xt
2 x 16gb HyperX RGB 3200 stuff @ 3600

I've running Win 11 for a few days now and it's very snappy and boots quicker than 10. I've only played Hunt:Showdown , but it plays the same as in 10.
I've never messed with TPM anything and when I got the initial "Missing TPM 2.0" error when first trying to do an in place upgrade .. I grabbed an altered file and replaced it on the USB installer that I created using RUFUS not realizing I could have just enabled the feature in my BIOS instead of the online work around...

With the unfinished leak though .. my only complaint is that you can't enable a working taskbar on a secondary monitor .. I can get it to show up, but I can't pin anything to it .. Haven't found a "fix" for that yet
 
To get support for windows 11 on asrock b450m steel legend or similar, probably applies to other asrock
The last version of the BIOS, Advanced - CPU Configuration --- AMD fTPM switch SET ON--- AMD CPU fTPM
For me now it reports for 2700x that the PC supports windows 11, you just need to include amd cpu fTPM in the bios
 
I installed the leaked Win11 as an upgrade on an HP Omen system (R5 3600, Moria 3 /B450 motherboard). Haven´t done much manually to the system, other then moving the components into a P400A cabinet due to airflow and replaced the GTX 1660 Super with a GTX 1080 I had.

Win11 installed without a hitch (except I couldn´t keep programs that were installed due to language differences and the leaked is English).

Seems stable so far. Love the new workspace options and to me it seems more polished and modern with the rounded edges. Everything these days have rounded edges, so it gives a bit uniformity across devices.

Animations feels more fluid so they did a nice job tuning these in. Win11 seems more responsive, but that could be the little bloatware that remained from HP on this system (did remove most of it before upgrade).

If this keeps up, I probably won´t revert to Windows 10 and rather do a clean install when the final version is released. Win11 is more pleasing to my eyes and I have gotten too used to the windows arrangement features already, so I am tempted to install the leaked build to my main system as well.
 
Looks fine to me. I think I might give 11 preview a try when I redo my system soon.
 
Microsoft lol making sure all the semi Linux literate dual boaters will be annoyed. Lots of people disable that stuff and just install Linux in legacy mode. I can see some broken setups for some dual booters.
Maybe then the Linux kernel developers will start adding on useful stuff instead of wasting time on things like getting it to run on a Nintendo 64 ;)

OT - a big con for me is the taskbar will be locked to the bottom of the screen. I've been operating with it at the top for ages, and it is quite awkward for me to use it at any other location. I may try this version out, but the proposed benefits don't have any relevance to me (at least the gaming side, since pretty much all the games I play are old) so I'll probably sit it out for a while.
 
To get support for windows 11 on asrock b450m steel legend or similar, probably applies to other asrock
The last version of the BIOS, Advanced - CPU Configuration --- AMD fTPM switch SET ON--- AMD CPU fTPM
For me now it reports for 2700x that the PC supports windows 11, you just need to include amd cpu fTPM in the bios
Anything else related to this, does that mean we won't have to buy a tpm module for asrock boards? Namely I watched and my motherboard b450m has a 17 pin tpm slot.
Does that mean it's already integrated into the processor or? Someone needs to buy a tpm module to get support for win 11 and some one obviously doesn't? I do not understand....
 
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