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

There's a Windows 11 Beta for Stardock that should alleviate some Windows 11 Start Menu woes:
https://www.neowin.net/news/stardock-announces-start11-public-beta-available-now/
Looks like you can re-create/retain a lot of the Windows 10 stuff if that's what you want.
I'm still convinced (or maybe just hopeful) that the new Start Menu isn't bad...it's just unfinished. If the final version rolls out like the current one, different story.
 
criccio said:
Why? Little bit of logic tells you that's not correct.
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philb2 said:
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.
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Don't know what to say? Loaded Win 11 on my 5600CPU and, it's works fine but, removed it already. Hate it! I'll stick with Win 10 as long as possible!
 
So after moving to 11 and using it full time for a week, my only real complaint is that the notification icons do not have a GUI option to disable using the 'hidden' menu where they are under the carrot. I had to use a regedit to turn that feature back on. Otherwise, since Firefox 95 came out, some of the goofiness of my browser in 11 has been resolved as well. It wouldn't split screen correctly sometimes but has been fixed in FF95.

I still think the UI has a little too much 'jelly' feel to it but that may or may not change as I get use to it over time.
 
bigdogchris said:
So after moving to 11 and using it full time for a week, my only real complaint is that the notification icons do not have a GUI option to disable using the 'hidden' menu where they are under the carrot. I had to use a regedit to turn that feature back on. Otherwise, since Firefox 95 came out, some of the goofiness of my browser in 11 has been resolved as well. It wouldn't split screen correctly sometimes but has been fixed in FF95.

I still think the UI has a little too much 'jelly' feel to it but that may or may not change as I get use to it over time.
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Probably fine for someone who surfs the net and sends emails but if you're computer savvy, it's a pain in the "you know what!"
 
All but one of my PCs are too old to upgrade. On the one that is now win11 I couldn't see why effort went into the GUI. I only spent a few minutes with it, but my first impression was they wanted it to start looking more like a MAC. Maybe there's some value in that, but it doesn't really make a difference to me.
 
At the very least, it does seem like MS isn't ignoring feedback as much as I feared. The beta channel releases are getting actually useful updates/fixes every couple weeks. Android support doesn't seem that far off. You can now shrink the "Recommended" section to a single row. Defender and Movies/TV have updates that are actually real improvements. Win 11 still feels rushed as hell, but I'm glad they aren't just sitting around and watching it burn.
 
Win 11 is ok for me, the only thing is that the cursor from the habit runs to the far left because that's where the start has always been, now it's in the middle.
But I also don't do anything smart and useful so I'm not even competent to comment on anything.
The only thing that bothers me is the nonsense that Microsoft throws at me through commercials.
 
I’ve been using it for a while at work and it’s ok. I like it better than 10. I still prefer Pop_OS but still have software compatibility issues with games and software. That list is getting shorter every month. It’s not painful to anything to stay on 11 though.
 
b1rd said:
Win 11 is ok for me, the only thing is that the cursor from the habit runs to the far left because that's where the start has always been, now it's in the middle.
But I also don't do anything smart and useful so I'm not even competent to comment on anything.
The only thing that bothers me is the nonsense that Microsoft throws at me through commercials.
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There's an option in the preferences to move the Start button and all the stuff to the left side. I find it looks weird tho so I don't use it.
 
b1rd said:
Where is that option exactly?

Are you having problems with windows 11 slow boot time?
I tried everything that is recommended but nothing, the same problem was on windows 10 ... everything I had on windows 10 I also have on 11, they didn't fix anything.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/resizepartition/slow-startup-windows-11.html
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1639069822090.png


i find that the more drives i have connected the slower booting is, especially with my usb drive connected. did it in 10, still does it in 11, not sure why.
 
mtrupi said:
All but one of my PCs are too old to upgrade. On the one that is now win11 I couldn't see why effort went into the GUI. I only spent a few minutes with it, but my first impression was they wanted it to start looking more like a MAC. Maybe there's some value in that, but it doesn't really make a difference to me.
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They copy linux/mac desktop but still fail to make it as easy to use.
 
I like the new start menu, finally feels like “metro” is gone. It has some maturing to do for sure but it’s looking like a good start DirectStorage is neat. Everything else’s, who cares, it’s Windows. It doesn’t perform any different from 21H2 W10.
 
If I wanted to use mac osx I would I use Windows due to market dominance
 
B00nie said:
Freedom on windows? LOL. Linux is freedom, with Windows you're a slave of Microsoft.
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Freedom to install whatever you want ... which is definitely not a freedom that Linux provides. This is a Windows Pro and Con thread and yet another person chimes in with Linux. I will never install Linux ... it'll be even more restricting than macOS is. I'm glad you love Linux. It will never be an option for some people.
 
Shoganai said:
Freedom to install whatever you want ... which is definitely not a freedom that Linux provides. This is a Windows Pro and Con thread and yet another person chimes in with Linux. I will never install Linux ... it'll be even more restricting than macOS is. I'm glad you love Linux. It will never be an option for some people.
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You don't have the freedom to install whatever you want on Windows. You can't even dictate when your updates are loaded and your OS booted. Then again, I can run 90% of Windows programs on linux if I want to.
 
B00nie said:
You don't have the freedom to install whatever you want on Windows. You can't even dictate when your updates are loaded and your OS booted. Then again, I can run 90% of Windows programs on linux if I want to.
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You're just making stuff up as you go. And yes, I can dictate when I want to update. When's the last time you used Windows? XP?
 
Shoganai said:
You're just making stuff up as you go. And yes, I can dictate when I want to update. When's the last time you used Windows? XP?
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You can make polite suggestions like 'active work hours' but Microsoft can boot your computer at will and install any updates they want at will. Every new version of Windows gives the end user less and less control and this is a fact.
 
B00nie said:
You can make polite suggestions like 'active work hours' but Microsoft can boot your computer at will and install any updates they want at will. Every new version of Windows gives the end user less and less control and this is a fact.
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Microsoft has to be a little bit "pushy" with updates every once in a while otherwise many people would go years without updating. If updates actually required manual user-interaction, few would ever update. If it was too easy to pause updates forever, most people would pause updates for trivial reasons and never re-enable them. And when all of those extra computers get infected as a result of not being up-to-date, you would be the first in here laying blame upon MS for having an insecure OS.

Well in 2021, in an era of widely exploited zero-day exploits, and dealing with threats from both criminals and state-sponsored actors, a secure OS requires constant security updates. The Windows 95 approach to updates isn't good enough. I'm not sure why you have the idea that automatic updates are bad. The are not only good, they are vital. And anyone who really does have a thorny stick shoved up their rear when it comes to updates can still disable them using either regedit or the group policy editor in about 30 seconds. Granted those methods take more effort than just clicking a pause button, but anyone who can't figure out a simple regedit or group policy editor change probably shouldn't be messing around with their update settings in the first place.
 
GotNoRice said:
Microsoft has to be a little bit "pushy" with updates every once in a while otherwise many people would go years without updating. If updates actually required manual user-interaction, few would ever update. If it was too easy to pause updates forever, most people would pause updates for trivial reasons and never re-enable them. And when all of those extra computers get infected as a result of not being up-to-date, you would be the first in here laying blame upon MS for having an insecure OS.

Well in 2021, in an era of widely exploited zero-day exploits, and dealing with threats from both criminals and state-sponsored actors, a secure OS requires constant security updates. The Windows 95 approach to updates isn't good enough. I'm not sure why you have the idea that automatic updates are bad. The are not only good, they are vital. And anyone who really does have a thorny stick shoved up their rear when it comes to updates can still disable them using either regedit or the group policy editor in about 30 seconds. Granted those methods take more effort than just clicking a pause button, but anyone who can't figure out a simple regedit or group policy editor change probably shouldn't be messing around with their update settings in the first place.
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I'm not sure how you don't see that updates should have total transparency and the user should be able to control what is done and when. The user should be able to control his computer, not use a system that hides who knows what under the hood. Also, using Windows online is like running at a target practice with a giant target on your back. Here I am, have a shot.
 
I worked on a Windows 11 machine today that had some form of Start Menu replacement with the Start Menu on the LHS of the screen...It was a total debacle and not intuitive in the slightest.

I don't care if the Start Menu is in the middle of the damn screen, I won't be installing any Start Menu replacements like the one I used today. I would have looked further into it, but Outlook had the usual shit fit regarding Gmail Oauth authentication and refused to show the credential requestor box regarding a Gmail account that had just been deleted from Outlook for testing - Citing that 'an error had occurred'...No shit. Why is it it works 100% of the time under Thunderbird, a mail client made by a bunch of neckbeards, but always seems to be an issue under Outlook?

As a result I ran out of time to look further into the Start Menu replacement.
 
Mazzspeed said:
I worked on a Windows 11 machine today that had some form of Start Menu replacement with the Start Menu on the LHS of the screen...It was a total debacle and not intuitive in the slightest.

I don't care if the Start Menu is in the middle of the damn screen, I won't be installing any Start Menu replacements like the one I used today.
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The start menu can be moved to the left side with a single setting already built-in to windows. No need to install 3rd party addons.

Win11TaskbarOptions.png

Mazzspeed said:
I would have looked further into it, but Outlook had the usual shit fit regarding Gmail Oauth authentication and refused to show the credential requestor box regarding a Gmail account that had just been deleted from Outlook for testing - Citing that 'an error had occurred'...No shit. Why is it it works 100% of the time under Thunderbird, a mail client made by a bunch of neckbeards, but always seems to be an issue under Outlook?
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Google REALLY doesn't want people to use Microsoft programs to access Google services. They gleefully make changes that break compatibility with certain 3rd party programs, knowing that people are more likely to blame Microsoft than Google, and that it may even convince them to access their google services directly instead. Thunderbird is obviously something that they don't view as a threat.
 
GotNoRice said:
Google REALLY doesn't want people to use Microsoft programs to access Google services. They gleefully make changes that break compatibility with certain 3rd party programs, knowing that people are more likely to blame Microsoft than Google, and that it may even convince them to access their google services directly instead. Thunderbird is obviously something that they don't view as a threat.
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It's not Google that's the problem, if anything it's Microsoft. When you do an Office online repair and things suddenly work, that doesn't really indicate an issue with Google.

If anything, I'd say MS want you to use their propriatery product as opposed to Gmail/Google Workspace as I fail to see why Google would consider Outlook a threat compared to Thunderbird. This wasn't the standard Windows 7 Start Menu.
 
Mazzspeed said:
It's not Google that's the problem, if anything it's Microsoft. When you do an Office online repair and things suddenly work, that doesn't really indicate an issue with Google.
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On the contrary, it's a constant cat-and-mouse game between the two companies with Google trying to break things and Microsoft trying to fix them. Doing an online repair essentially forces Office to update to the latest version, which would include the latest fix.
 
GotNoRice said:
On the contrary, it's a constant cat-and-mouse game between the two companies with Google trying to break things and Microsoft trying to fix them. Doing an online repair essentially forces Office to update to the latest version, which would include the latest fix.
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I don't think Google's trying to break anything. Ever since Outlook actually (finally) got OAuth support this has been an issue, it never went away and it never changed. It has something to do with the fact the account existed previously and was deleted only to be added again, Outlook will not allow the credentials requestor box to appear when readding the account and just states 'an error has occurred'.

Turning off all MFA and turning 'allow less secure apps' in Gmail account settings does nothing to rectify the issue - And doing so should rectify the issue.
 
B00nie said:
You can make polite suggestions like 'active work hours' but Microsoft can boot your computer at will and install any updates they want at will. Every new version of Windows gives the end user less and less control and this is a fact.
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There are literally apps that let you install Windows updates whenever you want. You're not locked into Microsoft's update box. There are always ways around things on Windows. I don't know what less control you are referring to, but I still have as much control as I ever did on Windows.
 
Shoganai said:
There are literally apps that let you install Windows updates whenever you want. You're not locked into Microsoft's update box. There are always ways around things on Windows. I don't know what less control you are referring to, but I still have as much control as I ever did on Windows.
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Only by the grace of Microsoft.
 
Deadjasper said:
Only by the grace of Microsoft.
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What's your point? When has Microsoft ever kept you from installing what you want other than something being laden with virus-filed crap that you shouldn't be installing in the first place? I've yet to come across an app that Windows wouldn't let me install in ... ever.
 
SuperSubZero said:
There's an option in the preferences to move the Start button and all the stuff to the left side. I find it looks weird tho so I don't use it.
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You do pretty quickly get used to it in the center, too.

FWIW, I'm ultimately finding it more useful (once I got used to it) - after all, when you decide you need to hit an app or open the taskbar, you never really know where your mouse is on the screen. If you were doing something on the right, you used to have to move it all the way to the left. In the center, it's equal distance to both sides, so...closer!
 
Shoganai said:
What's your point? When has Microsoft ever kept you from installing what you want other than something being laden with virus-filed crap that you shouldn't be installing in the first place? I've yet to come across an app that Windows wouldn't let me install in ... ever.
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You're a lost soul.
 
ng4ever said:
Is Windows 11 really more secure than Windows 10 ?
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That's a pretty vague question and depends greatly on what you do or want to do with your computer. A lot of the increased "security" comes from the strict requirements. Things like Secure Boot and having a TPM Module can increase security in some situations, both are required for Windows 11. Windows 11 doesn't officially support older CPUs that contain significant exploits that require mitigations. Windows 10 can be made just as "secure" as Windows 11, but with Windows 11 you have that higher baseline and framework for good security that is guaranteed to be present in every Windows 11 computer, unless the owner used a workaround during the install process (which very few non-enthusiasts would ever bother with).
 
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