Windows 11 Discussion
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I've got to wonder what this will do to PC computing. Will it fuel a boom in PC sales? It would have 20 years ago but in 2025 it could spell the end of PC computing as we know it. As PCs become unsupported by Microsoft a lot of people may choose not to replace them, choosing to abandon PCs and use alternate platforms like phones, tablets and gaming consoles. It could also mean a rapid hastening of the end of Windows as a popular operating system as other people decide to switch to alternatives such as Linux.
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Interesting. Window 11 might be the catalyst. In our household the last laptop we purchased was for school 3 years ago. And before that mine which is 6 or so years ago.
Reminds me of how Microsoft got into Music (Zune) just as Apple released the iPhone and basically killed off the dedicated media players.
And cloud storage and computing is changing the landscape.
I have weaned both sets of my parents off laptops and got them tablets. Way less "support calls" now. And once I hooked up their wireless printer to their tablet, their laptop just collects dust. Now when I visit I turn the laptop on and make sure updates are applied and turn it off for another 4 months.
Chromebooks were interesting but even they don't seem to have a future beyond education.
But a few places I see it taking longer adapting is government. But it is coming.
Reminds me of how Microsoft got into Music (Zune) just as Apple released the iPhone and basically killed off the dedicated media players.
And cloud storage and computing is changing the landscape.
I have weaned both sets of my parents off laptops and got them tablets. Way less "support calls" now. And once I hooked up their wireless printer to their tablet, their laptop just collects dust. Now when I visit I turn the laptop on and make sure updates are applied and turn it off for another 4 months.
Chromebooks were interesting but even they don't seem to have a future beyond education.
But a few places I see it taking longer adapting is government. But it is coming.
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I don't like small screens and refuse to use them unless necessary. Rarely use my phone for the internet and do not like laptops, have one but is rarely used as well. Its desktop all day for this guy and will always be.
I switched to linux 20 years ago and have no complaints.
For me the Microsoft empire started to smell foul with msdos 5.
All my favorite dos games were no longer made , and the windows games were boring.
All the good pinball games were no longer on windows.
I have not used any windows games since directx 9, i simply lost interest in windows gameing.
I play retro games now, commodore 64 , amiga, atari st.
The hardware requirements are simply to high, you need a video card with 6GB of ram.
I remember when games ran nicely on a 40 MHZ 386 and a 512k trident vga card.
Modern games have an unquenchable thirst for CPU, RAM , SSD ... etc.
The madness has to end some time, before everyone goes broke building "The Ultimate Gaming PC" .
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Windows 11 is a slippery slope. Whatever happened to Windows 10 being the last version of Windows ever? Games can be played with a Google Chromecast, Xbox, Wii and other small form factor devices. Most things that people use a PC for can also be done on a pocket PC, AKA smartphone. Some of today's smartphones are more powerful than most 10 year old PCs. So who needs a new Windows 11 PC when all most people need is a smartphone?
Why does everyone forget how expensive things were in the "good old days"?
"Take a look for example at this Northgate advertisement from Infoworld in May of 1991. A business-class 386/33 with 4MB of RAM, a 200MB hard disk and 14" display went for $4299. A similarly-equipped 486-33 in the April 1 issue from Tandon was $7699" https://www.zdnet.com/article/1991s-pc-technology-was-unbelievable/
That 386 is $8,635 USD in today's dollars. The pandemic has thrown prices out of whack but you can get still get a stupidly powerful PC for ~$3K CDN.
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My PC is 10 years old and runs perfectly, updated with a new video card and SSD, its fast and has zero issues, I maintain it and don't install a bunch of useless programs. I don't game so I'm sure I could use it at least a couple more years, maybe more. It boots within 20 seconds and webpages load instantly, but I don't game. As far as using a phone for internet activities, no way, I find doing anything on the internet with a phone a painful experience. Its slower, its smaller and typing on a full size keyboard is a luxury instead of finger pecking on a small screen.
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Not sure what is slippery about it, it is just an evolution of the OS and a stake in the ground on the requirements for the future.
That statement about being the last version did not come from MS, and it is unfortunate that they did not officially deny it.
I suspect that the business world has the largest share of PC sales and that is not moving to smartphones. This is appears to be base design point for Windows.
There are things that I do with my smartphone that I cannot do with my PC, and vice versa. A tablet does not fit my needs. Different tools for different people.
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Windows 11: Wasn't Windows 10 supposed to be the last version of Windows?
The leaked build of Windows 11 confirms that the next version of Windows isn't named Windows 10. Doesn't that go against what Microsoft has said for years? Here's our speculation about the upcoming name change.
www.windowscentral.com
The slippery slope I am referring to is that Microsoft is making a huge number of PCs obsolete in 2025. The main beneficiaries of the move will potentially be Intel, AMD and PC makers. It will create huge numbers of unsupported, insecure PCs, similar to the situation when XP support was discontinued. That was only after extending the XP support cutoff date for an unprecedented length of time. This could be a major public relations debacle for Microsoft, which could lose a significant portion of its business. Microsoft and Intel could quickly become the next IBMs or DECs as consumers and businesses look for alternatives.
Don't think that businesses and their plans won't be affected by this. Big business is notoriously slow to adopt new operating systems from Microsoft. They often continue to use obsolete, insecure systems for years due to the difficulty and cost of upgrading software. There are a much wider variety of choices now than there were when Microsoft discontinued XP and I suspect that businesses will pursue other options and companies when the need to upgrade software and business models arises. Just as mini-computers replaced mainframes and PCs replaced mini-computers in offices; smaller, lower cost, more portable, more energy and more productive devices are now replacing PCs. At the other end of the scale, many businesses require significantly more powerful solutions than can be provided by Microsoft and Intel. That's especially true for companies that provide very large cloud based services. That will also represent a business loss for Microsoft as many companies choose a move to cloud services rather than perform yet another a local hardware and software upgrade.
There are many opinions about this. This PC Mag article explains it quite well. Anyone who really believed that it was the last does not understand tech.Windows 11: Wasn't Windows 10 supposed to be the last version of Windows?
The leaked build of Windows 11 confirms that the next version of Windows isn't named Windows 10. Doesn't that go against what Microsoft has said for years? Here's our speculation about the upcoming name change.
I disagree. Technology advancement and the rise of security exposures are making a huge number of PC obsolete. Yes, there are many businesses still running XP and 8.1, and there will also be many that do not upgrade to Win 11 in the near future or choose to have their new PC's installed with an old Win OS. There is a significant effort to verify that a new OS still works well all on their processes and systems. MS will continue to support Win 10 after 2025 for a fee, just as it does for older OS's.
The beneficiaries of keeping old technology in use for critical functions are the "threat actors" as these systems will be easier to infiltrate and take over compared to enhanced security measures deployed in newer technology.
To be fair, Windows 10 could have been the "last version of Windows" like OS X was the "last OS for Mac" (which it was for 15 years until it was renamed macOS). Strictly a branding exercise. Apple's version naming is somewhat a pain in the neck if you have to do tech support, with its big cat or location names along with a now almost meaningless version number. At least Microsoft has something like "21H1".
I have not followed the timeline of OS X to know if there were new features introduced that could be applied to some machines but not others.
This is the situation faced by MS for the Windows product. There are functional enhancements being introduced that will only run on some PC's. Retaining the product name of Win 10 but having some PC running the enhanced features and other not would be a nightmare. They have put a stake in the ground on which ones qualify. Yes, they have allowed some exceptions but have cleared stated that installing Win 11 on unsupported PC's is the users choice and that there could be issues down the road.
Watch this video if you are curious about the security enhancement that they are willing to publicly talk about.
This is the situation faced by MS for the Windows product. There are functional enhancements being introduced that will only run on some PC's. Retaining the product name of Win 10 but having some PC running the enhanced features and other not would be a nightmare. They have put a stake in the ground on which ones qualify. Yes, they have allowed some exceptions but have cleared stated that installing Win 11 on unsupported PC's is the users choice and that there could be issues down the road.
Watch this video if you are curious about the security enhancement that they are willing to publicly talk about.
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Issues down the road was given as a possibility for Windows 10 when it was introduced. I have no problem with that. If the hardware doesn't support new features or programs then it's an evolutionary hardware obsolescence. As long as critical security updates are provided then the hardware remains functional for it's current uses.
The Windows 11 upgrade is a completely different beast. Previous Windows upgrades would sometimes not install due to lack of resources but it was usually possible with minor PC hardware upgrades. It also comes with a, less than, 5 year end of life date for Windows 10. For another, it won't install on a lot of today's hardware, some of it relatively new and some which is still being sold but needs a firmware or configuration update to work. The upgrade required to install Windows 11 is major on most PCs since it involves upgrading the motherboard and CPU plus other related components such as RAM. That's a major market disruption compared to the previously announced update model for Windows 10. I wouldn't be surprised if it sparked a class action lawsuit.
The Windows 11 upgrade is a completely different beast. Previous Windows upgrades would sometimes not install due to lack of resources but it was usually possible with minor PC hardware upgrades. It also comes with a, less than, 5 year end of life date for Windows 10. For another, it won't install on a lot of today's hardware, some of it relatively new and some which is still being sold but needs a firmware or configuration update to work. The upgrade required to install Windows 11 is major on most PCs since it involves upgrading the motherboard and CPU plus other related components such as RAM. That's a major market disruption compared to the previously announced update model for Windows 10. I wouldn't be surprised if it sparked a class action lawsuit.
A rather cynical outlook. There are ways to get Win 11 installed and running on older hardware (the oldest I have seen is a 10 year old PC), but there is no guarantee of it future for updates.
There are some who are quite prepared to drive 20 year old cars, or run old versions of Windows. That is their choice, but technology and innovation cannot be stopped. In 50 years Windows and PC's will have changed, if they even exist in forms that we would recognize. Should this journey be delayed for a year, two years, five years?
If you would like to read about the progress being made see this article from ARC Technica. It is an in-depth review but the first few pages should be sufficient.
There are some who are quite prepared to drive 20 year old cars, or run old versions of Windows. That is their choice, but technology and innovation cannot be stopped. In 50 years Windows and PC's will have changed, if they even exist in forms that we would recognize. Should this journey be delayed for a year, two years, five years?
If you would like to read about the progress being made see this article from ARC Technica. It is an in-depth review but the first few pages should be sufficient.
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Just ran the MS PC health check app on my PC. It says the processor, a mid range 3-1/2 year old AMD Ryzen, is not supported by Windows 11. That's the newest PC here. I've checked newer CPUs in the same class and none of them provide compelling performance or technology upgrades. A couple of other PCs running Windows 10 have significantly older CPUs. All are well suited to the tasks they perform and don't need to be upgraded. Never mind that all this forced obsolescence comes at a time when there are significant shortages of PC hardware and prices have been rising for the past several years. That's why I am cynical.
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I know a few of you have mentioned that you like full sized keyboards and screens. A legitimate concern. And with age, eyesight and dexterity tend to not improve.
So if I don't go completely tablet-based my plan is to hold tight until 2026 then check out the plethora of 3 years old laptops. This i7 laptop with Geoforce GTX 960M I am posting with I got for $400 used. The model before that was a Dell Latitude with Windows 7 for even less. I used it until until 2020. Before that I had an XP machine until about 2014. So every 6 years I renew.
Now those of you that game, thanks for being the early adopters so vultures like me can pick up the scraps.
So if I don't go completely tablet-based my plan is to hold tight until 2026 then check out the plethora of 3 years old laptops. This i7 laptop with Geoforce GTX 960M I am posting with I got for $400 used. The model before that was a Dell Latitude with Windows 7 for even less. I used it until until 2020. Before that I had an XP machine until about 2014. So every 6 years I renew.
Now those of you that game, thanks for being the early adopters so vultures like me can pick up the scraps.
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Looks like a case of YMMV.
www.digitaltrends.com
Windows 11 Runs on a 15-Year Old Intel Pentium Computer | Digital Trends
Microsoft initially stated that Windows 11 will have hefty hardware requirements, but a Twitter user proved that Windows 11 can run on a 15-year old PC.
www.digitaltrends.com
In the forums there are some people complaining that they cannot install it on older equipment, others that have the right PC but complaining that they don't want it, others saying it is faster, others like the UI (me included), and others that have it but going to great lengths to make it look like Win 10.
In summary, the world is made up of leaders, followers, lemmings, deniers, some resistant to change, and those that just like shiny new things.
In summary, the world is made up of leaders, followers, lemmings, deniers, some resistant to change, and those that just like shiny new things.
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