So far in the last year or so, I've heard 0 reasons why I'd even need, want or benefit from Win11 over Win10. Tons of reasons in the negative column though. There isn't even anything to salivate over that might make you think it might be worth it to deal with the other tradeoffs. Hard pass.
I updated to 11 on my laptop but kept 10 on my main machine. I see zero reason to update my main computer to 11. I was willing to give centered start button a try but the fact that you can't turn off grouping of applications in the taskbar is a deal breaker. If I have two firefox windows open I want to know it and to be able to pick which one I want without having to hover my mouse over the icon for a second while the picture of the windows pops up.
I'm on W11 as well and enjoy it over W10 for a variety of reasons (mostly gaming and HDR related), but instead of adding to that noise I just wanted to point out that this change is in Windows 10 as well. From the link, last sentence in the second paragraph:
"As it turns out, Microsoft slipped the update into the final patch Tuesday of 2021 for both Windows 10 and Windows 11."
Unfortunately, there's one very big reason you'll need Windows 11: that Windows 10 won't get security updates forever. After October 14th, 2025, you'll need to "upgrade" to it to stay secure.
I've been using Win11 now for about a week (so take this with a grain of salt) and one positive I've noticed has been a far better UX. OSX has made a ton of leaps and bounds for optimizing controls for how you use your computer, and it felt like windows 10 was lagging behind quite a bit in the last year. Windows 11 addressed a lot of these grievances.
Browser overrides like this are definitely in the negative UX column, but better bluetooth controls, a new consolidated settings panel, and smoother window management are all positives for me. FWIW I haven't hit a situation where I've been forced into edge (yet).
It will be the same reason you updated windows years ago: some driver or piece of software will only work in windows 11, and you will be forced to switch.
I have two machines: windows for gaming and work, Linux for everything else. My Linux machine is wonderful, sometimes even for gaming, but my windows machine won’t stop doing web searches via bing when I try to use the search bar, and won’t stop trying to swap my browser, and keeps reverting my privacy settings
The lack of any ability to move the task bar to the side of a screen is killing me on Win11. As an ADD person who has spent years training myself to glance to the right for notifications it's been really breaking my workflow by making it difficult to ignore various applications beeping and blooping.
I've ignored the prompt to update to Windows 11 for a couple weeks now. This morning it gave me just two options "no" or "now". There was no clear option to "remind me later". Maybe they just continue to nag you, but it wasn't clear to me as a user.
Windows 11 is just another Microsoft operating system setting the groundwork for a generational leap just like Windows ME, Windows Vista, and Windows 8. IMO it is designed to not be widely adopted.
When Windows ME was released, it was little more than a reskin of Windows 98 that removed or disabled much of the 16 bit capabilities and support for the ISA architecture in favor of 32 bit and PCI. It couldn't be installed on most existing machines and was highly unstable on those that it would run on.
Windows Vista wasn't much different. It was a crappy skin and a new desktop composition paradigm requiring better underlying graphics hardware than Intel was providing at the time. Many systems couldn't upgrade to it and those that did had stability issues due to immature graphics drivers.
Windows 8 was similar, it introduced a newer kernel design that fully extracted Win32 out to userland. It also introduced Metro and other modern elements that weren't bound to IA32/IA64. It was primarily targeted at modern single screen touch enabled devices and didn't work well as an upgrade or on desktop PCs. They eventually shipped Windows 8.1 which was largely a refinement of 8 that was arguably the test bed for extending Windows 8 concepts to the desktop.
I have 1 reason. ConPTY - it simply works better on Windows 11. VSCode actually respects mouse support under 11 w/ POSIX compliant terminals - but not under 10. That is it, and for RDP but 10 did equally well with RDP, except for the ConPTY support being broken.
So all in all the main reason I use 11 is for better mouse support in terminals that finally puts Windows on the same playing level as macOS or Linux for me. I still hate the OS, but at least it is usable after countless hours of doing other fixes.
Free update. Better Linux subsystem support, an android emulator better than anything on Linux, good performance, easy to bypass TPM, lots of software support (since it’s emulating Linux lol).
I say this as a Linux user who doesn’t use windows except for some Win only programs that VM and wine can’t run.
The most common reason i've heard has been: "Yeah, but it's so much more biutiful than Windows 10." But then again, this appears to work quite well for Microsoft.
Quite a bit of exaggeration here. Im using it for WSL and development. Much better than WSL on Win10 and the OS itself is definitely a nice UX update to Win 10
Indeed, I'm going to try holding out on Windows 10 until the next version. Win11 seems like another Vista or Windows 8 to me so far. I can't even run Win11 with my current hardware anyways for silly arbitrary reasons. I have an Intel Skylake CPU + need to boot over legacy BIOS due to a on-board RAID. Both work completely fine and my PC is still performant enough, but don't meet the requirements.
I mean, at some point they converge to the featureset of Windows 7, and then Microsoft has no business model anymore when it comes to stability and time-of-life; which was the previous reason industries chose Windows over alternatives.
Whether these are reasons for you I can't say, for me it's:
- proper support of dual monitor setups (particularly via Displayport) and remembering window positions
- WSL2 integration (it really does work great)
- eventual drop of Win 10 support
Not great:
- new taskbar is meh
- preferences are still all over the place
Yeah, I'm sure over the next few years there will be things that come out worth having, but especially while both are supported it is mostly a new coat of paint with a higher minimum system requirement.
Eventually we'll be there, but there's no incentive to get there right now.
Other than security updates, there hasn't been an enticing reason to update since XP. The fact that XP was still in use by so many people and orgs after it was officially no longer supported proves the point.
I upgraded to Win11 for supporting A2DP AAC codec. I'm fine with new explorer, angry for new taskbar and start menu. Nothing is improved for those but just degrade.
Firefox should go all the way on this. Exploit bugs, modify binaries, whatever it takes. With user consent of course. If the user says they want Firefox to be their default browser, Firefox is justified in modifying the operating system to achieve that. Ultimately Microsoft is powerless to stop this except by using their antivirus to block installation of Firefox in the first place, and I'd like to see them try that because the blowback would be epic.
Windows 11 was an absolute downgrade to my Windows 10 experience. To the point that I went back to windows 10 in less than a day of Windows 11.
1. I can't ungroup the taskbar windows. So now I have to hoover the taskbar to see multiple instances of the same software;
2. Who the hell thought it was a great idea to couple all the commands like WiFi, power energy, etc under the same menu? On Windows 11 I needed to click the WiFi icon, select WiFi menu, select a WiFi to connect to. Whereas on windows 10 I just click on the WiFi symbol and choose the WiFi. I don't like my computer auto connecting to the Internet so I manually connect whenever I want and use this menu multiple times a day.
3. Speaking of great ideas, now all the right click useful stuff is behind a second menu... Pure genius move.
I know I can hack my way around these issues but I don't see the point of installing sketchy software or messing registry hacks to fix this mess. I will use Windows 10 until its end of life.
Forcing the use of edge for features that should be browser-neutral like Bing web search from the start menu seems very wrong in terms of user choice. However, if this is Microsoft's version of "Electron" in order to implement parts of the OS, then blocking other browsers seems pretty reasonable. It makes technical sense because they can also directly provide a Windows Login cookie for linking to their apps on the web to make them PWAs for which the user would then already be authenticated.
Maybe all that needs to be done is change things like Bing Search to normal https URL, and maybe remove browser controls like the address bar or bookmarks so they can't be used as a "browser"?
Anyone on the fence about ditching Windows for Linux should just do it. If you pick a popular distro and hardware you'll likely run into only minimal issues, if any. My sound and wifi worked right out of the box even though I built my own system.
Why anyone still puts up with this garbage, abusive, disrespectful OS is beyond me.
OSS fanboys have been hailing the coming of Linux on personal computers for years, but it just looks like Windows 11 might be the thing that makes it real, forcing it finally to mature.
This is not Vista times, where you can easily get away with a bad OS generation. For the first time in about 12 years I'm dual booting Win 10 and KDE on Ubuntu, and it actually feels like a usable and practical setup.
Win 11 really seems to be hateful of users almost. Does it have a target audience anymore, or is it now designed by Mac users that work at MS? Seems like almost everyone should stay on Win 10 or migrate to Mac or Linux. The greatest strength Windows had was that developers could mess around while non-techies would always have a way to do whatever work they needed.
Brave also used this workaround.
When workarounds are used by a few (EdgeDeflector), this methods usually pass under the radar... When a lot of users start using them they're quickly patched. Sadly, this fix shows that you can't bully the bullies in their own turf. But Microsoft should never forget the Antitrust lawsuit back in 2001.
My escape plan is to use Wine for the apps that exist on Windows only.
Wine can be a bit lacking though :-(
But there's hope on the horizon: Valve's SteamDeck is aiming to make available all Valve's games, even the Windows-only ones, on their custom Arch Linux. using Proton (which is a fork of Wine). As far as I know, this might be the first commercial product that's based on (a fork of) Wine.
If they can make all tripleA Windows games with DRM work on their SteamDeck, this will make a serious dent in Windows' monopoly on gaming. And in the process hopefully Wine will get a boost as well...
Didn't they lose a pretty big antitrust lawsuit over this a couple decades ago? Has the regulatory landscape changed to the point that they think they can just start this right up again? Or is it more, there's no way anyone could believe a Microsoft browser could dominate anymore?
As someone who used Firefox and has Windows 11, how is it going to affect me? My links open in Firefox only (and the only time I open links is either from WhatsApp or occasionally some link in a doc file or PDF I am reading). It works fine for me so far.
I need a new computer, and I was going to switch to Windows so I could game with friends (while dual-booting into some linux distro for anything programming related), which would force me into 11. It's already a shame that I have to have a Microsoft account to even set up the damn thing, but now I can't even use whatever default browser I want? I'm seriously about the say screw it and pay for another Mac. I love mine, but wanted to game but at this point it might not be worth it.
I hope one day Microsoft realises that their user-hostile actions are dissuading engineers from looking for jobs there. I for one never will. Hell would freeze over sooner.
[+] [-] cronix|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jccalhoun|4 years ago|reply
So I installed Explorer patcher to get the old taskbar back https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher
Other than that the only feature of 11 that I have used is the snap zones. And I guess if I want that I can install the power toy it is based on.
[+] [-] metasaval|4 years ago|reply
"As it turns out, Microsoft slipped the update into the final patch Tuesday of 2021 for both Windows 10 and Windows 11."
[+] [-] josephcsible|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jjcm|4 years ago|reply
Browser overrides like this are definitely in the negative UX column, but better bluetooth controls, a new consolidated settings panel, and smoother window management are all positives for me. FWIW I haven't hit a situation where I've been forced into edge (yet).
[+] [-] tyingq|4 years ago|reply
The github page still says it requires Windows 11: https://github.com/microsoft/wslg
Though I suppose it's possible they've also pushed it to the insider builds for Windows 10.
[+] [-] gentleman11|4 years ago|reply
I have two machines: windows for gaming and work, Linux for everything else. My Linux machine is wonderful, sometimes even for gaming, but my windows machine won’t stop doing web searches via bing when I try to use the search bar, and won’t stop trying to swap my browser, and keeps reverting my privacy settings
[+] [-] zionic|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] munk-a|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] josefresco|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dragontamer|4 years ago|reply
So any 12th generation Intel build will greatly benefit from Win11 scheduler over Win10.
[+] [-] cptskippy|4 years ago|reply
When Windows ME was released, it was little more than a reskin of Windows 98 that removed or disabled much of the 16 bit capabilities and support for the ISA architecture in favor of 32 bit and PCI. It couldn't be installed on most existing machines and was highly unstable on those that it would run on.
Windows Vista wasn't much different. It was a crappy skin and a new desktop composition paradigm requiring better underlying graphics hardware than Intel was providing at the time. Many systems couldn't upgrade to it and those that did had stability issues due to immature graphics drivers.
Windows 8 was similar, it introduced a newer kernel design that fully extracted Win32 out to userland. It also introduced Metro and other modern elements that weren't bound to IA32/IA64. It was primarily targeted at modern single screen touch enabled devices and didn't work well as an upgrade or on desktop PCs. They eventually shipped Windows 8.1 which was largely a refinement of 8 that was arguably the test bed for extending Windows 8 concepts to the desktop.
[+] [-] bastardoperator|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rbreaves|4 years ago|reply
So all in all the main reason I use 11 is for better mouse support in terminals that finally puts Windows on the same playing level as macOS or Linux for me. I still hate the OS, but at least it is usable after countless hours of doing other fixes.
[+] [-] GhettoComputers|4 years ago|reply
I say this as a Linux user who doesn’t use windows except for some Win only programs that VM and wine can’t run.
[+] [-] anotheraccount9|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pojzon|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sydney6|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] z3ncyberpunk|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaomidi|4 years ago|reply
That's about it.
[+] [-] Bluecobra|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cookiengineer|4 years ago|reply
I mean, at some point they converge to the featureset of Windows 7, and then Microsoft has no business model anymore when it comes to stability and time-of-life; which was the previous reason industries chose Windows over alternatives.
[1] https://reactos.org/
[+] [-] krautsourced|4 years ago|reply
Not great: - new taskbar is meh - preferences are still all over the place
[+] [-] ocdtrekkie|4 years ago|reply
Eventually we'll be there, but there's no incentive to get there right now.
[+] [-] IIAOPSW|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fomine3|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] teawrecks|4 years ago|reply
There's always Linux ;)
[+] [-] randomNumber7|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PostThisTooFast|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] nahconan|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] modeless|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arepublicadoceu|4 years ago|reply
1. I can't ungroup the taskbar windows. So now I have to hoover the taskbar to see multiple instances of the same software;
2. Who the hell thought it was a great idea to couple all the commands like WiFi, power energy, etc under the same menu? On Windows 11 I needed to click the WiFi icon, select WiFi menu, select a WiFi to connect to. Whereas on windows 10 I just click on the WiFi symbol and choose the WiFi. I don't like my computer auto connecting to the Internet so I manually connect whenever I want and use this menu multiple times a day.
3. Speaking of great ideas, now all the right click useful stuff is behind a second menu... Pure genius move.
I know I can hack my way around these issues but I don't see the point of installing sketchy software or messing registry hacks to fix this mess. I will use Windows 10 until its end of life.
[+] [-] jhoelzel|4 years ago|reply
That every request made through the edge browser for a non local user is associated to his/her live ID is pure coincidence ;)
Sometimes when I look into my dns logs, I cry a little bit inside too.
[+] [-] teddyh|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pjfin123|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] no_circuit|4 years ago|reply
Maybe all that needs to be done is change things like Bing Search to normal https URL, and maybe remove browser controls like the address bar or bookmarks so they can't be used as a "browser"?
[+] [-] thunderbong|4 years ago|reply
This is not for http://, https://, file:// links. This is specifically for microsoft-edge:// links, which I've never seen.
I think this applies only for Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).
I'm wondering how many of the commentators here have actual read the article.
[+] [-] amatecha|4 years ago|reply
How did this anticompetitive BS ever get the greenlight from legal?
[+] [-] sockaddr|4 years ago|reply
Why anyone still puts up with this garbage, abusive, disrespectful OS is beyond me.
[+] [-] mihaic|4 years ago|reply
This is not Vista times, where you can easily get away with a bad OS generation. For the first time in about 12 years I'm dual booting Win 10 and KDE on Ubuntu, and it actually feels like a usable and practical setup.
Win 11 really seems to be hateful of users almost. Does it have a target audience anymore, or is it now designed by Mac users that work at MS? Seems like almost everyone should stay on Win 10 or migrate to Mac or Linux. The greatest strength Windows had was that developers could mess around while non-techies would always have a way to do whatever work they needed.
[+] [-] jagger27|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kunagi7|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dontblink|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bovermyer|4 years ago|reply
Does anyone know if there's a version of the Alienware, Steelseries, and Razer control software for Linux?
[+] [-] DrTung|4 years ago|reply
But there's hope on the horizon: Valve's SteamDeck is aiming to make available all Valve's games, even the Windows-only ones, on their custom Arch Linux. using Proton (which is a fork of Wine). As far as I know, this might be the first commercial product that's based on (a fork of) Wine.
If they can make all tripleA Windows games with DRM work on their SteamDeck, this will make a serious dent in Windows' monopoly on gaming. And in the process hopefully Wine will get a boost as well...
[+] [-] nsxwolf|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anshumankmr|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dorchadas|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seqizz|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] c7DJTLrn|4 years ago|reply
I hope one day Microsoft realises that their user-hostile actions are dissuading engineers from looking for jobs there. I for one never will. Hell would freeze over sooner.