Windows 11 has been announced

[andrewalston]

Microsoft this week announced that Windows 10 is not the "last Windows ever" which they promised in 2015.

Arriving probably at the end of this year is Windows 11.

Under the skin, it is very much like the current version,

There are a lot of "marketing" buzzwords thrown around. We are told for example that it will make things wonderful for "creators" (who presumably have four 48-inch monitors on their expensive kit). They also claim that it is "powered by the cloud", which means that you will be forced to tie it to a Microsoft account, and many more things will fail to work if you are not connected to the internet. The videos show a second device resuming where a first device has left off, functionality which demands that everything you do be sent to Microsoft.

Here's what most of us will notice:

• They have tweaked the interface so that windows on screen have rounded corners.
• The taskbar icons are now centred, though you can shift the Start button back to the left.
• You will be forced to have your machine tethered to Microsoft. They have been making it increasingly difficult to opt out of this for some time, first by making it the default, then by hiding the sensible option in a corner, in small print, then nagging you as though you are a naughty person for being sane.
• It will NOT run on 32-bit hardware. Only 64-bit processors are supported.
• It will NOT run on older machines. It REQUIRES a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip of at least version 2.0, the specification of which was first published in October 2014. It also REQUIRES "Secure Boot" to be switched on. You can check the version of your TPM chip using Device Manager and looking under Security Devices.
• It is believed that drive encryption will be forced on. This means that should your PC system board fail, the contents of your drive WILL be lost, since the encryption key is stored in that TPM chip.
• Windows 11 will be a free upgrade if you have Windows 10 on suitable hardware.

Support for Windows 10 will end on October 14th, 2025. Windows XP support ended SEVEN years after Vista appeared and Windows 7 support ended EIGHT years after its "replacement" arrived. Apparently they have decided to give PC makers a boost by forcing users to put their existing hardware into landfill.

[rosie99]

Already being discussed here 
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=850281.0

[arthurk]

I appreciate there is another discussion about this, but the post here raises a number of issues that haven't been mentioned there.

Andrew - do you have any sources for the changes that you mention? I've looked at the page about Windows 11 on the MS site, and the video there, but didn't see anything about the need for a MS account, or it being cloud-based, or that drives will be encrypted.

So is this just speculation, or have MS actually said they intend to do all this?

[Gadget]

There's a 'Frequently asked questions' at the bottom of the link, Arthur:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11

Also, I read about it in The  Guardian, which discussed some of the issues, if I remember correctly.

Gadget

[arthurk]

Thanks - I'd already read those FAQs before I posted but they didn't seem to cover the things Andrew mentioned. They're mostly variations on "will it run on my PC" and "how do I get it", with very little about what it actually includes.

[Michael J]

Quote "Apparently they have decided to give PC makers a boost by forcing users to put their existing hardware into landfill."

Just because Microsoft have ended support for their earlier operating systems doesn't mean the computers running them have to be discarded. One of my desktops is still running its original 32 bit XP, which among other things I use to read the LDS Vital Records & 1881 census cd sets (I have tried & confirm that Win 10 32 bit can run the LDS viewer for these cd's).

Although my main desktop is running Win 10 I still have Win 7 on its other partition, again for the programs that need that version.

[Rena]

A pox on microsoft's new downloads.  I spent ages trying to get rid of a black noticeboard with about three headlines on it.  Eventually I called for son's assistance and the black thing that covered most of my screen and wouldn't allow me to open or close any of my firefox windows has now been consigned to never never land.

[arthurk]

Just because Microsoft have ended support for their earlier operating systems doesn't mean the computers running them have to be discarded. One of my desktops is still running its original 32 bit XP, which among other things I use to read the LDS Vital Records & 1881 census cd sets (I have tried & confirm that Win 10 32 bit can run the LDS viewer for these cd's).

Although my main desktop is running Win 10 I still have Win 7 on its other partition, again for the programs that need that version.

That's all very well for someone who knows what they're doing, but a lot of readers here wouldn't know how to set up another partition.

Moreover, we don't all have unlimited space available, so from that point of view it's hard to justify keeping a computer that can't use the internet safely (particularly if it's a bulky desktop one), simply in order to use a set of CDs containing data that's available online anyway.

[jc26red]

Hmmm… as far as I can tell from the marketing blurb, it’s going to have a new look, more apps access and push the Microsoft teams app and cloud storage more.
I think the ms bosses have realised how profitable zoom has become and wants a bigger slice. I remember teams suddenly appearing in my taskbar after an update but never used it.

Personally, I don’t need more apps, my desktop to be reorganised, or pushing to cloud use thank you. FaceTime, WhatsApp and old fashioned telephone are my preferred communication from a distance. We’ve done zoom a handful of times but it isn’t our top priority.

So, unless Microsoft can show me the real advantages to upgrade then no thanks, I’ll wait until my pc needs to be replaced.

Jenny