Are you hardware or VM?

Lance1 · Jul 18, 2021

bobcollard said:
Don't use VM, don't like it.

Could you Please explain your reasoning for that?

Bree · Jul 18, 2021

Lance1 said:
I would like to say Thank You to everyone for posting. I did not expect this response. WOW! I'll be in VM till the official release. Whatever you do in hardware you can do in VM. Only its non destructive and easily corrected. VM, IMO is the way to go for testing.

Almost everything can be tested in a VM, yes. But with more than one machine I can afford to upgrade one of the general purpose ones to test things like Power Plans, Sleep, Hibernation and WiFi which need physical hardware (all of which seem to work as expected so far).

NavyLCDR · Jul 18, 2021

Lance1 said:
I would like to say Thank You to everyone for posting. I did not expect this response. WOW! I'll be in VM till the official release. Whatever you do in hardware you can do in VM. Only its non destructive and easily corrected. VM, IMO is the way to go for testing.

I agree with Bree. Unless you use hardware pass through you cannot test real hardware drivers with Windows 11 in a VM because only the very standard and basic hardware simulated by the hypervisor is presented to the VM.

Bree · Jul 18, 2021

Also, on a rather trivial note, you only get the rounded corners on the windows with real video hardware

Winuser · Jul 18, 2021

Lance1 said:
That's interesting... What's the reason for not using VM's?? Just curious....

For me it's the fact that Windows 11 just works. I only used a VM when I was testing the Leaked version. I've had no problems that would make me sorry that I'm running Windows 11 on my main computer. I can use my Macrium images to go back to Windows 10 if I need to. I was also using the Windows 10 Dev build as my main OS. I like to live dangerously. :)

bobcollard · Jul 18, 2021

Lance1 said:
Could you Please explain your reasoning for that?

Tried it while using Linux to get Windows programs to work, most failed, have no use for it in Windows 11, all my apps work fine.

NavyLCDR · Jul 18, 2021

Winuser said:
For me it's the fact that Windows 11 just works. I only used a VM when I was testing the Leaked version. I've had no problems that would make me sorry that I'm running Windows 11 on my main computer. I can use my Macrium images to go back to Windows 10 if I need to. I was also using the Windows 10 Dev build as my main OS. I like to live dangerously. :)

I agree. I'm using Windows 11 as my main OS on two computers. But I have very little I would have to re-install if I had to start over.

mreasier · Jul 19, 2021

Hardware
Dual Boot with Windows 10

BunnyJ · Jul 19, 2021

Well,, I switched to VM so I can use 10 on hardware

johnlgalt · Jul 19, 2021

Lance1 said:
You show a lot of faith in a OS the is just in the testing stage. You may want to rethink that for your work system.

Nope. You're wrong about that.

I show a lot of faith in my own abilities to recover from a disaster should I encounter one.

Big difference.

1) I've been testing software and hardware for decades. My first foray into official software testing was in the early 90s.

2) I ran Windows 10 Insider builds live on my old rig, which, technically, wasn't supported to run Windows 10 in the first place.

3) I've already mentioned that I have backups in case something does go wrongly.

Bottom line - This ain't my first rodeo. Not even close.

Bree said:
Almost everything can be tested in a VM, yes. But with more than one machine I can afford to upgrade one of the general purpose ones to test things like Power Plans, Sleep, Hibernation and WiFi which need physical hardware (all of which seem to work as expected so far).

NavyLCDR said:
I agree with Bree. Unless you use hardware pass through you cannot test real hardware drivers with Windows 11 in a VM because only the very standard and basic hardware simulated by the hypervisor is presented to the VM.

^^^^^^ These two. There is only so much you can do in a VM. And I did start with a VM. Of the leak, sure, but my first foray into Win11 was a VM, not hardware install.

Bree said:
Also, on a rather trivial note, you only get the rounded corners on the windows with real video hardware

Gramps · Jul 19, 2021

Hardware
Dual Boot with Windows 10

jbcarreon123 · Jul 19, 2021

Hardware
Definitely dual-boot to Win10 (Insider because what's the point of an Insider account), after clean install on Wednesday.

Joan Archer · Jul 19, 2021

None, only have 2 laptops now and one is my old Asus that I only use for banking and accounts, that one came with 8.1 with a 320GB HD.

My HP doesn't have enough room for it, mind you I wanted to leave that one for running 10 at present and get a new one just for 11. The HP now has to be kept plugged in as it charges but loses the charge very quickly and the last couple of times when starting up in a morning I get the black screen telling me the battery is low. I'm not going to start messy about trying to fit a new battery, even if I could, it would be depending on what battery I needed whether I could justify the cost of a new battery. I've had it for nearly 4 years.

I'm trying to find what laptop I'd need that I could put 11 onto at present.

Wynona · Jul 19, 2021

Lance1 said:
You show a lot of faith in a OS the is just in the testing stage. You may want to rethink that for your work system.

I'm pretty sure John knows exactly what he's doing and that he'll have full backups for everything. He's one of the sharper knives in the drawer.

johnlgalt · Jul 19, 2021

Joan Archer said:
None, only have 2 laptops now and one is my old Asus that I only use for banking and accounts, that one came with 8.1 with a 320GB HD.

My HP doesn't have enough room for it, mind you I wanted to leave that one for running 10 at present and get a new one just for 11. The HP now has to be kept plugged in as it charges but loses the charge very quickly and the last couple of times when starting up in a morning I get the black screen telling me the battery is low. I'm not going to start messy about trying to fit a new battery, even if I could, it would be depending on what battery I needed whether I could justify the cost of a new battery. I've had it for nearly 4 years.

I'm trying to find what laptop I'd need that I could put 11 onto at present.

You're better off waiting, unless you just want to play. And you can, technically, still play, just make a VM with a (relatively) small VHD to install Win11 in, so you can play with it in a safe environment without worrying about your Win10 install.

Modern hardware for the most part should be usable for Windows 11, but unless you actually need an upgrade, now is probably not a good time to buy, with all the shipping and chip shortages running amuck.

Trying to get an older laptop may put you back in a predicament of some of the hardware not being officially supported, too. Especially as we don't have official, concrete information on what will be supported and what won't when it is released to the public.

Joan Archer · Jul 19, 2021

You're probably right John, I'm just impatient and wanted to be in at the beginning of the new OS rather than the end like I am usually. I'm also thinking about price and how much they'll be going up by the time there are machines out there capable of running the new OS and will I be able to afford one.

Wynona · Jul 19, 2021

Joan Archer said:
You're probably right John, I'm just impatient and wanted to be in at the beginning of the new OS rather than the end like I am usually. I'm also thinking about price and how much they'll be going up by the time there are machines out there capable of running the new OS and will I be able to afford one.

Joan, there already machines capable of running Windows 11! I have two desktops and a laptop that are already capable. All are at least a year old according to their "born on" dates.

johnlgalt · Jul 19, 2021

Yeah, there are plenty around that can run it now, and you can easily by the minimum components you need to a working machine and add in any of you own later on, especially RAM and Storage, as Wynona mentioned in another thread, on how she does her machines.

I built my rig last year, and it is fully compatible (thankfully, I'd have been beyond irate if it wasn't), but there is no need to put in as much as I did for a compatible machine.

The biggest issue is that we still don't have concrete evidence that the requirements will be enforced or not, much less than we have that the requirements are actually the ones that will be present when it is released.

If you really want in early, I'd suggest either using a VM, or else getting yourself just a decent sized SSD and replacing your HDD in your laptop and cleanly installing Win 11 on it, so you can swap back and forth. This would obviously be easier if your laptop has dual drive bays, so you cold just swap the boot drive in the UEFI fw Settings, but if not, then you'd need manual swapping.

Of course, you could *also* try dual booting, which I'm sure you could handle, but that comes with its own caveats, too.

And I don't need to remind you (but I'm writing it for others reading the thread) that before you decide to do any of these, even the VM, you should make a full backup of your system as it currently is, because that annoying guy Justin Case might come a knockin' on yer door out of the blue....

unifex · Jul 19, 2021

I'm dual booting Windows 10 and Windows 11. Didn't want to bother with a VM. Just added another drive and installed Windows 11 on it. All data drives can be turned off, so Windows 11 never sees anything sensitive and hence there is no risk whatsoever.

Bree · Jul 19, 2021

Joan Archer said:
I'm also thinking about price and how much they'll be going up by the time there are machines out there capable of running the new OS and will I be able to afford one.

I've been looking through the stock held by my 'supplier of choice' (Cash Converters) to see what's the lowest price I can find for used laptops that meet all the W11 specs. About £250 will get me one with an 8th gen Intel processor, 8GB RAM and TPM 2.0, ones with 10th gen processors start at around £400.