Solved Why do Dell owners have so many problems?

SlicEnDicE said:

Sometimes real absolute minimum Windows 11 25H2 requirements feels like they should be 32GB RAM and at least a 2TB PCIe gen 5 NVMe drive.

When really starting to work, it feels like not even that is enough. At least 500GB SSD as a system drive is starting to feel very tiny.

I have that amount on my phone, for crying out loud, and even there it is barely enough. Please note though that I am a heavy mobile user and do a lot of stuff on my phone, that most people don't do even on their computers.

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Like what? 4K video editing? Weather simulation? Astronomical calculations? Gaming in one 4K monitor and watching a movie on a second 4K monitor at the same time? I know! Running 4-5 virtual machines at the same time. Don't worry, Microsoft promised to make Windows 11 reasonably fast on systems with "only" 8GB RAM, so your 32GB should be more than enough. I have 16GB and the only time it is full is when rendering more than two videos at the same time or running a couple of virtual machines at the same time.

kelper said:

Read the thread title!

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Why do Dell owners have so many problems? I literally did. Alas... my humor needs more vermouth.

spapakons said:

Artificial Microsoft hardware requirements for Windows 11: Intel 8th generation CPU or AMD 2nd Generation Ryzen CPU, 4GB RAM, 64GB disk, UEFI boot, TMP 2.0, Secure Boot, WDDM 3.0 or higher graphics drivers.

Real minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11 21H2, 22H2 & 23H2: Any 64-bit CPU except the first generation AMD-64 that lack certain instructions, 1GB RAM, 64GB hard disk (not necessarily SATA, even IDE works), no TPM, no Secure Boot, Legacy BIOS, WDDM 1.0 (Vista 64-bit) graphics drivers.

Real minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H2 and hopefully some more versions: Any 64-bit CPU with SSE4.2 instructions, that is 1st generation Intel Core-i3 or higher and equivalent AMD CPUs, 2GB RAM (1GB is very slow), 64GB hard disk, no TPM, no Secure Boot, Legacy BIOS, WDDM 1.0 (Vista 64-bit) graphics drivers.

So if you have an old PC don't throw it away, install Windows 10/11 and donate it or keep using it. Regarding Windows 10 64-bit 22H2 vs Windows 11 23H2 for CPUs without SSE4.2, I would prefer Windows 11 23H2 to maximize compatibility with current and hopefully some future hardware and software. The newer the better. I have noticed that we usually argue about older systems being better, but at the same time we get used to certain aspects of the newer systems (features, settings, way of doing things) and we find it inconvenient that they are missing or implemented differently in the older system. Think about it.

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My bad. Somehow my brain did a Coffee Lake flip-flop and that 9 became a 6 in my mind for some reason. Some sort of internal dyslexia, I suppose. The CPU does turbo up to 4.6 GHz according to Intel's specs and the GFX card throws a lot of heat. I'm guessing thermals are a potential risk with this unit. Fortunately my daughter shouldn't be doing anything too labour intensive with this "work station". It's not like she's a game developer or anything. (Yet) So far she's happy with it. I told her she could hook it up to a 4K monitor if she wanted to but she's keen on the mobility factor and says she's happy with the resolution on board. Originally she had an Acer that I threw together with the spare parts from three other Acers. I had to order a replacement keyboard for it as well. Total cost to me was somewhere around 50 bucks for that Acer. Plus I threw in an SSD. All that's history now as she's stripping the data off that unit and transferring it to her Dell unit. Speaking of which, she's very impressed with the transfer speeds. If she were moving her data to a Thunderbolt device I think she'd be amazed. The unit does come with Thunderbolt but I'm not about to fork out for TB storage (plus cable) for her. That's on her.

I went with Dell because I have the least issues with Dell when it comes to proprietary builds. Besides, this is a lap top. I'm long past rebuilding laptops. I built back that Acer over a decade ago and my eyesight isn't getting any better. And yes, you are correct. I managed to get Win 11 to work on that old Acer too. Alas, daughter asked me to put Win 10 back on it because she didn't like Win 11. In fact, she asked me to roll back this Dell but I told her she'd have to get used to Win 11 at some point. She's adjusting but like me, she has little use for AI.

Why do Dell users have so many issues?? I'm guessing that a majority of Dell users are likely not that PC savvy but so many of the units are sold because of Dell's reputation for reliable support that people keep on buying them. I'm no longer a fan boi of any particular brand name. I simply have preferences. As far as desk tops go I prefer ASUS or GIGABYTE.

cheaterslick said:

You and I might buy 32GB but remember the RAM prices that are out there. If they can get away with 16GB then that's what they'll go with.



Again, prices for most people.



Most people just surf the internet, text and answer email so yes, they wouldn't have that heavy duty requirement.

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Money is a completely different topic. It is besides the point. Windows is currently struggling a bit. But not all is Windows fault. Apps are getting ridiculously resource hungry too, due to being mostly sloppily written webapp implementations that seem to focus more on non user features that runs in the background for company gains than actually making user experience great.

spapakons said:

Like what? 4K video editing? Weather simulation? Astronomical calculations? Gaming in one 4K monitor and watching a movie on a second 4K monitor at the same time? I know! Running 4-5 virtual machines at the same time. Don't worry, Microsoft promised to make Windows 11 reasonably fast on systems with "only" 8GB RAM, so your 32GB should be more than enough. I have 16GB and the only time it is full is when rendering more than two videos at the same time or running a couple of virtual machines at the same time.

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None of those actually. Those are things I've done too, and they are resource hogs, but that is not Windows fault.

The real issue is Windows itself. Right now it focuses more on doing everything else except what the user wants. Every new iteration has become worse. Even MS knows and has admitted this themselves.

Hopefully they will fix it soon and return to what an OS should be doing rather than focusing on Bling and Slop that nobody asked for.

SlicEnDicE said:

Hopefully they will fix it soon and return to what an OS should be doing rather than focusing on Bling and Slop that nobody asked for.

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A bare bones OS is the answer to this but since the subject of this thread addresses Dell users there isn't much Dell can do about that. I've never regretted having a large abundance of RAM but there are some instances where it can be counter-productive such as in overclocking the memory. I'm not even sure how relevant that is to PCs today.

SlicEnDicE said:

Hopefully they will fix it soon and return to what an OS should be doing rather than focusing on Bling and Slop that nobody asked for.

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Yeah and they don't have to go very far. They already have it. It's called LTSC so there's no need for any 'redevelopment' crap.