Windows 11 is now five years old

FrancoDT said:

When it works without serious bugs I like it. Glad to see they are finally introducing movable taskbars and start menu customizations including a choice in the size. Now if they would stop forcibly enabling things on us by default without asking like OneDrive, Encryption, Recall, ads in the settings menus, etc.

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I too like Windows 11 and have used it since it was introduced. I've never seen ads in my settings. I've used OneDrive for a couple of decades, and I've used BitLocker since it was introduced. I don't recall anything ever forced on me. My five years have been essentially problem free. Granted, there have always been new things to learn, but I've never encountered any showstoppers.

Every time I read some of the posts in a thread such as this, I'm frequently reminded of the old adage ... something about poor workman ... blame .. tools??

After careful consideration, over the years, I can safely say: "Windows 11 suxxors"

TraderGary said:

I too like Windows 11 and have used it since it was introduced. I've never seen ads in my settings. I've used OneDrive for a couple of decades, and I've used BitLocker since it was introduced. I don't recall anything ever forced on me. My five years have been essentially problem free. Granted, there have always been new things to learn, but I've never encountered any showstoppers.

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I assume you use MS 365 as well which would explain why you don't get ads. I don't use either and get ads for them if I don't disable the ads with reg hacks or 3rd party apps. I had to unlink OneDrive from my MS account and delete it, a couple times after it reinstalled from a repair install. I don't have Bitlocker but I do have Device Encryption now which is a new addon from recent builds and requires a Bitlocker key now I found in my MS account. Imagine my surprise to go into settings and see that enabled without warning. I disabled it and I also had to disable and remove recall which I don't want as well. I just find those kind of things extremely intrusive and invasive.

I don't get any ads, except this one... if you can call it an ad...



I have no Office products.

Wolfzz said:

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What's your Thoughts?

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I dont think i dare to answer this one.

FrancoDT said:

I assume you use MS 365 as well which would explain why you don't get ads. I don't use either and get ads for them if I don't disable the ads with reg hacks or 3rd party apps. I had to unlink OneDrive from my MS account and delete it, a couple times after it reinstalled from a repair install. I don't have Bitlocker but I do have Device Encryption now which is a new addon from recent builds and requires a Bitlocker key now I found in my MS account. Imagine my surprise to go into settings and see that enabled without warning. I disabled it and I also had to disable and remove recall which I don't want as well. I just find those kind of things extremely intrusive and invasive.

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Yes, I'm a Microsoft 365 subscriber. I wouldn't be without my included terabyte of OneDrive. All my data and photos are mirrored in real-time both offsite and locally on both computers. OneDrive is the vital offsite component of my 3-2-1 Backup Strategy.

Since I'm completely mobile, I rely on the security of BitLocker on my two laptops and on my two 4TB Samsung T9 portable SSD backup drives, where I store my 30 rotating daily Macrium Reflect drive images which are the local component of my 3-2-1 Backup Strategy.

I've used Microsoft Office since it was introduced decades ago. Word, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook Classic are integral parts of how I use my computers.

Ghot said:

Wow. It's almost ready for 1st grade.

Spoiler

To be honest, I'm surprised it made it out of kindergarten.

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And just as annoying at times as a bratty five year old.

the problem with Windows 11, from my point of view, are the feature updates
security updates not a problem, feature updates should be user choice.

if you want a feature it can be installed from the MS store
but then again MS moves in their own mysterious ways.

best of luck Steve ..

XxXxX said:

the problem with Windows 11, from my point of view, are the feature updates
security updates not a problem, feature updates should be user choice.

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I agree on this one.
Its not a problem with "Windows" as the LTSC version is good....
The problem is Microsoft that they after windows 7 stopped to think about the user and only started to think about shares on the stock market and make as much money they can on the regular consumer users.

Why make a stable and good OS for businesses that isn't bloated and broken on every other update.. But not make the same quality for normal consumers?????

Its not Windows 11 per se that is bad as the LTSC version is good. So the problem is Microsoft.
I'm working on a good LTSC version.. But home/pro... i would not touch that one with a ten foot pole

XxXxX said:

the problem with Windows 11, from my point of view, are the feature updates
security updates not a problem, feature updates should be user choice.

if you want a feature it can be installed from the MS store
but then again MS moves in their own mysterious ways.

best of luck Steve ..

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I don't think so.
Many users don't have time to check and read about feature updates.

Sheikh said:

I don't think so.
Many users don't have time to check and read about feature updates.

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In this case, these said users probably don't even need the new features and will avoid new and even annoying surprises. Win-Win.

Marie SWE said:

I agree on this one.
Its not a problem with "Windows" as the LTSC version is good....
The problem is Microsoft that they after windows 7 stopped to think about the user and only started to think about shares on the stock market and make as much money they can on the regular consumer users.

Why make a stable and good OS for businesses that isn't bloated and broken on every other update.. But not make the same quality for normal consumers?????

Its not Windows 11 per se that is bad as the LTSC version is good. So the problem is Microsoft.
I'm working on a good LTSC version.. But home/pro... i would not touch that one with a ten foot pole

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if i could get the LTSC version to activate i would must likely stick with Windows LTSC versions
the LTSC just leaves your system alone it doesn't keep adding features that i dont need/want/require or use
but MS have decided that is not to be for the average home user and i am not willing to jump through hoops to get it activated.

it is what it is, shrug
best of luck Steve ..

Wolfzz said:

On June 24, 2021, Microsoft launched Windows 11, one of its most controversial operating systems. Today, it is turning five.​

What's your Thoughts?

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You can count in base 5 ot higher! I'm impressed with a few tweaks I can still install W11 on old hardware - unlike Apple IT gear.

One of the benefits of installing Windows 11 on unsupported computers and using a local Administrator account is that you get less annoyance from features like Recall, 2023 certificates, Bitlocker and others. Regarding the interface, since Windows 8 I have used some third-party tools to change stuff I don't like, such as the flat system icons, the tiles in start menu, removal of features and the like. So I also use such tools in Windows 11. OK, I think Microsoft overdone it because I use much more tools to fix stuff I don't like than I used in Windows 8 and 10, but I can live with that.

PS: For those with very old systems that don't have SSE4.2, don't worry. I think it is better to run Windows 11 23H2 than Windows 10 or earlier. This way you have maximum compatibility with current hardware and software. Don't you even dare mention the "L" word! This is a Windows forum and some of us don't like praising rival OSes. They work on old computers and might be a little faster because they don't have any fancy visual effects and run almost nothing in the background, but they are more difficult to use and have much less compatibility with hardware and software compared to Windows. It is like demoting your computer to a stupid thin client, no thanks! I prefer a general purpose computer. I want to add features, not take away. I value compatibility and ease of use much more than gaining a little speed. Besides if you disable visual effects and startup applications, Windows can be faster than you think. Almost compared to "L", without all the disadvantages.

spapakons said:

One of the benefits of installing Windows 11 on unsupported computers and using a local Administrator account is that you get less annoyance from features like Recall, 2023 certificates, Bitlocker and others. Regarding the interface, since Windows 8 I have used some third-party tools to change stuff I don't like, such as the flat system icons, the tiles in start menu, removal of features and the like. So I also use such tools in Windows 11. OK, I think Microsoft overdone it because I use much more tools to fix stuff I don't like than I used in Windows 8 and 10, but I can live with that.

PS: For those with very old systems that don't have SSE4.2, don't worry. I think it is better to run Windows 11 23H2 than Windows 10 or earlier. This way you have maximum compatibility with current hardware and software. Don't you even dare mention the "L" word! This is a Windows forum and some of us don't like praising rival OSes. They work on old computers and might be a little faster because they don't have any fancy visual effects and run almost nothing in the background, but they are more difficult to use and have much less compatibility with hardware and software compared to Windows. I value compatibility and ease of use much more than gaining a little speed. Besides if you disable visual effects and startup applications, Windows can be faster than you think. Almost compared to "L", without all the disadvantages.

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You could also run Windows VM's indefinitely for legacy hardware and software. You don't need to use Linux to run Windows VM's -- Hyper-V, Virtual Box and VmWare workstation / player all work fine on W11 Host although while best performance is with HYPER-V it's fairly restrictive if you need to attach / detach devices to the VM.
Cheers
jimbo

As with previous Windows releases, when a version is EOL doesn't automatically mean it stops working or that you cannot buy new hardware for it or that there is no new software to use for it. Even Windows 7 can now still be used without issues for most applications except browsers and modern antivirus. For browsers there are third-party forks that are made specifically to run on Vista and Windows 7, such as R3DFOX, an excellent fork of modern Firefox which is also much faster than the original Firefox or any other browser. For antivirus there is Microsoft Security Essentials which still receives the same definition updates as Windows Defender for Windows 10/11. Some times it cannot find the updates automatically, but we can always download the file and install them manually. Same for Windows 11 23H2. Until it is truly obsolete and cannot support anything new, much like Windows XP, we have at least 5 years. By then I would have given the same money I pay today for a much better contemporary or refurbished computer. By then today's expensive new computers would be bought half the price or less as refurbished. No bad. So don't be afraid to use Windows 11 23H2 if your old computer doesn't support SSE4.2 But if it does, I recommend to upgrade to 25H2 and later to 26H2 and post here for any issues to help you fix them.

I have used Win 7 as my main OS till last year (five years after EOL) and still have it on a drive in my computer.
After all these years after MS released in 2009 it has had many updates and security patches so when it reached the end of Extended Security Updates (ESU) in 2023 it was more secure than ever before.
If you trusted Win 7 from when it was released in 2009 till 2023, why not trust it after all those upgrades and patches?
I only moved to Win 11 because some software stopped to have upgrades (like Firefox).
Win 7 is still my favorite OS as it has the best GUI.

I use Windows 7 at work and I like it, even though the old computer I run it on is much slower than my computer at home. Regarding Firefox, you can use the R3DFOX fork that is designed to run on Vista and 7. As a Computer Technician I have to use the latest Windows version to familiarize and learn how to fix issues. As much as I like Windows 7, I also like the new features like Microsoft Store games and many things that are more convenient the way they are done in Windows 11 than Windows 7. For example, in Windows 11 it is enough to hover the mouse over an area and then use the wheel to scroll. In Windows 7 you have to click on the area to get in focus before you can scroll. You cannot scroll in the background. Regarding the rather flat Windows 11 system interface (though much nicer than that of Windows 10), I use third-party utilities to customize it and make is as close to Windows 7 I want. I have Windows 7 start button and start menu and even most of the system icons. I have my favorite Windows 7 gadgets running on Windows 11, Windows Media Center and even the good old Windows games and calculator (the modern app is huge and ugly). As long as I can run Windows 11 on my system and I can customize it to look the way I like, I will keep it that way. Even if I stop at some version and cannot upgrade anymore due to hardware compatibility, I would keep it as much as possible and then consider to replace my PC. I rather donate it and buy a new or refurbished one than install "L" on it. Like I said before, "L" is more difficult to use, has much less compatibility with both hardware and apps/games and feels like demoting my precious general purpose computer to a stupid and pretty useless thin client. Never!

SlicEnDicE said:

Yeah. I'd give them a modern multicore processor but nerfed to 486 performance and 128MB of RAM. This is just for the OS part. Apps is another story...

Make that work, and work really well, then we can talk about an OS.

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and 5.25" flippy disks lol