Windows 11

[Ambrose Burnside]

So apparently my PC isn't compatible because I guess my Core i7-6700K processor isn't good enough?

WTF Microsoft?

[unfnknblvbl]

It'll work anyway. There's videos out of people running it on Core 2 Duo machines with 2GB RAM.

The TPM thing is annoying. I mean, it still works without it, but I don't see what benefit the TPM provides me as a home user.

Pretty happy that it's a free update, at least. I fucking hate hate HATE that I can't move my task bar. The centred start button is cursed beyond belief, but at least you can change it.

[F for Fake]

What!? I'm only just considering getting 10 and now there's 11

God, time is slippin' away...

[Ambrose Burnside]

It'll work anyway. There's videos out of people running it on Core 2 Duo machines with 2GB RAM.

The TPM thing is annoying. I mean, it still works without it, but I don't see what benefit the TPM provides me as a home user.

Pretty happy that it's a free update, at least. I fucking hate hate HATE that I can't move my task bar. The centred start button is cursed beyond belief, but at least you can change it.

Good to know

I don't even know what TPM is, but I have since enabled it in my BIOS because it was disabled. Not sure if it's my imagination or not, but my PC seems to boot slower now with it enabled

Apart from the start menu/taskbar bullshittery, the update sounds like a winner from gaming perspective, mainly because of the Series X stuff they're bringing to PC. And yeah, I think the days of paying for an OS are well and truly over.

[Froggy]

It'll work anyway. There's videos out of people running it on Core 2 Duo machines with 2GB RAM.

The TPM thing is annoying. I mean, it still works without it, but I don't see what benefit the TPM provides me as a home user.

Pretty happy that it's a free update, at least. I fucking hate hate HATE that I can't move my task bar. The centred start button is cursed beyond belief, but at least you can change it.

Good to know

I don't even know what TPM is, but I have since enabled it in my BIOS because it was disabled. Not sure if it's my imagination or not, but my PC seems to boot slower now with it enabled

Apart from the start menu/taskbar bullshittery, the update sounds like a winner from gaming perspective, mainly because of the Series X stuff they're bringing to PC. And yeah, I think the days of paying for an OS are well and truly over.

If you aren't using Bitlocker then just turn it off, don't think there is any point.

[unfnknblvbl]

Not sure if it's my imagination or not, but my PC seems to boot slower now with it enabled

I had exactly the same thoughts. It's definitely slower to boot with the TPM and SecureBoot enabled than without. The SecureBoot thing is especially egregious, since most Linux distros won't work with it enabled - it really is just Microsoft throwing their weight around to reinforce their monopoly on the desktop OS situation.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Not sure if it's my imagination or not, but my PC seems to boot slower now with it enabled

I had exactly the same thoughts. It's definitely slower to boot with the TPM and SecureBoot enabled than without. The SecureBoot thing is especially egregious, since most Linux distros won't work with it enabled - it really is just Microsoft throwing their weight around to reinforce their monopoly on the desktop OS situation.

How do you even enable SecureBoot properly?

Like I switch it from Disabled to Enabled in the BIOS, save and exit, and I just keep getting booted back to the BIOS, Windows won't load.

Thought I had bricked my PC just now, shat myself, switching it back to disabled didn't seem to work, I just kept getting booted back into the BIOS even after confirming it was set to disabled. Luckily selecting "reset everything to default" worked and I am breathing once again. It does mean TPM is disabled again though.

SecureBoot also didn't work when I was mucking around on my HTPC last night (but switching it back to disabled on that did work).

FFS Microsoft.

[Mavy]

TPM was already enabled in my bios but the check tool says I don't have a supported CPU. I7-7700.

Even if it just works anyway this has to be one of those not a good idea always connected to the internet or you can't play your games kind of marketing blunders you'd think.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Some of the most powerful CPUs from up to two years ago are not compatible with Windows 11. Bizarre.

[t0mby]

I wish I never upgraded from WinXP.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Not sure if it's my imagination or not, but my PC seems to boot slower now with it enabled

I had exactly the same thoughts. It's definitely slower to boot with the TPM and SecureBoot enabled than without. The SecureBoot thing is especially egregious, since most Linux distros won't work with it enabled - it really is just Microsoft throwing their weight around to reinforce their monopoly on the desktop OS situation.

How do you even enable SecureBoot properly?

Like I switch it from Disabled to Enabled in the BIOS, save and exit, and I just keep getting booted back to the BIOS, Windows won't load.

Thought I had bricked my PC just now, shat myself, switching it back to disabled didn't seem to work, I just kept getting booted back into the BIOS even after confirming it was set to disabled. Luckily selecting "reset everything to default" worked and I am breathing once again. It does mean TPM is disabled again though.

SecureBoot also didn't work when I was mucking around on my HTPC last night (but switching it back to disabled on that did work).

FFS Microsoft.

So it looks like I need to convert my Windows SSD from MBR to GPT in order to be able to enable Secure Boot. Which requires me to format my PC first. I have never even heard of these things before.

Imagine Joe Blow trying to upgrade to Windows 11?

Fuck off Microsoft.

[unfnknblvbl]

These are all things that have only been introduced in the last few years. GPT came along with 3TB hard drives and UEFI. The 8th gen Intel thing though is nuts, and really poorly thought out. Looking at the processor compatibility list is very confusing; why would an AMD R3 3100 be fine but not an R7 1800X? The difference between Ryzen 1000 and 2000 is not much, just as between Core 7000 and 8000.

I understand why they'd want to ditch old hardware, but that's just not what Windows and the PC scene has ever been about. I can see the run on second-hand hardware now, as if new hardware wasn't expensive enough!

[Ambrose Burnside]

These are all things that have only been introduced in the last few years. GPT came along with 3TB hard drives and UEFI. The 8th gen Intel thing though is nuts, and really poorly thought out. Looking at the processor compatibility list is very confusing; why would an AMD R3 3100 be fine but not an R7 1800X? The difference between Ryzen 1000 and 2000 is not much, just as between Core 7000 and 8000.

I understand why they'd want to ditch old hardware, but that's just not what Windows and the PC scene has ever been about. I can see the run on second-hand hardware now, as if new hardware wasn't expensive enough!

Ah right, my largest HDD is 2TB so I guess that's why it never mattered to me. When I first got my PC it had a 120GB SSD for Windows etc and a 2TB HDD for everything else. I've since added a second 2TB HDD (which is now a dedicated Steam HDD) and a 500GB NVMe SSD, initially for Cyberpunk but I've since moved the Warhammer: Total War games and Mass Effect Legendary Edition over to it too.

Formatting my 120GB SSD shouldn't be too much of a drama, because it really only has Windows and drivers installed on it. But can I be arsed? No.

Will hold off for now and see if Microsoft makes any changes to Windows 11 requirements, because like I said in the OP, my processor isn't officially compatible anyway

[unfnknblvbl]

I suspect that is going to be the #1 feedback in the insider previews, to be honest. I'll certainly be providing the same feedback. The requirement of SecureBoot all but rules out dual booting a Linux install, or even booting a Live USB image.

MS really need to loosen the requirements for people who roll their own systems, FFS

[lestat]

The TPM requirement is a pain in the arse, only 2/3 of my PCs have TPM 2.0 and I wager that this new TPM requirement will cause hassle when upgrading your motherboard/cpu since particular encryption keys will not be on the new hardware you swap in.

A lot of strange decisions with this new release.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Formatting my 120GB SSD shouldn't be too much of a drama, because it really only has Windows and drivers installed on it. But can I be arsed? No.

Will hold off for now and see if Microsoft makes any changes to Windows 11 requirements, because like I said in the OP, my processor isn't officially compatible anyway

Pretty sure later versions of Win10 allow BIOS to UEFI conversion without reformatting.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Here's a step by step:

https://www.maketecheasier.com/convert- ... windows10/

[Ambrose Burnside]

Well fuck that would have been useful had I seen it before changing my mind, going "fuck it" and formatting C:\ yesterday

All the BIOS shenanigans have been sorted though. Windowss 11 tool just says my processor isn't compatible now. Bullshit. Now trying to install everything again. Or at least get Windows/various storefronts etc to recognise that they're already installed. Probably should have just formatted all my hard drives, but oh well. Some things were easy, Steam the easiest of the lot, but no drama with GOG or Battle.net either. Others a pain in the arse. Hello Game Pass (FFS) and Oculus (slowest install ever).

Probably should have taken a bit more time before taking the plunge. Have lost a couple of things I failed to back up. Oh well.

[Gamma]

All I want out of Windows 11 is file indexing that actually works, and the ability to restore the state of my computer after a restart (without asking me a plethora of dumb questions at any point of the process). Bonus points if they fix the broken behavior of apps with multiple windows open in the taskbar. Unbelievable how fucking shit this OS is this late in the game.

[unfnknblvbl]

All the BIOS shenanigans have been sorted though. Windowss 11 tool just says my processor isn't compatible now. Bullshit.

Looks like they're considering backing down on this now, and considering supporting 7th gen Intel and Zen 1 AMD. Which is good, but they're still not consistent. They need to list the technologies required by Windows 11, rather than CPU generations. Zen+ doesn't support anything extra (in terms of instruction features like SSE, etc) over Zen 1, so why do they support one but not the other? It's also no secret secret that Intel 8th gen was just a "moar cores!" refresh of 7th gen (which was in turn a refresh of 6th gen). As far as I can tell, there's no architectural difference between them.
If this was Microsoft saying "no we need x cores as a minimum" I would understand, but the minimum for that is two. Two!! That means an a Pentium Gold G5400 is supported for limping along while an R7 1800X from the previous year that can run rings around it in every benchmark that matters is excluded.

Bonkers.

[Ambrose Burnside]

All the BIOS shenanigans have been sorted though. Windowss 11 tool just says my processor isn't compatible now. Bullshit.

Looks like they're considering backing down on this now, and considering supporting 7th gen Intel and Zen 1 AMD. Which is good, but they're still not consistent. They need to list the technologies required by Windows 11, rather than CPU generations. Zen+ doesn't support anything extra (in terms of instruction features like SSE, etc) over Zen 1, so why do they support one but not the other? It's also no secret secret that Intel 8th gen was just a "moar cores!" refresh of 7th gen (which was in turn a refresh of 6th gen). As far as I can tell, there's no architectural difference between them.
If this was Microsoft saying "no we need x cores as a minimum" I would understand, but the minimum for that is two. Two!! That means an a Pentium Gold G5400 is supported for limping along while an R7 1800X from the previous year that can run rings around it in every benchmark that matters is excluded.

Bonkers.

Hopefully they do take your approach because even if they open it up to 7th gen, I'll be out of luck with my i7‑6700K

[unfnknblvbl]

I am having the wildest time getting the official insider preview installed. With the leaked build, I installed it to a 50GB VHD on my boot nvme drive from within a VM. Then I configured the WIndows bootloader to boot from that on PC restart. No worries, worked a treat.
But then, I can't update to the official one because the virtual drive is les than 64GB.

So I delete the VHD file and create a new one of 65GB and Install Windows 10 to get it officially. No worries, I follow the same process as before, only for Windows to tell me it can't upgrade from a virtual drive.

Alright, so I nuke W10 and install the leaked W11 build from within a VM. Once it reboots, I close the VM and reboot my machine from the virtual drive again. Go through the whole process of installing and setting up and installing drivers for my oddball hardware, only for Windows Update to tell me that Windows can't be installed to a virtual drive.

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

[unfnknblvbl]

Alright, finally got it to work, and here's my impressions:

Microsoft have gone full Apple. The File Explorer has been dumbed down, and the context menu has been given a beating. I don't know if these are good things or not.
The Settings app feels like it might finally be a decent replacement for the Control Panel, but it has a certain... Android (or mobile) feel to it in places.
Having said that, the Control Panel is more useful than ever, with a new Windows Tools section that's full of all the nifty little apps that are built into Windows but are never normally listed in the Start Menu for some reason. That alone might be a selling point, to be honest.

The taskbar is biased beyond belief. The centred icons by default is Argyll, because the Start button moves around depending on the number of windows you have open. It's like the developers read a Simplepedia entry for Fitt's Law and decided to ignore it because a small minority of people might want to touch their screens. At least you can set it back to left alignment, unlike the unholy decision to lock the taskbar to the bottom of the screen. I understand that most people don't care, but a significant number of users have switched to vertical taskbars, especially now that widescreen and ultrawide monitors are prevalent. Somehow Windows 10 feels more conducive to this change than previous versions were... and so, not being able to do that in Windows 11 is jarring beyond belief.

The new Start Menu is ok. I can take it or leave it, but the new widgets thing can go fuck itself in its own nostrils. It's just a glorified news feed that you can't even customised to be a source other than MSN News.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Slowly resigning myself to having to upgrade my processor even though I still feel I shouldn't have to.

Even worse, looking up my motherboard, (GA-Z170X-Gaming 7), it doesn't even support anything beyond 7th gen. The Core i7-7700K is the most recent (and most powerful) it supports:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA ... upport-cpu

Forcing these upgrades when a global pandemic has caused shortages across the IT world is ridiculous

Rememeber when Windows 10 was touted as the the last version of Windows?

[Peppermint Lounge]

My 6700k system runs UEFI secure boot and TPM 2.0. Obviously a 6700k with 16gb of ddr4 memory would breeze through Windows 11 so I don't understand why it's not compatible.