More Windows 11 Bad News From Microsoft

[Judge]

Apparently Microsoft is presently contemplating whether or not to force Bitlocker Encryption on all versions of Microsoft Windows 11, as yet another disaster of their 24H2 update. Hopefully if they do this, that in fact you can go into a menu and simply turn it off, provided of course you have the key. (Whatever you do, if this is a certainty you must not lose that key!)

Be advised of a performance hit your operating system will get if this function remains operative on your hard drive.

https://www.windowslatest.com/2024/...1-24h2-turns-on-device-encryption-by-default/

I was considering installing Windows 11 on a removable drive just to run some very Windows-centric games. Maybe now I'll hold off and see the fallout from this 24H2 update. (For now I'd just assume pass on using Lutris or Proton in Linux, but that too may change.)

 

[Outdated]

I was considering installing Windows 11 on a removable drive just to run some very Windows-centric games.

Unless you want to play online you're better off just loading your games under Wine. I can help out with things if you run in to trouble. For most games it's pretty straight forward if you have Q4Wine installed. Simply double click on the Setup.exe file or whatever it's installer is called the same as you would in Windows.

And exactly the same as all Windows users are trained to do, just click next next next on any boxes that appear without bothering to read any of the messages or care what they say.

For older 32 bit games that require Win98 I run a virtual machine with a genuine copy of Win98 in it.

 

[Judge]

Unless you want to play online you're better off just loading your games under Wine. I can help out with things if you run in to trouble. For most games it's pretty straight forward if you have Q4Wine installed. Simply double click on the Setup.exe file or whatever it's installer is called the same as you would in Windows.

And exactly the same as all Windows users are trained to do, just click next next next on any boxes that appear without bothering to read any of the messages or care what they say.

For older 32 bit games that require Win98 I run a virtual machine with a genuine copy of Win98 in it.

The thing is, with Photoshop I have carefully downloaded only that in which allows me to use it, without maintaining any connective functions to the Internet. I'm still very aware of how Wine is a way hackers can get to a Linux user. So I'd prefer to keep much of anything else contained to a totally separate, but removable hard drive.

I've tried on occasion to get some of my old games to run under Wine, without success. And while I'm aware of all the great things the YouTube gurus have to say about running Windows games in Linux using Proton and Lutris, it all seems very complex to me. I may still give it a try if decide to install Nobara 39 for the timed being. But it would all seem much easier just to contain whatever games I play through Windows, as crappy as Windows 11 may be. I'd simply use it as a game platform- not a comprehensive operating system. I have Linux for that, both in efficiency and security.

On my legacy system I continue to consider putting Windows 98SE on it, which might be a better platform than Windows XP. But recently I believe my power supply died after more than a quarter of a century...and I'm not 100% sure replacing it will solve the problem. Another reason to get back into gaming, but with a far more powerful system in comparison.

But who knows? If I keep hearing endless streams of bad news about Windows 11, I may just give up the idea of games altogether. Though I could still get Perfect Gold ported for Linux. I dunno....

 

[Outdated]

And while I'm aware of all the great things the YouTube gurus have to say about running Windows games in Linux using Proton and Lutris, it all seems very complex to me.

I never had any luck with either of those programs. I think I've tried just about everything there is over the years and the only program I've consistently had a good run with is Q4Wine.

I have several different wine prefixes labeled Win98, WinXP, Win7, etc, to suit the needs of different games and programs. I also have a couple of prefixes for individual games because their requirements conflict with too many other things. None of them interfere with each other. Once they're set up you can just copy them over to new computers very easily.

 

[Eren]

Apparently Microsoft is presently contemplating whether or not to force Bitlocker Encryption on all versions of Microsoft Windows 11, as yet another disaster of their 24H2 update. Hopefully if they do this, that in fact you can go into a menu and simply turn it off, provided of course you have the key. (Whatever you do, if this is a certainty you must not lose that key!)

Be advised of a performance hit your operating system will get if this function remains operative on your hard drive.

https://www.windowslatest.com/2024/...1-24h2-turns-on-device-encryption-by-default/

I was considering installing Windows 11 on a removable drive just to run some very Windows-centric games. Maybe now I'll hold off and see the fallout from this 24H2 update. (For now I'd just assume pass on using Lutris or Proton in Linux, but that too may change.)

Have you considered installing windows 10 instead of windows 11? Many people still stick to Windows 10 and it is a good operating system for gaming.

 

[Judge]

Have you considered installing windows 10 instead of windows 11? Many people still stick to Windows 10 and it is a good operating system for gaming.

LOL...no, never. I have Windows 10 on another drive on my other computer, but plan on gutting it to replace it with a more recent motherboard, memory and cpu. I stopped using Windows 10 other than to simply keep it updated. Even that I have stopped, as I want to use that SSD for another Linux distro- Nobara 39.

Windows 10 support ends October 2025. After that, continued support will cost you $61 the first year, $122 the second and $183 for a third year. Guessing that it's Microsoft's intention not to offer extended support beyond those three years.

Besides, I know firsthand how vulnerable an officially expired and unsupported OS can be when connected to the Internet. And in the case of Windows 10, Microsoft has decided not to even bother attempting to fix their recent update error involving BitLocker encryption. Another very bad sign from Microsoft in general.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...indows-0x80070643-errors-manual-fix-required/

 

[Judge]

I never had any luck with either of those programs. I think I've tried just about everything there is over the years and the only program I've consistently had a good run with is Q4Wine.

It's a bit humorous at times. I mean these techs like Chris Titus certainly know what they are doing, but they go out of their way to make it sound so simple when it's painfully not simple at all when it comes to so many different choices and controls offered by technologies like Lutris and Proton. All on top of Wine and Bottles. Watching these guys do their magic is interesting, but at the same time it made my head spin just trying to keep up. I figure I was lucky just to get an ancient version of Photoshop 5.5 to run in Linux.

Besides, I'd prefer to contain all the risks associated with Windows on a separate drive. I run only a single Windows application (Photoshop) on multiple Linux distros, but it's deliberately cut off from Internet access for security purposes.

 

[Eren]

LOL...no, never. I have Windows 10 on another drive on my other computer, but plan on gutting it to replace it with a more recent motherboard, memory and cpu. I stopped using Windows 10 other than to simply keep it updated. Even that I have stopped, as I want to use that SSD for another Linux distro- Nobara 39.

Windows 10 support ends October 2025. After that, continued support will cost you $61 the first year, $122 the second and $183 for a third year. Guessing that it's Microsoft's intention not to offer extended support beyond those three years.

Besides, I know firsthand how vulnerable an officially expired and unsupported OS can be when connected to the Internet. And in the case of Windows 10, Microsoft has decided not to even bother attempting to fix their recent update error involving BitLocker encryption. Another very bad sign from Microsoft in general.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...indows-0x80070643-errors-manual-fix-required/

Oh I understand, I didn't know all that, so yes, or Windows 11 or some Linux distribution.

 

[Judge]

It does appear that this is a "done deal" for Microsoft.

That the Windows 24H2 update will automatically install and activate BitLocker Encryption on all existing Windows 11 devices. And that turning it off could be "difficult" by some accounts. Beyond that while the security factor may be attractive, what won't be is the potential performance loss that may be as high as 45%. Which could be quite a turn-off for Windows gamers. (The sole reason for my even considering Windows 11 is as a platform for gaming. Absolutely nothing else.)

The one real question I have that could be a dealbreaker for me in considering this OS now rests with whether or not installing Windows 11 manually on a non store-bought system (like mine) actually gives you the option of installing BitLocker or not. Supposedly that is how it will work, but I'll have to hear this is confirmed. The YouTube below mentions it briefly, but I want to know positively that in manually installing Windows 11 on the computer I built that it's an option NOT to install BitLocker.

But if you bought a computer with Windows 11 preinstalled or upgraded from Windows 10, it sounds like you may be stuck with encryption whether you want it or not. Along with a potentially nasty drop in performance.

Here are more details:

 

[Judge]

ROTFL....GOOD NEWS!!!! Microsoft Has Pulled Their Released Preview 24H2!

No immediate explanation why. DUH. Turns out to be a bigger hot mess than even I thought.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Looks like Windows 8 just went up a few notches.

 

[Judge]

Interesting to hear Gilles Letourneau (Windows Computer & Technology Channel) weigh in on Microsoft pulling their "Recall" feature from their release of the pending 24H2 update.

Seems it's still unclear whether they plan on releasing it (if it can be "fixed") or if based on public outcry that it will simply be scrapped given its vulnerability and ability to spy on everything one may access online by taking a screenshot of it.

One of Microsoft's biggest snafus yet.

 

[Boogs]

So I've not been following this, but if I understand the issue is auto-encryption of hard drives under win11, yes?
Because if it did, they'd be under the most pressing of legal actions for making peoples personal and private data potentially unavailable.

What happens when some one plugs in a USB drive? Is this ignored? Or encrypted? If encrypted, good luck getting much off it with any other device.

Maybe a techy want to clone a server drive, make a backup, anything like that, does windoze know not to encrypt it? What if that valuable backup data has been encrypted and server OS wiped losing the key?
And so many more similar scenarios where windows may access a drive used by some other system?

They'd be in deep in many ways, totally untenable, and the hit to rep too would hurt. And lotsa different data laws around the world to manage.

Lets not forget they just recently got outted about 'quietly' taking snapshots of your screen and feeding into Copilot without your knowledge (and just where may that data be kept I wonder, on yer hard drive? Not on yer nelly! Inside a neural net on their servers).

I for one, if I found they'd lost my huge collection of illegally pirated movies, I'd be up for suing them! (that is a joke, honest!)

 

[Judge]

So I've not been following this, but if I understand the issue is auto-encryption of hard drives under win11, yes?
Because if it did, they'd be under the most pressing of legal actions for making peoples personal and private data potentially unavailable.

What happens when some one plugs in a USB drive? Is this ignored? Or encrypted? If encrypted, good luck getting much off it with any other device.

Maybe a techy want to clone a server drive, make a backup, anything like that, does windoze know not to encrypt it? What if that valuable backup data has been encrypted and server OS wiped losing the key?
And so many more similar scenarios where windows may access a drive used by some other system?

They'd be in deep in many ways, totally untenable, and the hit to rep too would hurt. And lotsa different data laws around the world to manage.

Lets not forget they just recently got outted about 'quietly' taking snapshots of your screen and feeding into Copilot without your knowledge (and just where may that data be kept I wonder, on yer hard drive? Not on yer nelly! Inside a neural net on their servers).

I for one, if I found they'd lost my huge collection of illegally pirated movies, I'd be up for suing them! (that is a joke, honest!)

It's gotten considerably uglier. Too much ground to cover now, over too many catastrophic "features" Microsoft was intending to foist on the public.

So irresponsible IMO that I have backed completely off from even using Windows 11 as a gaming platform. Too invasive, and absurdly vulnerable to hackers. They're all drunk over how to exploit their artificial intelligence to tantalize shareholders and not their customers.

Just look up YouTube Microsoft Windows 11 "24H2". The upgrade from hell, originally intended to launch in the fall.

"BitLocker Encryption", "Recall" and "Co-Pilot" for starters. One big hot mess. They have a lot of backtracking to do, but it's questionable whether they will do that or just put a bandaid on it all and tell everyone "It's all good!"

The combination of their corporate arrogance and inability to bring a superior product to the market remains astounding and not in a good way.

 

[Boogs]

I've watched them go from Bill's awful GWBASIC and rip off of CPM/Unix to the godawful lash-up that's called Azure, oh! No! Wait, it's called Entra now, must be so much better after such an impressive rename! Like Windscale to Sellafield! Shrug off all that 'nuclear waste' in one fell swoop! Sorted! Hang on, it's still the same lash-up!

I had the misfortune to have Windows11 infect my work laptop, in some sort of weak effort to look a little Mac-ish.
Decided on that basis my own PC would avoid that big downgrade as for as long as I could get updates and patches.

I must confess, I was a little impressed with Win10, a far better system than that abyss of despair called Windows 8.

And it was surprisingly good performance for the amount of memory it could run in (4gig FFS!) and pretty stable to boot (pun not intended, wish I'd thought of it! ;o)). My current box is still on it's initial install of the blessed thing, about 6/7 years ago! It's getting in need of a factory refresh, but hell, that's not bad all things considered (esp. for MS!).

I'd have to say Linux is a great system technically and non proprietary 'free' software is a great FU to commerce, but sadly it's too unregulated to be reliably safe. Like the big XZUtils (I think it's called) that pretty much all linux boxes used for SSH had a backdoor in that could have opened snooping on just about any system chosen across the whole net (found earlier this year). Because the writer was one guy, and when he bowed out of maintaining it after years, a mal-actor managed to gain control of updates and inserted a very sophisticated backdoor into it, allowing otherwise secure comms to be cracked with ease. Any everyone just accepted the updates as they've always done without question.

Worse, the whole bloody shooting match - web sites and social media and everything, runs on top of age old technology. Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. Even Exchange still uses SMTP. The fragility and potential for hackery grows exponentially (hmmm, I wonder if I can make a song out of that?) and it's all gunna come crashing down one day (together, rather than in little bits as now). All those services we rely on now, suddenly gone! How many people are not 100% reliant on internet banking for example?

Aw, rollocks! I'm really going to have to stop myself piling on the rants like this - sigh! I only meant to comment on bitlocker and microsnot!

 

[MROSS]

I still use 'Windows 7 Professional' (as opposed to 'Windows 7' Home).

If I upgrade (or purchase a new PC), I'll consider 'Windows 10.'

Any experiences with 'Microsoft Edge?'

Any experiences with the 'Linux' browser?

 

[Boogs]

You'll find 10 far better for the hardware. Runs much more efficiently, starts up much quicker, generally uses memory much better. I used to have to shut down unwanted services etc on 7 to keep it running better, 10 doesn't need that and runs in a remarkably small footprint considering. I was a big fan of 7 and didn't want to move after 8 and 8.1, but 10 was a big improvement.

Edge is ok, but I prefer Chrome. Not all that much between them. Edge may be a little better if you're on MS cloud and handle multiple authentications (more an IT dept work thing rather than home use).

The 'Professional' bit don't count for much unless you use work networks (AD stuff), it may also have included bitlocker license originally, dunno nowadays.

 

[FilterFreq]

You'll find 10 far better for the hardware. Runs much more efficiently, starts up much quicker, generally uses memory much better. I used to have to shut down unwanted services etc on 7 to keep it running better, 10 doesn't need that and runs in a remarkably small footprint considering. I was a big fan of 7 and didn't want to move after 8 and 8.1, but 10 was a big improvement.

I'd have to agree with this.

I have a laptop whose drivers haven't really been updated and optimized for 11, so I'm stuck with 10 on it and for a lot of really simple tasks, it outperforms my beefier setup with 11 on it. I know sooner than later everyone's going to have to upgrade for security reasons, but everything feels so much more compatible on 10.

I know they're always working on making 11 better, too, so hopefully it'll reach that peak by then

 

[Boogs]

Personally, I'm not very keen on 11. It takes a lot more memory to run, tries to look like a Mac for no good reason I can see. And does little for me that 10 doesn't do just as well or better. I'll stick with 10 until they stop supporting it.

As for making it better - bet you a tenner they mean they want to squeeze copilot into it so you have no choice in the matter.

 

[Boogs]

It looks like things have got worse!

 

[MROSS]

I'm considering a Linux operating system - esp. if Linux compatible digital photo-editing APPs are those photo APPs offering excellent artificial intelligence supports in creating images.