More Windows 11 Bad News From Microsoft

[Outdated]

To be honest I don't use GPS except occasionally when driving with google maps on phone, which I believe does have a GPS receiver built in, but as far as desktop/laptop's I have no knowledge of it's uses, what software uses it and what for, etc. I guess this is quibbling on my part, but you know I do so like to split any hairs I can find!

I'm a bit stubborn and obstinate and I've never used GPS. There's been times when I probably should have but I prefer to rely on my own internal maps. I haven't looked and wonder if they still get printed these days, I would prefer an old fashioned street directory.

My trip to the river last night was a classic case in example, an area I haven't travelled to in over 30 years. A lot of roads have changed since then with a couple of express ways built as well to cope with today's heavier traffic. So it was a little confusing for me, disparities between what I remember and what is today.

In general I'll read a map before leaving home and rely on memory from there.

 

[Boogs]

I don't like GPS, but maps have always been a big problem for me with my memory.
I'd start the journey (this was back when I mostly just rode m'bikes) and I'd work out the route no problem on the map, but I couldn't recall what it looked like once I closed it, so all I can do is make a list of instructions in my head, and unless I know the roads already, I quickly lose track because I can't even remember how long a particular road is before the next turn off.
So much as I dislike GPS, on the rare occasions I drive somewhere new with a convoluted route, the GPS is really handy for the odd turns I can't remember. Saves having to find somewhere to stop and check the map!
(but all that "at the next junction turn right" stuff - ew!)

 

[Boogs]

If it's anything, I think I dislike the idea of giving over control of where I'm going (literally and metaphorically) to a machine, just in general. It's the thought of having to rely on it as well, but as a tool when needed it does have a use for me.

Mind you, I dislike giving control over me to a human too!
So maybe it's not really about GPS at all?

 

[FilterFreq]

If it's anything, I think I dislike the idea of giving over control of where I'm going (literally and metaphorically) to a machine, just in general. It's the thought of having to rely on it as well, but as a tool when needed it does have a use for me.

Mind you, I dislike giving control over me to a human too!
So maybe it's not really about GPS at all?

It's kind of true though, you almost outsource your autonomy when dealing with certain types of technology. The more we all rely on things like this, the worse we get at actually doing it ourselves when we need to.

 

[Boogs]

It's kind of true though, you almost outsource your autonomy when dealing with certain types of technology. The more we all rely on things like this, the worse we get at actually doing it ourselves when we need to.

I'm afraid I take that to minor extreme's! I sometimes reject technology because I dislike it's placement in society - why is it made, what's it for, is it a benefit or just a source of profit (with the impacts that come with that) etc.

And yet like the googles maps/phone gps, there is a great use for some tool's like that - it's a question of whether you use a tool when appropriate, or allow it to replace your own function (since we tend to lose what we don't use, both at a personal level and at an evolutionary level).

 

[Judge]

In the last few days there have been a number of tech gurus all with the same story. One I dismissed initially. Though it's beginning to sound like it's true. That Microsoft is going to allow Windows 11 upgrades on computers technically not eligible. No Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) and older CPU generations would now be acceptable.

But before anyone yells hoorah they better consider the rest of what Microsoft is apparently stating. A bizarre explanation that sounds like those hardware platforms will be denied all the usual automatic security updates. Requiring users to perform some kind of manual updates which may not work as well. Seems confusing. Could be just another act of desperation to get users to install Windows 11 whether it works or not. Seems bizarre, but then pretty much everything has seemed that way with Windows 11. With a "catch" for just about everything associated with this OS. Personally I'd still think twice about installing or upgrading to Windows 11.

I keep seeing different articles with different claims/assertions, so you can judge for yourselves what this may actually mean:

MSN

After over two years, Microsoft will let these PCs upgrade to Windows 11

Microsoft will let you install Windows 11 on unsupported PCs after all — what you need to know

 

[Judge]

The epitaph of Windows 11. It's called "Hudson Valley". -AKA Windows 12.

It appears that Microsoft is adopting an attempt to revise the Windows OS every three years. A sanitary way to bury the mess known as "Windows 11". Or not. Small wonder Microsoft is now allowing the possibility of previously "ineligible hardware" to now install Windows 11. Too little, too late, Microsoft.

If this presentation has any accuracy, you have to wonder why Microsoft wasted so much time over Windows 11, if they can make this alleged Windows 12. Though I suspect given all the AI features and functions, the system requirements to run it may be even more stringent than Windows 11 was initially. Anything requiring a Neural Processing Unit is bound to need some real horsepower to run nominally. We shall see...

 

[Outdated]

It appears that Microsoft is adopting an attempt to revise the Windows OS every three years.

This has always been the case, and they'll release new versions regardless of wether or not they're fit for purpose because this model gives them a predictable revenue stream.

Win 3.0 - rubbish
Win 3.11 - really good
Win95 - rubbish
Win98 - really good
WinMe - rubbish
WinXP - really good
Win 7 - really good
Win8 - complete abortion of a thing
Win9 never even made it past planning stage
Win10 - I never used it but other people seem happy

 

[Judge]

This has always been the case, and they'll release new versions regardless of wether or not they're fit for purpose because this model gives them a predictable revenue stream.

Win 3.0 - rubbish
Win 3.11 - really good
Win95 - rubbish
Win98 - really good
WinMe - rubbish
WinXP - really good
Win 7 - really good
Win8 - complete abortion of a thing
Win9 never even made it past planning stage
Win10 - I never used it but other people seem happy

"Whether or not fit for purpose". Which kind of makes striving at those three year increments a moot point, let alone whether they actually meet revenue stream predictions.

But then look at the GPU market. Their predictions have been shot to hell as well.

With a global economy that could teeter either direction. Makes me wonder if Microsoft's days of predicting and manipulating market goals may be gone with the wind. With Intel and AMD dumbing- down their aspirations at high-end video.

 

[Boogs]

This has always been the case, and they'll release new versions regardless of wether or not they're fit for purpose because this model gives them a predictable revenue stream.

Win 3.0 - rubbish
Win 3.11 - really good
Win95 - rubbish
Win98 - really good
WinMe - rubbish
WinXP - really good
Win 7 - really good
Win8 - complete abortion of a thing
Win9 never even made it past planning stage
Win10 - I never used it but other people seem happy

You missed one out!

DOS (v3 to v5) - Did exactly what it said on the tin, no more, no less.

But the big change for me was when MS went from providing "Noddy's First OS" to producing a real OS that actually did what a modern OS ought to (things Linux had been doing for a while), which was when they head-hunted Dave Cutler of VMS fame (and other OS's) to design WindowsNT and later Windows2000. These were the first OS's MS produced that used real multi-tasking, memory management, grown up filing system, etc etc. and essentially used the same code for both server and client endpoints, the main difference being in the tuning and the inclusion of additional networking modules (dns, dhcp, wins, etc).
I remember getting my hands on a release copy of WindowNT3.5 (I think it was) which was their first proper server OS and the next day replaced my Win95 box with it as it worked so much better as a desktop OS than 95/98.
Just being able to format a floppy disk in the background was a huge step forward for mankind!

As a more serious aside though - I put off going from Win7 to Win10 for as long as I reasonably could, and kicked myself for not doing so sooner when I finally took the plunge. From the p.o.v. of working with it (hard/soft support, coding, networking, blah blah blah ...) as well as being a user, it's one of the better MS OS's imho. And such a small footprint too!

Considerably better performance than W7 on the same hardware, and far better internal management (when we used to image laptops/PC's with W7, I'd have to turn off the various unneeded services and other background tasks because they ate far too much memory and clock cycles, Win10 does such a good job compared to 7 it just never needed that yet ran well in 4Gig!

I had to use W11 for work and it stinks. It did little if anything that 10 wouldn't do as well or better, and needed 16Gig just to get going, and WTF's with trying to make it look like a Mac???

One of these days (quite possibly around the time I can no longer run W10) I'm going to have to have a serious look at Linux as a primary platform if MS can't do for Windows 11 what it did for Windows 8.n.
Always preferred Linux from a technical perspective, but Work = Micro$oft, so apart from dabbling a tiny bit, I've always stuck with Windoze as the lesser of the two evils (Apple vs. MS).

One thing that I always found off putting in Linux was the number of different processes for common tasks such as installs and updates. Maybe it's because I never put the time in to learn them better, but my impression has been that Windows is simpler to manage as most of the OS's processes are the same (i.e. the common controls that come with Windows, the msiexec Windows installation/update/management process

 

[Outdated]

One thing that I always found off putting in Linux was the number of different processes for common tasks such as installs and updates.

It can be as complex or as simple as you yourself wish to make it, certainly for the two more mainstream versions Ubuntu and Fedora. Most other distributions are offshoots of these two with smaller dev teams, so slower to update their systems and often not offering the same range of software as the big boys.

Back many years ago I set up a nice Linux computer and talked to my local publican and he let me put it in his front bar for the public to use, the idea was that people would like it and want me to build them one the same. At that particular time we had a really good relationship with China and computers were dirt cheap.

The computer stayed there for 3 months and got some very heavy use, but when asked about it most of the users hadn't even noticed that it wasn't Windows. (Fedora with Cinnamon desktop)

For an average office setup Linux comes ready to roll straight out of the box, Firefox, Thunderbird and Libre Office.

I should also mention that Linux servers are still the bee's knees when it comes to reliability and security, but it's not called Apache any more. A bunch of lawyers, likely prompted by Microtoss, talked to some native Americans and told them they could make a lot of money from other people using their name without permission. Linux is free and non-profit and can't afford to pay that sort of money for a name so they changed the name to HTTP Daemon, or just httpd for short. The name Apache was never it's official name anyway, it was a play on words because in very early versions there were a lot of bugs, - A Patchy Server.

 

[Judge]

And now I'm noticing some are claiming that Microsoft has already backtracked on their recent acknowledgment that Windows 11 can be installed on older computer systems.

Bizarre....simply bizarre. A corporate behemoth that is telling the market they have lost it.

Lurch, would you trust such a company with your data?

 

[Boogs]

It can be as complex or as simple as you yourself wish to make it, certainly for the two more mainstream versions Ubuntu and Fedora.

From a p.o.v. of a user, I'd agree, it's not all that hard to set up one of the popular versions to be very straightforward move for most people, as you say, many would barely notice and are more application focussed where the differences are even smaller.

I look at it more from a tech perspective so expect to be able to understand how it fits together and what's going on under the bonnet to the degree I can do pretty much anything I can do in Windows (as in diagnosing, fixing, customising - y'know the sort of thing). I think a large part of it is to do with familiarity, and my lack of - all the non-generic technical terms, commands, system folders etc. And all the different flavours of desktops, and app libraries, and so on, common maintenance tasks, system tools, blah blah.

I'm sure given the requisite time and study all (or most) would come clear, but I lack the motivation to put all that effort in (which is a separate issue in itself).

But the idea of enforced Windows 11, if it's likely going to come to that, may just provide the impetus?

 

[Outdated]

I think a large part of it is to do with familiarity, and my lack of - all the non-generic technical terms, commands, system folders etc. And all the different flavours of desktops, and app libraries, and so on, common maintenance tasks, system tools, blah blah.

This was a big issue for me too. I first started taking Linux seriously back in 2004, and at that time I was still running Win98 and didn't like XP.

I dual booted Linux and Windows - desktop computer, each system got it's own physical harddrive and I used the BIOS boot menu when starting instead of trying to do all the fancy mucking around with OS boot menus. I don't like a difficult life.

I was still dual booting both Windows and Linux up until around 2015, purely because there were so many little things that I found easier in Windows. And that isn't because it really is easier in Windows, in fact for a lot of things it's much more difficult, but familiarity plays a huge role in our lives.

When I first started playing with Linux I was impressed by how much quicker and more stable and more reliable it was than Windows, but back then trying to get games to run in Linux was a pointless and frustrating endeavor and I like my games. I had to keep Windows for that, and for my Canon camera software.

Gaming started to really work in Linux from around 2012, and then I noticed that all of my games ran much better in Linux than they did with Windows. I started booting in to Windows less and less, it became useless to me in the end but that process took me a decade.

 

[Judge]

I used to lament not being able to use my Canon software in Linux as well. It was a decent suite of tools that worked well in Windows 7 & 10.

So I simply got used to downloading images directly from my DSLR's San Disk via USB. Not nearly as elegant, but it still gets the job done.

Photoshop 5.5 is my only last tie to Windows, via Wine 9.0in Linux Mint 22.0 and Pop!OS22.04. Though it's getting more difficult to install on Pop!OS. Though the CUPS software allows me to print bitmaps through Gimp 2.10, which is supposed to be getting a new version in the near future.

As for everything else (native Linux apps), they all run great.