Windows 11 Technology

[Best]

I was keen to try Windows 11 early so had signed up to the Beta, wasn't brave enough to try to the dev builds.

It downloaded and installed this morning on my PC. The restart to complete the installation was very quick.

The UI does feel slicker and more responsive, when you click on something the animation feels more fluid.

So far everything seems to work OK so far. There hasn't been anything I've tried that hasn't work... so far.

Has anyone else taken the plunge with Windows 11 yet?

 

[Deleted member 63]

Not yet, but someone on my team at work will have to try it out since our 2022 purchases will likely come with it. Gemma was trying it out on her new box.

 

[Crabtree]

Any particularly noteworthy changes? With Windows, you generally get incremental updates that seem like they could easily have been included in the previous version or catastrophic sweeping changes that everybody hates, and that has to be rolled back or drastically improved.

I quite liked the idea that Windows 10 would be the last one, and it would just be updated forever, but I guess they realised that it's hard to get publicity without shiny new releases. Anything I've heard about Windows 11 seems to have been pretty meh so far. I've only just upgraded all my machines to 10, so it might be a while before I use it

 

[David76]

Apparently, they've centred everything, including the start menu.

It runs Android apps, apparently. Which I've definitely been waiting for.

 

[Bandit]

If you want to experience everything new, you can try Windows 11 in a web browser.

A software developer by the name of BlueEdge has developed an interactive website that allows Windows 11 to run in a browser. Simply visit the website, and when prompted to type in a login password, just press Enter to begin exploring Windows 11.

Unfortunately, the website only offers a demo of the basic features Microsoft has offered in Windows 11. The interactive website supports a few apps such as the Edge browser, Notepad, Terminal, Spotify, VScode, and the revamped Microsoft Store. You can also check out the Start Menu and Search interface, even if it's not entirely functional.

Microsoft has revealed that the new operating system will be available on 5 October – albeit with some major features lacking.

Windows 11 was expected to introduce Android apps on desktop, available on the Windows Store via the Amazon AppStore. Unfortunately, that won't happen at launch.

"We look forward to continuing our journey to bring Android apps to Windows 11 and the Microsoft Store through our collaboration with Amazon and Intel; this will start with a preview for Windows Insiders over the coming months," Woodman wrote, without elaborating on the reasons why.

 

[Random Guy]

Microsoft has put their PC Health Check app back online. The simple tool is designed to tell you whether Windows 11 is compatible with your computer, but it was pulled offline back in June when it kept telling people with modern PCs that they couldn't run the new operating system, with little information as to why not. It's more recently been available to members of the Windows Insider program, but it's back now for all.

When first taking the PC Health Check offline, Microsoft admitted in a blog post that the app "was not fully prepared to share the level of detail or accuracy you expected from us on why a Windows 10 PC doesn't meet upgrade requirements."

A lot of the problems related to Trusted Platform Module version 2.0, or TPM 2.0. The feature is a required part of Windows 11's security systems, but it's not present on all motherboards. To make matters more confusing, some motherboards which do support it still don't have the feature switched on in the BIOS. Confronted with a TPM2.0 issue, the PC Health Check app would only say that the user's processor was not supported by Windows 11.

The revised version of the PC Health Check app however will give a message that says "TPM 2.0 must be supported and enabled" in order to run Windows 11. It still can't distinguish between motherboards that don't support TPM2.0, and instances where it's supported but switched off. It does, however, point users at a guide on how to enable TPM 2.0.

It's still not ideal, but it's better than before.

https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp

 

[Siobhan]

Had a new laptop delivered today and when I set it up it gave the option to upgrade to Windows 11 straight away. I figured since I hadn't set anything up yet it was as good a time as any. Seems alright so far, not dissimilar to Windows 10 at all.

 

[Gemma]

Been using it for about 3months now, miles better than Windows 10

Some good tips from Tom in this article - I implemented some of them today.

Windows 11 Tips and Tricks

Windows 11 is packed full of different features, some of which are hidden away or nestled in such a way that they're not immediately obvious. Here are some of the features worth using as well as some tips and tricks to help improve your...

idlechatter.co.uk

 

[Deleted member 63]

Had a new laptop delivered today and when I set it up it gave the option to upgrade to Windows 11 straight away. I figured since I hadn't set anything up yet it was as good a time as any. Seems alright so far, not dissimilar to Windows 10 at all.

That's how I would prefer to do it. Stick with 10 until I have new hardware. Upgrades of established Windows installs have just been too problematic in the past.

 

[Dylan]

My PC isn't compatible apparently, due to my i5-7400 3.0Ghz CPU not meeting the requirements. Am I doomed to windows 10 forever or will I be able to install it eventually?