Windows 11 - worth the upgrade?

[Barryboy]

Grateful for your thoughts... I currently run Win 10 Pro which was a free online upgrade from Microsoft and in truth is running well and I fully understand the concept of 'leave well enough alone' but here's my issue...
I have lost the use of two pieces of kit as not being compatible with Windiws 10 (my Spyderpro colour analyser and my Microsoft flight Sim program) and updated replacements are going to cost me about £160, so I have to decide if it's worth going to Win 11 and buying products certified for Win 11 or get Win 10 products and hope that they will last out.
I am inclined to upgrade and I can get a genuine Win 11 from Key Software for £19.99 so it's not the cost that's holding me back but I'm a little bit wary of another problem such as the Windows 8 upgrade from Windows 7.
Has anyone had any problems with Windows 11 after upgrading? Pleased to hear
Rob

[Skier]

On building a new Intel NUC 11 Enthusiast based main desktop earlier this year I installed Windows 11 Pro. I've had zero issues though there are some interface changes that I didn't like and have returned to look and behave like either Windows 10 or, in the case of the Windows Start Menu, like Windows 7 using Stardock Start 11. You can find registry hacks or simple utilities to modify any setting you aren't keen on.

Generally, if a programme/utility/app is compatible with Windows 10, it will work fine with Windows 11. I'm sure there are exceptions but I haven't come across any. Another good site for Microsoft Windows and Office is The Unity Soft.

[IAmATeaf]

You might be able to upgrade to W11 free of charge, I would try it and see it it activates.

I upgraded one of our laptops to W11 but then reverted back to W10 after a few weeks as some software that my son uses to connect to his car stopped working.

In terms of features, apart from looking prettier and having read that W11 is better/efficient I didn’t really see anything or use anything that I’m missing after having reverted back.

[craggie]

Are you sure that your pc will run W11? There is an app you can download to check that. Have you tried running your old programs in compatibility mode on W10?

[Barryboy]

Are you sure that your pc will run W11? There is an app you can download to check that. Have you tried running your old programs in compatibility mode on W10?

Well it's a pretty high spec machine.. i7 processor, 16GB Ram etc. I assumed it would run W11 as a lot of laptops do... I will try to search out the app yu mention to check it. Any idea what it is called? As regards compatibility mode... Sorry no idea there - never come across this..
Rob

[Gyp]

Well it's a pretty high spec machine.. i7 processor, 16GB Ram etc. I assumed it would run W11 as a lot of laptops do... I will try to search out the app yu mention to check it. Any idea what it is called? As regards compatibility mode... Sorry no idea there - never come across this..
Rob

Easiest way to check is to install the Windows PC health check from Microsoft (see https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/...f-36f37caa7844)

https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp

My main Intel NUC PC can't run it it as it's a mere i5-7260U which isn't on the supported list despite being fast enough and having enough cores. The NUC BIOS isn't up to it either.

[blackal]

Just tried that healthcheck;

A 3ghz 4 core Xeon processor won't support Win11...............

Strange!

[Kingstepper]

Just tried that healthcheck;

A 3ghz 4 core Xeon processor won't support Win11...............

Strange!

Isn't there more to it than speed, security for example?

[blackal]

Isn't there more to it than speed, security for example?

No idea to be honest - just ran the app out of interest.

[IAmATeaf]

As well as the model and frequency of the CPU there is also the requirement for TPM 2.0 which not all systems provide or support.

So for example I have a desktop PC with an i5-6500 CPU and only supports TPM 1.2 so both the CPU and BIOS officially don’t meet the requirements.

Microsoft have sort of relaxed these requirements a bit, previously there were work arounds but I think you can now say I want to take the risk and continue the install/upgrade.

I thin for some reason Microsoft thought that a lot of users would simply junk their existing and buy new in order to go to W11 but this has sort of backfired on them especially if you look at the list of approved CPU and their overall performance when compared to CPUs that aren’t compatible.

[Phil Lee]

Well it's a pretty high spec machine.. i7 processor, 16GB Ram etc. I assumed it would run W11 as a lot of laptops do... I will try to search out the app yu mention to check it. Any idea what it is called? As regards compatibility mode... Sorry no idea there - never come across this..
Rob

I have two i7 PCs. The 9700K has the correct TPM and I’ve installed Windows 11 on it. The 6700K does not have the correct TPM so can’t have Windows 11 installed.

You should find that Windows Update will tell you if you can install Windows 11.

[Tatters]

You may also need to enable TPM in your motherboard's BIOS - and it is not always called TPM in the BIOS, e.g., it may be called Intel Secure Boot.

I normally upgrade Windows as soon as possible, but I have read too many off-putting things about Windows 11 to want to upgrade, e.g., stuff requiring more mouse clicks than before.

[craggie]

Well it's a pretty high spec machine.. i7 processor, 16GB Ram etc. I assumed it would run W11 as a lot of laptops do... I will try to search out the app yu mention to check it. Any idea what it is called? As regards compatibility mode... Sorry no idea there - never come across this..
Rob

If you right click on your old programs shortcut, one of the options is to run in compatibility mode, as if your OS was XP, or whatever. Worth a try.

[Mr.D]

About to do a clean install on win11 pro , might update to workstation licence .

TPM 2.0 is usually something you need to enable in the bios to become compatable with win11.

I detest all versions of windows since W2K . Much rather use linux or OSX but its a necessary evil unfortunately .

[Barryboy]

Thanks for all your time and help, guys, but I wop 't be going onto W11 having failed the test on 3 counts:

1) Must enable secure boot
2) Something about TPM needing to be enabled - don't understand that at all..
3) The Intel i7 4 core 3.5Ghz processor is not supported

Can't be arsed to mess about with the software (or is it firmware?... I dunno) issues and definitely not going to spring for a new processor so all in all not for me, I fear.

Again, thanks.
Rob

[Xantiagib]

There's ways round installing win11 on pcs that are not deemed worthy by Microsoft for the update.
but I wouldn't bother

[Mr.D]

Thanks for all your time and help, guys, but I wop 't be going onto W11 having failed the test on 3 counts:

1) Must enable secure boot
2) Something about TPM needing to be enabled - don't understand that at all..
3) The Intel i7 4 core 3.5Ghz processor is not supported

Can't be arsed to mess about with the software (or is it firmware?... I dunno) issues and definitely not going to spring for a new processor so all in all not for me, I fear.

Again, thanks.
Rob

1 and 2 are easily remedied , google is your friend .
i7 is compatable with win 11 from what I can see.

10 is rubbish , 11 is slightly less rubbish so far.

[oldoakknives]

Nope. It's still Windows.

[Reeny]

Linux Ubuntu Mate, with WPS office is the way forward for me.

Having failed to get on with Apple software (worst software I have ever used), and unable to get MS office 365 for less than £80 per year, I am keeping W10 for now - then migrating onto Ubuntu Mate once Windows-10 becomes obsolete.

[Mr.D]

Linux Ubuntu Mate, with WPS office is the way forward for me.

Having failed to get on with Apple software (worst software I have ever used), and unable to get MS office 365 for less than £80 per year, I am keeping W10 for now - then migrating onto Ubuntu Mate once Windows-10 becomes obsolete.

You know OSx is unix based so you can use a command line interface in the terminal for many things ? I generally prefer to use it for things like file management and housekeeping.

I generally have a big windows workstation for rendering imagery but I’m often a lot happier on my macbook pro for general back and forth on accounts and paperwork. Even file transfer.

I know its maybe embarassing for us computer literates but I usually buy a dummies book for each OS I use as a handy reference when its a new version.

I do utterly detest the way windows tries to handhold me and question what I’m up to. Apply , confirm a warning , hit yes is not really what I want to do for every operation especially when dealing and moving thousands of files.

OSx is similar but quite as bad . Back in the day I could quite happily remove millions of pounds worth of data from a server with a quick chmod 777* and then a nice rm -rf * . Too much nanny state going on in computing these days . I blame the ipad generation. Grumble grumble

[Reeny]

I started to play about with a Raspberry Pi3 and Pi4, then decided to restart my old 32bit computers with the basic Raspberian desktop version - I learnt a little more of the linux set-up by playing about with the old hardware.
When we bought a brand new £200 laptop just before lockdown, Windows was not included in the package. Ubuntu was the obvious choice, and it works great as a family laptop for none work related tasks.
Most of my machines are dual boot now with Linux as a back-up just incase the main OS glitches, or the main hard drive goes down and I need access quickly.

The 2014 MacMini gave up being a decent computer a while ago when it decided to go on a slow - the hard drive was replaced with a solid state, and I was very surprised (and disappointed) to find a basic 5600rpm 2.5 inch hard drive inside (it should have been a standard 7200rpm at the very least). The SDD has made all the difference.
I am not paying 2x the price for an apple computer with rubbish components / and I am not paying 4x the price for an apple computer with upgraded hardware so it can try to match the basic performance of the Linux operating system which the MAC OS is based on.