Question Updated to Windows 11? What's Your Verdict?

[jazee]

I've got a 2.5-year-old Dell XPS (their most powerful XPS at the time of purchase - Core i7 / NVME SSD). I run two external monitors with it. I've also done IT work (sysadmin/coding for about 30 years.) I'm not a gamer.

I see the most touted reason to upgrade to Win11 is the "AutoHDR" feature (of benefit to mainly gamers.) However I think many users confuse this reason as also meaning Win10 doesn't support HDR (which it does -- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-2d767185-38ec-7fdc-6f97-bbc6c5ef24e6 )

The other most touted reason to go Win11 for better window layout management. That is of no benefit to me as I have dual monitors so have plenty of screen real estate. The browser is my interface to 80% of the apps I use. So I typically have 10-15 tabs open on one browser, sometimes two browser instance (one on each screen), or a browser with 10-15 tabs on one screen and a Windows application (Word, etc) on the other. I don't like running apps in windows that aren't full screen as it makes them less usable in my experience. (You can only look at / do so many thing at once, LOL.)

On the other hand, I've heard of several downsides to Win11 such as:

1. The new start menu is for many a regression in usability from Windows 10 and many install Start11 to overcome this. From my experience updating user software for companies, this is typical with a portion of users. A lot of users simply don't like change. And why would they unless there's some HUGE improvement in functionality that lets them do their job like 25%+ more efficiently - which is rarely the case. This is because the software industry is a FOR PROFIT. If no one ever needed to upgrade to major new versions this would put a lot of SysAdmins and software companies out of business.
   
   
2. The Action Center replacement stinks in a lot of people's opinions
   
   
3. You can't move the taskbar to the top of the screen (for those that prefer that)
   
   
4. It is rumored that Microsoft is beginning to test advertising in Windows 11. Geezus, that's the last thing I need is not only ads all over web pages but now in my operating system! One could argue though if they do it for Win11 they'll force a Win10 update that enables it there too. Otherwise you'd have a rebellion of users downgrading back to Win10.
   
   
5. Changing default apps is more difficult as you can't associate an app with a task type (image viewing), you have to associate it with specific file types.

I guess I should add an additional psychological reasons for updating: Some people want the NEWEST and LIKE change (whether it has much benefit or not - i.e. "it looks cooler") That's fine by me. But after having managed Windows client and server machines for about 20 years from 1990-2010 (excluding my own personal machine), I bet the total average hours over say 10 years, that an average Home User has spent troubleshooting issues related directly or indirectly to Windows is probably a larger number than many would want to admit. But that's a side topic. To each their own though on what they feel is time well spent.

At this point, I'm planning to purchase a new laptop next Holiday Season. My gut is telling me, "if it's not broken, don't try to fix it" and just get Win11 when I buy a new machine.

What do others think about the necessity and significance of the actual benefits of upgrading to Windows 11?

 

[punkncat]

It will mean a whole lot more in 2025....that's about it.

 

[dwd999]

I've got a 2.5-year-old Dell XPS (their most powerful XPS at the time of purchase - Core i7 / NVME SSD). I run two external monitors with it. I've also done IT work (sysadmin/coding for about 30 years.) I'm not a gamer.

I see the most touted reason to upgrade to Win11 is the "AutoHDR" feature (of benefit to mainly gamers.) However I think many users confuse this reason as also meaning Win10 doesn't support HDR (which it does -- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-2d767185-38ec-7fdc-6f97-bbc6c5ef24e6 )

The other most touted reason to go Win11 for better window layout management. That is of no benefit to me as I have dual monitors so have plenty of screen real estate. The browser is my interface to 80% of the apps I use. So I typically have 10-15 tabs open on one browser, sometimes two browser instance (one on each screen), or a browser with 10-15 tabs on one screen and a Windows application (Word, etc) on the other. I don't like running apps in windows that aren't full screen as it makes them less usable in my experience. (You can only look at / do so many thing at once, LOL.)

On the other hand, I've heard of several downsides to Win11 such as:

1. The new start menu is for many a regression in usability from Windows 10 and many install Start11 to overcome this. From my experience updating user software for companies, this is typical with a portion of users. A lot of users simply don't like change. And why would they unless there's some HUGE improvement in functionality that lets them do their job like 25%+ more efficiently - which is rarely the case. This is because the software industry is a FOR PROFIT. If no one ever needed to upgrade to major new versions this would put a lot of SysAdmins and software companies out of business.
   
   
2. The Action Center replacement stinks in a lot of people's opinions
   
   
3. You can't move the taskbar to the top of the screen (for those that prefer that)
   
   
4. It is rumored that Microsoft is beginning to test advertising in Windows 11. Geezus, that's the last thing I need is not only ads all over web pages but now in my operating system! One could argue though if they do it for Win11 they'll force a Win10 update that enables it there too. Otherwise you'd have a rebellion of users downgrading back to Win10.
   
   
5. Changing default apps is more difficult as you can't associate an app with a task type (image viewing), you have to associate it with specific file types.

I guess I should add an additional psychological reasons for updating: Some people want the NEWEST and LIKE change (whether it has much benefit or not - i.e. "it looks cooler") That's fine by me. But after having managed Windows client and server machines for about 20 years from 1990-2010 (excluding my own personal machine), I bet the total average hours over say 10 years, that an average Home User has spent troubleshooting issues related directly or indirectly to Windows is probably a larger number than many would want to admit. But that's a side topic. To each their own though on what they feel is time well spent.

At this point, I'm planning to purchase a new laptop next Holiday Season. My gut is telling me, "if it's not broken, don't try to fix it" and just get Win11 when I buy a new machine.

What do others think about the necessity and significance of the actual benefits of upgrading to Windows 11?

There is one W11 benefit that's overlooked: you need it for wifi 6E. If you live in a crowded neighborhood with lots of other users in the 5G band using W11 with the appropriate equipment can give you better performance in the 6G band. So if you're getting a new computer anyway it would be forward looking to get everything you need for 6E including W11.

 

[joeldf]

I waited about 6 months before updating my personally built PC that was only just over a year old by then. I had Win 10 Pro, so now I have Win 11 Pro.

One thing you didn't mention was the need for an MS account to load Win 11. However, I don't know if that requirement extended to upgrades. I had read some info stating that if the Win 10 installation was in place with a local account instead of an MS account, the upgrade to Win 11 would keep it that way. Since I was upgrading the Pro version, that didn't matter either way. However, I know MS wants to change that even for the Pro version, but I don't know how well that will fly.

Beyond that, the other things you mentioned that were hyped about Win 11 meant nothing to me as well. I too have dual monitors, and have no need for "managing windows", or even virtual desktops. I've read what that's for, but I have no need for it, really.

I don't game either. I do run AutoCAD and Revit for my architectural work for modeling buildings and creating renderings and construction documents. Win 11 has those programs running pretty smooth.

The Start Menu is a big step back. Even the change with the 22H2 version where you can at least increase the number of icons and create sub-folders to group icons doesn't answer my wish to just get rid of the "Recommended" section altogether - a totally useless feature.

The Action Center is just sort of there for me. I never really paid attention to it in Win 10, and my opinion doesn't change for 11.

Taskbar to the top (or screen sides) was never my thing. I just wanted to be sure it could slide along the bottom to the left (my preference). And by the time I did upgrade, they revised the weather notification for the widget go there too. I know in Win 10, it's over to the right, and probably works better there, but I'm okay with it being on the left side.

I heard about the advertising testing for Win 11 too. Not happy either, but it seemed to be geared for specific use cases. We'll have to see how that plays out.

Changing default apps wasn't that big of a deal really. When I installed Firefox, the change to make that the default browser was automated by the Firefox installer. I heard of the horror stories to having to change all kinds of file types just to get Firefox to run, but it didn't end up like that.

Now, that's not to say that clicking on any MS internal link doesn't still pull up Edge, because it does. Click on any link from the widget, and everything is pulled up through Edge. I just deal with it and keep all my regular browsing through Firefox.

The other noted UI change is the right-click context menu. It does take getting used to, but I've done it. I do prefer the full text list, but I've learned to work with the icons.