News Windows 11: What We Know About Microsoft’s Likely Next OS

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dimar

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If a user really want choices then one should look for something other than Windows.

There exists registry loggers, but those logs tend to grow insanely large because some app is always accessing the registry in some or other ways. Therefore this wil cause some design issues (hard choices):
  • How to make the list as small as possible but still usable?
  • Many registry keys are used by more than one program/service - how to keep track of those being shared ?
  • What about those programs that doesn't access the registry directly, but use a dll or service as a middle-way ?

From Programs and Features, MS can add a registry section per app.
Show and Manage registry entries that belong to the app
Show and Manage registry entries that belong to other app(s)
Show and Manage registry entries that belong to Windows
Same thing for DLL files/locations
 

punkncat

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Win 10 should be it forever. Just update. Call it Windows and be DONE

At one point, not so long ago, that was supposedly to be the companies vision.

My bet would be that the "new" OS is going to have even more baked in DRM/licensure and will clamp down on all the free/discount keys that are going on. As of very recently I have been able to utilize Win 7 keys and still get the "free update" to 10. News has it that many of the big Eastern countries that license isn't even trying TO be enforced, just so long as MS gets the telemetry from people using it (there).
If I were to take a stab at reasoning I would say they are looking to stop that and bolster what has been a significant portion of their business and profit.
 

USAFRet

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From Programs and Features, MS can add a registry section per app.
Show and Manage registry entries that belong to the app
Show and Manage registry entries that belong to other app(s)
Show and Manage registry entries that belong to Windows
Same thing for DLL files/locations
What would this change?
 
At one point, not so long ago, that was supposedly to be the companies vision.

My bet would be that the "new" OS is going to have even more baked in DRM/licensure and will clamp down on all the free/discount keys that are going on. As of very recently I have been able to utilize Win 7 keys and still get the "free update" to 10. News has it that many of the big Eastern countries that license isn't even trying TO be enforced, just so long as MS gets the telemetry from people using it (there).
If I were to take a stab at reasoning I would say they are looking to stop that and bolster what has been a significant portion of their business and profit.
I don't believe Microsoft really cares about the personal end user if they buy a license or not. After all, you can use Window 10 indefinitely without activating it, you just lose some minor features. I would argue a majority of their licenses are sold through businesses and system builders.

And I would argue a lot of companies of software used heavily in professional sectors (like Adobe, for instance) don't really care that much about personal users circumventing activation because after all, it means they're using said product. And this helps perpetuate the need for businesses to have said product available... which goes back and gives incentives to personal users a reason to find a way to use the software by any means necessary because having familiarity with said software looks good on your resume.
 
D

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At one point, not so long ago, that was supposedly to be the companies vision.

My bet would be that the "new" OS is going to have even more baked in DRM/licensure and will clamp down on all the free/discount keys that are going on. As of very recently I have been able to utilize Win 7 keys and still get the "free update" to 10. News has it that many of the big Eastern countries that license isn't even trying TO be enforced, just so long as MS gets the telemetry from people using it (there).
If I were to take a stab at reasoning I would say they are looking to stop that and bolster what has been a significant portion of their business and profit.
righto
 

punkncat

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I don't believe Microsoft really cares about the personal end user if they buy a license or not. After all, you can use Window 10 indefinitely without activating it, you just lose some minor features. I would argue a majority of their licenses are sold through businesses and system builders.

It is absolutely shown through practice that they don't (currently) care. I feel like they want the user data more than they care about licensure for personal users. Just the same, OS constitutes a good size percentage of their bottom line. Where they haven't cared up to this point certainly does not mean they aren't going to change their mind. Prior to this conjecture about "11", MS said 10 WAS the future, and now it isn't...maybe.
 

husker

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People... it's just a number. Every update to Windows is another "version". The bigger the changes, the higher up the number changes. Sometimes it changes by a lot, sometimes by a little. Really big changes just warrant the highest order number (left of the first decimal) to increment by 1.
 
It is absolutely shown through practice that they don't (currently) care. I feel like they want the user data more than they care about licensure for personal users. Just the same, OS constitutes a good size percentage of their bottom line. Where they haven't cared up to this point certainly does not mean they aren't going to change their mind. Prior to this conjecture about "11", MS said 10 WAS the future, and now it isn't...maybe.
I would argue that anything Microsoft said about Windows 10 was about its development cycle, not product lifetime (though the development cycle does affect the product lifetime).

Take for instance, the infamous comment that "Windows 10 is the last version of Windows" made by Jerry Nixon. It was said during a conference meant for developers and IT professionals. And since I don't have any other context of when this line was said, for all I know Nixon could've said "... that uses the old development cycle."
 

punkncat

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People... it's just a number. Every update to Windows is another "version". The bigger the changes, the higher up the number changes. Sometimes it changes by a lot, sometimes by a little. Really big changes just warrant the highest order number (left of the first decimal) to increment by 1.


It's not only just a number, to be sure. It could well be a new license, more money, making a larger group of legacy systems on a faster track to obsolescence.
 

punkncat

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Windows 10 is already on an 18 month-ish support cycle, unless you're on an LTSC branch. For instance, support for 1909 home and pro editions dropped last month.

Understood, but also MS made a statement before the drop of support on some of the older builds that they were removing update "blocks". Long story short and severe lack of terminology: MS wouldn't let some older machines and some configurations to auto update past a certain point due to hardware issues. They recently removed that aspect but it may well mean the system won't run ideally, and is on the user to deal with or work around.
 

HideOut

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So a bit back when W 10 was releasing we were told we'd never have to buy another windows again, well at least ont he same machine. I've already had to purchase a second license for my rig when I replaced my CPU as it decided this was no longer the same computer, even though it was one item. Now we'll need to start over again?
 
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GenericUser

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vanadiel007

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New version, new license you have to pay for? Or is this a free upgrade? Something tells me they changed the version number just so they can charge for it. This article is very careful not to answer that question, but it likely is the most important question.
 
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USAFRet

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New version, new license you have to pay for? Or is this a free upgrade? Something tells me they changed the version number just so they can charge for it. This article is very careful not to answer that question, but it likely is the most important question.
That question was not answered, because all we have currently is pure speculation.

Even the "Windows 11" name is a 100% guess.
 

vanadiel007

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Why write an article that consist of pure speculation? I don't see the point of it. You could write 99 other articles about random speculations if that is your thing I guess. I would like to think readers of this site prefer factual articles rather than 100% guess and speculation articles, but maybe I am wrong.
Why not speculate it is a paid version upgrade? Why stop speculating at all. Let's add M1 dual boot support to it for MAC devices.
 

jkflipflop98

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In the end.. the changes may be no more significant then a Windows 95 to Windows98 jump.. The idea that Windows is suddently going to fundamentally change how we interact with our PCs while running Win32 software is debatable.... because we know how many Metro/Modern/UWP productivity apps Microsoft released for Windows.

Do you know... if you click on a photo in File Manager, Display it with the Photos App, Decide you like to Email it someone... so You select Share To... and you are looking for Microsoft Outlook which is part of your Ofice 365 subscription..... uhhhh.. It don't work... funny... I can do that with my android phone (Outlook for Android will even prompt me to reduce the file size). Windows, File Manager, Photos and Outlook are from the same company and their isn't a seemless way to share.....

When I see that my wife, who is not as computer saavy as me, cannot accomplish things like this easily... I question if anyone in Redmond is even paying attention to users at all..... The only thing revolutionary about the next version of WIndows is that it will be monotized through subscription services, just like Azure and Office... I don't know even know why I'm posting this... no one cares....

I just tried this exact scenario, and when you select "share to" in the photos app it asks who you want to send it to, and then once you select the contact it opens an email with their address and the picture already in the email. Exactly like my phone.
 
One thing that has always been a fail for Windows OS: To shut down first hit the "Start" button. :unsure:
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030722-00/?p=43083
So why is “Shut down” on the Start menu?

When we asked people to shut down their computers, they clicked the Start button.

Because, after all, when you want to shut down, you have to start somewhere.

(Besides, if we also had a “Shut down” button next to the Start button, everybody would be demanding that we get rid of it to save valuable screen real estate.)
 

husker

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There is a simpler solution: MS should just stop calling it the "Start" button. Why not call it "Menu button", or "Actions Button", or "System Button", etc. It could be great PR to promote Windows 11 by holding a contest to see who can come up with the best name and the winner* would receive a new Windows PC system, or maybe a night on the town with that party animal Bill Gates.

* If the winning selection was suggested by more than one person, a random drawing will determine the winner. Employees of Microsoft, their immediate families, or any employee of direct vender suppliers are not eligible. Void where prohibited.
 

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