So... has anyone tried the new Windows 11 yet? :)

[AnitaPeterson]

It looks like a leaked .ISO has already surfaced... and although M$ is trying to dissuade people from downloading it, it can still be found in various places.

So far, the reactions range from "meh" to "cool!" - but mostly lukewarm.
This one seems quite detailed, too.

 

[GrumpyMan]

No, but I did download all the cool wallpapers it will come with. So after moving all the taskbar icons to the middle...BAM!...I have Windows 11 now.
Center taskbar buttons in W10

 

[WelshBloke]

No, but I did download all the cool wallpapers it will come with. So after moving all the taskbar icons to the middle...BAM!...I have Windows 11 now.
Center taskbar buttons in W10

I'm not sure if it's me being set in my ways but there's something about having the icons in the middle that I really don't like. Maybe that they are going to move about rather than being pinned in the same places.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Yep I agree, my icons lasted like that for about an hour. Put them back the way they have been for 25 years or so. Old dog here, only new tricks I like are hookers.

 

[UsandThem]

Based on Microsoft's releases over the last 30 years, Windows 11 should in all likelihood should be a skip based on their "release a good one, followed by a bad one" release cadence.

In all honesty, I could see myself staying with Windows 10 until they drop support in 2025 (last estimate I read). I don't really game on my PC anymore, and I really don't need anything that Windows 10 doesn't already offer.

 

[Torn Mind]

Based on Microsoft's releases over the last 30 years, Windows 11 should in all likelihood should be a skip based on their "release a good one, followed by a bad one" release cadence.

In all honesty, I could see myself staying with Windows 10 until they drop support in 2025 (last estimate I read). I don't really game on my PC anymore, and I really don't need anything that Windows 10 doesn't already offer.

Windows 8 is not so bad with the way I use it.

Somehow, no virus hell like with 7 and earlier.

Windows 10 was a OS with the few severe disasters on the record and I'm glad I avoided all of them by just sticking with 8.

 

[JWade]

i thought windows 10 was suppose to be the last version of windows. isnt that what they said when it came out if i remember right? windows as a service.

 

[Kamrooz]

Just going to wait for the full working release/candidate and try it on a spare pc. Don't want to deal with VM's to test it, also the amount of software/plugins I have to reinstall on my workstation is literally a couple days. So screw that...lol.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Based on Microsoft's releases over the last 30 years, Windows 11 should in all likelihood should be a skip based on their "release a good one, followed by a bad one" release cadence.

Meh.

Windows 8 and and 8.1 sucked, and 10 is mediocre.* I think that trend changed a while ago. Similar with their closest partner, Intel. Intel's process used to be good every other generation. Then it was great for four generations(65/45/32/22), and it's now sucking for two, or three(14/10/7?).

*10 just reverses a few things sucky about 8 and 8.1. Still has the schizophrenic approach to the control panel and settings. Apparently I have two skype versions.

I don't like the new UI approach of settings. It's a kiddie/newbie control panel where's it's too simplified - no I mean dumbed down and you can't get enough information quickly. How is it better? I'm not on a freaking Android tablet! I'd get an Android/iOS Tablet over Windows Tablets any day so don't give me tablet crap.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

i thought windows 10 was suppose to be the last version of windows. isnt that what they said when it came out if i remember right? windows as a service.

As the East-Europeans used to say during Communism, "the modification has been changed again"

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I like what I’ve read regarding security, faster boot times and lighter install plus patches.
I so far I don’t like the OS X Mac kind of look it has. Never liked the super cartoonish look of Apple OS.
I tolerate it on my phone because it works with the smaller screen however I frequently find it “too cute” looking.

 

[WilliamM2]

Anyone who tried it know if you can still add a "quick launch" toolbar? Like you can in win 7, 8, and 10? I hate pinned items on the taskbar.

 

[Shmee]

I tried it a bit on my X99 system, seems ok so far. I can confirm my 5700XT is still able to mine. I will have to try some benchmarks and games, and see how it goes.

 

[mikeymikec]

This one seems quite detailed, too.

Generally speaking, the best versions of Windows so far are the ones that have stayed true to Windows 95’s design. These include Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 10.

Uh, what? Maybe the author needs to fire up a Win95 VM and compare it to how Windows 10 looks. Eg. start menu comparisons as well as Control Panel / Settings.

He then goes on to say that Vista didn't stay true to Win95's design. I'd say it's a lot more like 95 than Win10 is!

 

[Shmee]

Vista had some issues, but it was the first good 64 bit Windows, from what I understand. For people with 4GB or more of RAM, it was the obvious Windows choice until Windows 7.

Windows XP had some issues too, certainly, and I have not been a fan of it for a long time. I heard the 64 bit version had a lot of driver problems.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I'm running Win11 insider preview. It seems like a reskinned win10. There are a few annoyances. I used to use long, bar-shaped taskbar icons for applications in Win10 instead of small concise icons (think Win95 style) and I can't figure out how to get them back. Also the start menu can't have all applications displayed by default - you have to press a button to get them. You can't resize the start menu either.

 

[Magic Carpet]

There are clearly 2 versions of UI, one meant for Tablet, the other for classic Desktop. I hate that you can't globally choose, which one you want to use.

But then again, I have witnessed UI degradation all the way since Windows Vista. Vista/7 was the last one that had great UI, tailored for keyboard and mouse.

 

[mxnerd]

I'm running Win11 insider preview. It seems like a reskinned win10. There are a few annoyances. I used to use long, bar-shaped taskbar icons for applications in Win10 instead of small concise icons (think Win95 style) and I can't figure out how to get them back. Also the start menu can't have all applications displayed by default - you have to press a button to get them. You can't resize the start menu either.

How to Restore Classic Start Menu in Windows 11 with Classic Taskbar

You can restore the classic Start menu in Windows 11, which will be similar to the good old Windows 10's Start with the app list. Windows 11 introduced an

winaero.com

 

[Magic Carpet]

StartIsBack isn't fully supported yet but it does the job, lol. Also, it seems that you can't start Task Manager with only mouse at your disposal, damn it. Dumbing down in progress

 

[mxnerd]

Well, you can install Open Shell Menu after applying Win10 Start Menu registry hack.

The best thing about Open Shell Menu is that you can pin about anything to the Start Menu, including folders.

GitHub - Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Classic Shell Reborn.

Classic Shell Reborn. Contribute to Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Releases · Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

Classic Shell Reborn. Contribute to Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[DrMrLordX]

@mxnerd

I'm trying to avoid reg hacks just now. Apparently there's a push to add functionality to the Start Menu so that you can default to the All Apps view and to maybe allow resizing. That would be ideal for me, since it would require less hackery to get my Start menu looking the way I want it than what I had to go through with Windows 10.

Also I finally remembered how to get long-form taskbar buttons in Win10: ungroup buttons on the taskbar. Sadly this feature is not-yet supported in Win11, though a lot of people are requesting it.

 

[Magic Carpet]

See exactly how much MS cares about UI feedback. Can't find it, but this should do it.

 

[DrMrLordX]

See exactly how much MS cares about UI feedback. Can't find it, but this should do it.

There's been a lot of UI feedback on the Feedback Hub. I'm just upvoting everything that requests the exact things I want added to Win11.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm not enjoying the centered task bar (yeah I know you can change it), I'm not enjoying the new start menu (but Winkey plus typing finds everything), I'm not enjoying how Windows still opens things up in Edge instead of your default browser, it does look more polished in places which makes it more jarring when it drops you into a windowsXP options box.

Its OK. I'm hoping that there's a bunch of under the hood improvements that are worth it.

 

[WelshBloke]

I ended up reverting back to Win10 (yup I know I didnt last long).

It takes longer to get to places. Not terribly, but just enough to be annoying. Like you cant open the task manager by right clicking on the taskbar, and the right click menu on the desktop takes an extra click to get anywhere useful.

My issues were mostly little things like that but as the main user facing change seems to be cosmetic the little bad things outweighed the little good things.

Theres a new Xbox app and a new windows store but I dont use either of those anyway so that wasnt much of a draw but I cant really say anything good or bad about them.

Also theres talk about running android apps on windows that people seem excited about. All I can say about that is why? Why would I want to run any Android apps on Windows?
I mean theres a lot of Android apps I really like on my phone (looking at you Komoot) but I can see zero upside to running something designed for a phone on a PC, rather that an equivalent version designed for a PC.