News Windows 11 starts October 5

[13Gigatons]

Windows 11 gets a launch date. It's surprisingly soon

Microsoft announced that its newest operating system will be available October 5. But not all users will have access to it right away because the company is using a "phased and measured" approach to the free upgrades, with users of new devices being offered Windows 11 ahead of those with older...

www.cnn.com

Don't know if I'm even ready....

 

[Captante]

Aside from an expendable install on VM to make myself fully familiar and comfortable using the "shiny-things" style GUI I won't be touching 11 for quite awhile if ever. I do have to be able to work on/maintain 11 PC's though.

Despite all the flack 10 (justifiably) takes for update problems and shaky privacy the OS overall is extremely stable/robust once set up right.

 

[UsandThem]

Windows 10 is supported until 2025.

I'm in no hurry for Windows 11, so I'll let others deal with the early adopter headaches.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Windows OSes are basically in beta until they hit EOL. I find the most stable experience is to always trail just behind that you're basically using the EOL version but not so far into it that stuff stops being supported in it. I'm still on 7 on my gaming machine, I might upgrade to 10 at some point when a game I want to play forces me to.

 

[Captante]

Windows OSes are basically in beta until they hit EOL. I find the most stable experience is to always trail just behind that you're basically using the EOL version but not so far into it that stuff stops being supported in it. I'm still on 7 on my gaming machine, I might upgrade to 10 at some point when a game I want to play forces me to.

You realize 7 is well past any support beyond maybe an "emergency" patch right? I wouldn't use/trust a Win 7 PC with any personal info on it I valued that was connected to the internet -OR- networked to any other Windows PC that is.

Honestly if you get 10 Pro and delay most updates 14-30 days (in advanced update settings) you should be fine. I find nearly every update "gotcha" in 10 gets fixed prior to my having to deal with it that way and at this point 10 really is WORLDS better then 7 ever was.

 

[Denly]

Aside from an expendable install on VM to make myself fully familiar and comfortable using the "shiny-things" style GUI I won't be touching 11 for quite awhile if ever. I do have to be able to work on/maintain 11 PC's though.

Despite all the flack 10 (justifiably) takes for update problems and shaky privacy the OS overall is extremely stable/robust once set up right.

How does MS VM lic work in home setting exactly? Said my PC have a Win10 Lic as main OS, can I use the same Lic to build a VM W11?

 

[Captante]

How does MS VM lic work in home setting exactly? Said my PC have a Win10 Lic as main OS, can I use the same Lic to build a VM W11?

What I was personally told by a level III MS Tech was exactly what I said in my previous post. We did not discuss VM's.

An upgraded Windows 10 license carries the same upgrade rights as the Win 7/8 license it was upgraded from.

This applies to "retail" vs "OEM" licenses ... only "Retail" licenses can be re-used with different hardware when upgrading legally.

 

[mikeymikec]

Windows OSes are basically in beta until they hit EOL. I find the most stable experience is to always trail just behind that you're basically using the EOL version but not so far into it that stuff stops being supported in it. I'm still on 7 on my gaming machine, I might upgrade to 10 at some point when a game I want to play forces me to.

If it wasn't for my business I wonder whether I would have stuck with Win7 as my primary OS. Apart from the EOL, I can't think of any persuasive arguments to use anything later than 7. I still haven't played a DX12 game either.

If MS had offered a security patch service for Win7 in exchange for a small yearly sum (say 10% of the cost of a legit windows licence) I would definitely have considered that. I bet a lot of businesses would have lapped it up as well.

I guess hardware or gaming support would have driven me eventually to something newer than Win7.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

They can have my 7 when they pry it from my cold dead drive.



Not that I really like 7 all that much, I just hate a lot of what M$ does. Forced change and updates make my brain wobble.



(Really wish I knew Linux.)

 

[mikeymikec]

They can have my 7 when they pry it from my cold dead drive.

Not that I really like 7 all that much, I just hate a lot of what M$ does. Forced change and updates make my brain wobble.

(Really wish I knew Linux.)

In my experience with ubuntu derivatives, it's pretty easy-going these days.

My only pre-ubuntu skill that still occasionally comes in handy is knowing how to use a terminal-based text editor, for which I can remember three occasions while setting up kubuntu recently:

1: Configuring Linux to access my networked scanner
2: Permanently mounting my second data HDD on Linux
3: (yet to come) configuring the boot loader to have less than a 30-second timeout (I dual-boot Windows and Linux)

To begin with though, I'd say download a live CD ISO and either rip it or install a Linux virtual machine so you can have a play around. Two things are important IMO to evaluate at this point:

1: Which desktop environment suits your needs best? If we're just talking about Ubuntu derivatives, there's the main Ubuntu, there's Lubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu. I'm using Kubuntu 20.04 LTS.

2: Can you get suitable software for your needs on Linux? I use Firefox/Chromium, Thunderbird, Sunbird (emulated Windows app via Wine), Virtualbox, LibreOffice, the Gnome document scanner, VLC, XNViewMP, Veracrypt, that's about it I think.

Using a virtual machine is handy because you can switch between an environment you're comfortable with (presumably Windows) for looking up help etc, using a live CD is perhaps better for finding out if say graphics hardware support is available. I've got a Haswell-era desktop PC and an AMD R9 380X graphics card, no trouble.

The only other advice with Ubuntu derivatives I have to begin with is to stick with an LTS release as they get at least three years of support, the non-LTS versions only get one year. Frankly I have better things to do with my time than an OS migration every year!

If you're seriously considering Linux, I'd suggest starting a thread in the open source forum here and I don't mind giving you a helping hand.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

To begin with though, I'd say download a live CD ISO and either rip it or install a Linux virtual machine so you can have a play around. Two things are important IMO to evaluate at this point:

Is that, or any of the rest of your post in English?

 

[mikeymikec]

nvm

 

[ultimatebob]

Is that, or any of the rest of your post in English?

Heh. Linux nowadays isn't all that hard, unless something breaks and you have to fix it. At that point, you often have to open a console session and/or start hand-editing configuration files. Of course, most of the common problems are well documented and solutions are a quick Google search away.

But, seriously, try making a bootable USB thumb drive with a .iso image (there are lots of tutorials) and try it yourself first.

 

[lxskllr]

Gnu/linux is trivially easy these days, and *a lot* of people could run it without drastic changes to their workflow. The two biggest blockers are difficult hardware(not nearly as common as it used to be), and *requiring* windows software. A lot of windows software people consider essential, aren't, but there are spaces, especially in the professional arena, where windows is required. Avid gamers will have issues too. There's a lot of good games for gnu/linux, but you might not get to play what you want.

 

[Denly]

What I was personally told by a level III MS Tech was exactly what I said in my previous post. We did not discuss VM's.

An upgraded Windows 10 license carries the same upgrade rights as the Win 7/8 license it was upgraded from.

This applies to "retail" vs "OEM" licenses ... only "Retail" licenses can be re-used with different hardware when upgrading legally.

I use a HP box with a W10Pro bios key, does that mean I can build a W10P VM no lic needed and it just pull from the bios?

 

[Captante]

I use a HP box with a W10Pro bios key, does that mean I can build a W10P VM no lic needed and it just pull from the bios?

Again .... we did not discuss VM's so I'm not sure.

 

[nakedfrog]

How... very.

Edit: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/tech/windows-11-microsoft-event/index.html

Hey, look, I don't give a shit about a single thing there! For my personal machines, I'd just as soon disable Teams if I can.

 

[Captante]

The day I see reputable benchmarks showing consistent increased gaming performance in Win 11 I will seriously consider replacing 10 and not before. (in other words I doubt I'll ever use beyond the minimum to be familiar with the GUI)

7 was not only faster then 10 in most games, it was snappier in pretty much everything else too plus the GUI was more easily usable. (and far better looking!)

 

[repoman0]

The day I see reputable benchmarks showing consistent increased gaming performance in Win 11 I will seriously consider replacing 10 and not before. (in other words I doubt I'll ever use beyond the minimum to be familiar with the GUI)

7 was not only faster then 10 in most games, it was snappier in pretty much everything else too plus the GUI was more easily usable. (and far better looking!)

I don’t even mind the GUI style in 10 … what I do mind is the garbage mashup of old and new style settings windows and control panels. There is no consistency whatsoever to the UI, just so lazy.

Gaming on Linux is getting a lot better, but photo editing is still pretty weak. The minute Lightroom or a decent competitor has a Linux release I’m migrating over for my main OS. I’ve tried many times before but since my personal PC is basically a gaming and photo editing machine, it hasn’t stuck yet. Luckily I use it full time at work with gnome3, which is a pleasure compared to Windows 10.

 

[Captante]

I don’t even mind the GUI style in 10 … what I do mind is the garbage mashup of old and new style settings windows and control panels. There is no consistency whatsoever to the UI, just so lazy.

Gaming on Linux is getting a lot better, but photo editing is still pretty weak. The minute Lightroom or a decent competitor has a Linux release I’m migrating over for my main OS. I’ve tried many times before but since my personal PC is basically a gaming and photo editing machine, it hasn’t stuck yet. Luckily I use it full time at work with gnome3, which is a pleasure compared to Windows 10.

Totally! (although I still do miss the real "Aero" themes transparency in 7)



They were however working to consolidate all setting menus (or at least access to the utility) under tabs in "settings". Hopefully that's not out of the picture now that 10 isn't "cutting edge".

And I'm about to start playing around with linux gaming a little bit for the first time in a few years. What version do you find easiest to set up? (current Zen 3/B550 system... want to dual-boot w/10 Pro)

 

[repoman0]

Totally! (although I still do miss the real "Aero" themes transparency in 7)



They were however working to consolidate all setting menus (or at least access to the utility) under tabs in "settings". Hopefully that's not out of the picture now that 10 isn't "cutting edge".

And I'm about to start playing around with linux gaming a little bit for the first time in a few years. What version do you find easiest to set up? (current Zen 3/B550 system... want to dual-boot w/10 Pro)

They’re all pretty easy these days. I recommend Manjaro for cutting edge and rolling release (but still stable) or the classic Ubuntu. I’d be more excited about recommending Ubuntu but their variant of gnome kind of sucks compared to vanilla gnome3 imo. Not that you can’t switch it out yourself.

 

[Captante]

They’re all pretty easy these days. I recommend Manjaro for cutting edge and rolling release (but still stable) or the classic Ubuntu. I’d be more excited about recommending Ubuntu but their variant of gnome kind of sucks compared to vanilla gnome3 imo. Not that you can’t switch it out yourself.

You are the 3rd person I've asked who said Manjaro first choice and I was already leaning that way. Will it play nice with Windows?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Linux has gotten very good for desktop now days, I use it as my primary OS. I switched around the time Windows 8 came out as I got an idea the direction MS was going and I hated it. The downside is if you want to try to use something mainstream in it, like a specific application (ex: CAD software) or games. I find the open source alternatives to some programs can also be lacking sometimes. There can be ways to make the mainstream ones work but that's when it almost makes sense to just have a Windows VM or a dedicated box at that point. Which is basically what I do. Linux for 95% of my computing and then Win7 on a separate vlan for gaming and other stuff that is more windows native. I'm not worried about security, it's not my daily driver machine, it has limited access to the rest of the network, and it's not directly connected to the internet.

In fact no computer should ever be connected directly to the internet these days. Every time a security patch is issued, whether it's Windows or Linux it means that system was vulnerable that whole time before it got the patch. If that system is connected to the internet before a patch is released for something major (Ex: heartbleed) then consider the system compromised and you should reinstall it and patch it before putting it on the internet.

 

[Captante]

In fact no computer should ever be connected directly to the internet these days

If you mean left that way 24/7 often unattended (AND un-patched!) then I fully agree, however PC's are not all that useful sans internet for most stuff these days.

Having said that however, updated Win 10 is EXPONENTIALLY more secure then Win 7/8.0 and substantially better then 8.1 as well... at least 8.1 is still "officially" supported unlike the other two.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I don't game.

I browse. I use spreadsheets/word processors (LibreOffice), Quicken (old copy), IP cameras/NVR, some photo editors like IrfanView and I need networking between machines and devices. And I have a weather radar program witten by an M$ fanatic that won't write it for anything else.