With news about the upcoming release of Windows 11, many people have one question on mind, will there be as big controversies as Windows 10 upgrades had? This article will not just answer that question, but other questions that might arise as well.
As for questions in regards to controversies, all new operating systems do face criticism. The only reason for why Windows 10 had faced harsher criticism was not just because of it's more modern CPU requirements, but its uncontrollable updates. Even with Windows 10 Pro, it is still not possible to indefinitely postpone updates. The ability to indefinitely postpone updates on Windows 10 is only available to Windows 10 Enterprise. This is probably not going to change with Windows 11. But automatic updates did not account for all the unusual criticism that Windows 10 faced.
Right after the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft changed its privacy policy. This change reflected over Microsoft's decision to acquire more diagnostic and user usage information from their services and products. This was considered to not just affect the sales of new Windows 10 devices, but other Microsoft products as well. Microsoft however have repeatedly stated that one can toggle the data that Microsoft collects from the settings. This too is not probably going to change in Windows 11.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-10-the-10-biggest-controversies-and-surprises-in-2016/
The last of Windows 10's major criticism came from the system requirements. In previous Windows operating systems the CPU and other system requirements were a bit more lenient, this however was not the case with Windows 10. Windows 10 had many of its system requirements aligned to products and parts that were not older than 4 to 6 years. Anything older would not allow Windows 10 to install. Furthermore, new CPU's will only be able to run Windows 10 and newer Microsoft operating systems as Microsoft will no longer update Windows 7 or 8 to support new CPUs. I will discuss later in the article how Windows 11 retains this trait.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-10-the-10-biggest-controversies-and-surprises-in-2016/
Thus Windows 11 will share the same criticism that Windows 10 faced, but also criticism of its own. Windows 11 will feature a start menu and task bar design that is different from all forms of windows seen previously. The start menu will open at the center of the screen, rather than on the left-hand side of the screen. This new task bar feature is similar but not the same as how the task bar looks on Mac OSX.
Microsoft has already posted the Windows 11 system requirements, and according to the website for compatible CPU list, the oldest series of Intel Core i7 possessors that the pre-release Windows 11 supports is "Kaby Lake Refresh" or newer as well as support for Amber Lake-Y. With this requirement, the oldest an Core i7 computer that can support Windows 11 pre-release would have been manufactured at the earliest around August 2017, if it were to use a Core i7 8550U CPU. If you would like to look at the list of compatible AMD or Qualcomm CPUs, click on this link.
Windows 11 will also require a minimum screen size of 9", a 2 inch increase from the Windows 10 minimum screen size. That rule however does not apply to desktops. Going deeper into display and graphics, Windows 11 will require all GPU's on the device to support DirectX 12 API and WDDM 2.0. The latter of which has not changed since the introduction of Windows 10. However there has been a major change in terms of minimum resolution a device screen must have, Windows 11 will no longer support SVGA (800X600) and XGA (1024x768) vector video standard screen resolutions. SVGA is the minimum for Windows 10. According to the Minimum system requirements the minimum required is 720P (1280x720), however WXGA (1280 x 800) and SXGA (1280 x 1024) or higher will still work.
Src : File:Vector Video Standards2.svg - Wikimedia Commons
Microsoft has also made other new requirements, Windows 11 will require at least 64 GB of storage at minimum, whereas Windows 10 (Version 1609) only required 20 GB of storage at minimum. There is on major important note in regards to storage that can be seen in the PDF that I linked previously, Microsoft in its system requirements is not requiring non-rotational storage medium, but is "highly recommending" it's use in the system requirements.
There are other feature specific requirements for Windows 11 which can be found on this link to a Microsoft website.
Putting all this together, it seems Windows 11 has been designed for newer devices in mind. Which is not surprising since Microsoft themselves have claimed "Windows 11 is designed to support today's hybrid work environment, and intended to be the most reliable, secure, connected, and performant Windows operating system ever. " Majority of todays hybrid work environment do require medium range and modern devices, after all a Windows XP is probably not going to be able to run many of the programs people require for work from home. In my opinion, Microsoft probably is making Windows 11 it's own OS just because of the new hardware requirements, that may cause issues if it were to be another version of Windows 10. Many people in fact do not own Kaby Lake Refresh or newer CPUs yet.
Thus you should only if you have a device that was manufactured in late 2017 to now, should you expect it to be compatible with Windows 11 (according to current information). Furthermore, being that Windows 11 is currently in pre-release only upgrade your device if you can risk something going wrong, and your device crashing. For the general public, I would suggest waiting for at least 3 months after the release of Windows 11 before deciding to upgrade.
As for questions in regards to controversies, all new operating systems do face criticism. The only reason for why Windows 10 had faced harsher criticism was not just because of it's more modern CPU requirements, but its uncontrollable updates. Even with Windows 10 Pro, it is still not possible to indefinitely postpone updates. The ability to indefinitely postpone updates on Windows 10 is only available to Windows 10 Enterprise. This is probably not going to change with Windows 11. But automatic updates did not account for all the unusual criticism that Windows 10 faced.
Right after the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft changed its privacy policy. This change reflected over Microsoft's decision to acquire more diagnostic and user usage information from their services and products. This was considered to not just affect the sales of new Windows 10 devices, but other Microsoft products as well. Microsoft however have repeatedly stated that one can toggle the data that Microsoft collects from the settings. This too is not probably going to change in Windows 11.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-10-the-10-biggest-controversies-and-surprises-in-2016/
The last of Windows 10's major criticism came from the system requirements. In previous Windows operating systems the CPU and other system requirements were a bit more lenient, this however was not the case with Windows 10. Windows 10 had many of its system requirements aligned to products and parts that were not older than 4 to 6 years. Anything older would not allow Windows 10 to install. Furthermore, new CPU's will only be able to run Windows 10 and newer Microsoft operating systems as Microsoft will no longer update Windows 7 or 8 to support new CPUs. I will discuss later in the article how Windows 11 retains this trait.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-10-the-10-biggest-controversies-and-surprises-in-2016/
Thus Windows 11 will share the same criticism that Windows 10 faced, but also criticism of its own. Windows 11 will feature a start menu and task bar design that is different from all forms of windows seen previously. The start menu will open at the center of the screen, rather than on the left-hand side of the screen. This new task bar feature is similar but not the same as how the task bar looks on Mac OSX.
Microsoft. “Image of Preview Still from Video of New Windows 11 Taskbar and Start Menu. .” Upgrade to the New Windows 11 OS | Microsoft, Microsoft, 2021, c.s-microsoft.com/en-us/CMSImages/1920_Panel03_Video_Introducing_new.jpg?version=b1067fd1-f287-adae-d0c8-fed7f26313fa.
Image of preview still from video of new Windows 11 taskbar and Start menu.
Image of preview still from video of new Windows 11 taskbar and Start menu.
Microsoft has already posted the Windows 11 system requirements, and according to the website for compatible CPU list, the oldest series of Intel Core i7 possessors that the pre-release Windows 11 supports is "Kaby Lake Refresh" or newer as well as support for Amber Lake-Y. With this requirement, the oldest an Core i7 computer that can support Windows 11 pre-release would have been manufactured at the earliest around August 2017, if it were to use a Core i7 8550U CPU. If you would like to look at the list of compatible AMD or Qualcomm CPUs, click on this link.
Windows 11 will also require a minimum screen size of 9", a 2 inch increase from the Windows 10 minimum screen size. That rule however does not apply to desktops. Going deeper into display and graphics, Windows 11 will require all GPU's on the device to support DirectX 12 API and WDDM 2.0. The latter of which has not changed since the introduction of Windows 10. However there has been a major change in terms of minimum resolution a device screen must have, Windows 11 will no longer support SVGA (800X600) and XGA (1024x768) vector video standard screen resolutions. SVGA is the minimum for Windows 10. According to the Minimum system requirements the minimum required is 720P (1280x720), however WXGA (1280 x 800) and SXGA (1280 x 1024) or higher will still work.
Src : File:Vector Video Standards2.svg - Wikimedia Commons
Microsoft has also made other new requirements, Windows 11 will require at least 64 GB of storage at minimum, whereas Windows 10 (Version 1609) only required 20 GB of storage at minimum. There is on major important note in regards to storage that can be seen in the PDF that I linked previously, Microsoft in its system requirements is not requiring non-rotational storage medium, but is "highly recommending" it's use in the system requirements.
There are other feature specific requirements for Windows 11 which can be found on this link to a Microsoft website.
Putting all this together, it seems Windows 11 has been designed for newer devices in mind. Which is not surprising since Microsoft themselves have claimed "Windows 11 is designed to support today's hybrid work environment, and intended to be the most reliable, secure, connected, and performant Windows operating system ever. " Majority of todays hybrid work environment do require medium range and modern devices, after all a Windows XP is probably not going to be able to run many of the programs people require for work from home. In my opinion, Microsoft probably is making Windows 11 it's own OS just because of the new hardware requirements, that may cause issues if it were to be another version of Windows 10. Many people in fact do not own Kaby Lake Refresh or newer CPUs yet.
Thus you should only if you have a device that was manufactured in late 2017 to now, should you expect it to be compatible with Windows 11 (according to current information). Furthermore, being that Windows 11 is currently in pre-release only upgrade your device if you can risk something going wrong, and your device crashing. For the general public, I would suggest waiting for at least 3 months after the release of Windows 11 before deciding to upgrade.
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