Windows 11 is garbage

[Rroff]

I find Windows 11 a bit less disruptive than 10 on daily usage, but far more annoying due to changes unless you go to town tweaking and/or even then some things functionally are a step backwards from 7

They seem to have screwed up something on the back end licensing wise though, fortunately not had a problem yet with my main systems on 11 but some VMs and older systems I sometimes use for projects have encountered activation issues in the last 3-4 months despite having fully legit, and not £5 jobby, licenses.

 

[BananaDunka]

A change I noticed that's actually good is that Windows updates no longer seem to force restart the PC if you ignore the prompt to restart. I had a bunch of stuff open before the last patch Tuesday and just ignored the first prompt that a restart was needed to apply the updates.

Almost a week later when I was ready I manually restarted.

Ok restarting to apply updates barely take a few minutes at most but time is still time, but on launch versions of 11 and on Windows 10 you basically were forced to restart, it would automatically restart during quiet hours if you didn't do it manually.

 

[VinnieThePooh]

Expect death threats for that statement!

Looks very similar, doesn't it?

Three icons unified, just like in Linux.

What happened Microsoft? Windows is supposed to be setting trends, not copy them.

 

[Removed User 345456]

Looks very similar, doesn't it?

Three icons unified, just like in Linux.

What happened Microsoft? Windows is supposed to be setting trends, not copy them.

Haha!

 

[Rroff]

A change I noticed that's actually good is that Windows updates no longer seem to force restart the PC if you ignore the prompt to restart. I had a bunch of stuff open before the last patch Tuesday and just ignored the first prompt that a restart was needed to apply the updates.

Almost a week later when I was ready I manually restarted.

Ok restarting to apply updates barely take a few minutes at most but time is still time, but on launch versions of 11 and on Windows 10 you basically were forced to restart, it would automatically restart during quiet hours if you didn't do it manually.

Yeah one of the things I've found with 11 it pushes restarts through much less often, not at all would be nice, but in that respect it has much less impact on my day to day usage than 10, unless you go crazy trying to defeat updates.

 

[VinnieThePooh]

Something you also can't do in Windows 11 is have sweet tray widgets like this:

NetSpeedMonitor and XMeters, if you want to know.

 

[snowdog]

I use:
Windows 10 IOT Enterprise LTSB 2016 on my private laptop as iti is the least bloated version
Windows 10 pro 1909 on my home desktop ( I killed everything Windows update, **** their malware). I only upgraded to 1909 when RDR2 came out as it required a certain minimum drivers and those drivers in turn required a certain windows build (older build would give hdmi issues when coming out of sleep/standby).

With work I have to comply with security **** so:
I use Win 11 on my work laptop
And Win 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 on my work desktop (no feature updates, only security updates). Every big update breaks something or makes the OS worse imho.

Tbh, Windows 7 was the pinnacle: good multi-screen support, superfetch and dx10/11/12 for games. After this, any newer windows added literally nothing positive at all. Everything just cost more performance, had more **** (online accounts), more bloat and microsoft spyware, etc...

If XP x64 woudl supprot directx 12, use superfetch to fill my RAM up nicely with often used stuff, and had good multi screen support (e.g. the keyboard shortcuts like WIN+arrow keys) I'd think XP was the perfect OS. Windows Vista and 7 came with security **** only idiots need. Win XP had none of the permission crap Windows 7 had (UAC).

 

[Murphy]

If XP x64 woudl supprot directx 12, use superfetch to fill my RAM up nicely with often used stuff, and had good multi screen support (e.g. the keyboard shortcuts like WIN+arrow keys) I'd think XP was the perfect OS. Windows Vista and 7 came with security **** only idiots need. Win XP had none of the permission crap Windows 7 had (UAC).

Windows 7 did improve stability a lot by moving to a stricter kernel/user mode driver model, at the cost of hardware acceleration (e.g EAX), but TBH i never noticed much difference between how many BSOD i got with XP vs 7.

 

[Retro6]

I was never a fan of XP I used Linux during the days of Windows XP. When Linux got bloated I moved back to Windows. I use Windows 10 now and I will continue to use it until end of support online.

Windows 7 was pretty solid I still use it on some systems but for offline work and for programing machinery.

Windows 2000 was pretty solid too. I still use that for retro gaming as well as DOS/WIN95/98SE

 

[ED209]

Windows 7 was pretty solid I still use it on some systems but for offline work and for programing machinery.

I quite liked Windows 7, was a shame that they never did another Service Pack for it as it bloody needed it when doing a clean install.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Win2000, XP were sold OS's. 7 is still my favourite by a long way 10 is just bloated

 

[ED209]

Win2000, XP were sold OS's. 7 is still my favourite by a long way 10 is just bloated

I like the Windows 10 UI, I never used too when it first came out but that has changed over the years.

Windows 11 I still hate the UI and do not think I will ever like it.

XP was a great OS.

I would love to have an OS that purely was just the OS and no extra crap added or services etc.

 

[BananaDunka]

XP looked like a Tomy OS, much like how iOS looked/looks like a mobile OS for kids, and how Samsung's Touchwhiz started off with a similar "look" but then evolved into the polished look that we have today that looks more professional than even Google's own Pixel phones with their massive UX.Windows 2000 existed as the professional business looking OS, all of the core of the NT kernel and reliability etc minus the nonsense UX colouring of XP, but XP appealed to the masses and vendor drivers ended up choosing to support it more over 2000, especially for gaming.

Vista was too OTT with Aero, 7 was a nice balance, 8 is better the sooner it is forgotten, 10 was good, and now 11 is good. People seem to forget that 10 got massive flack for ages too and 11 is still in that phase. 11 has been the most stable OS by far In my experience though, the only time it will crash is if some piece of hardware is faulty or not configured right (BIOS), or if the user has done something without using common sense (clicking dodgy links etc).

Like I said before, my current install dates all the way back to Vista's first release. I have just been in-place upgrading to the next version each time and then clone over to a new HDD/SSD every few generations of HW upgrade. A "fresh install" is an alien concept to me, far as I'm concerned a fresh install is only needed if you've been doing things wrong, otherwise Windows whether 7/10/11 should be running as stable and fast as a new install at all times as my install is proof of that.

 

[Rroff]

XP was great in that it enabled the end user with minimal fluff in the background, unless you wanted it, which realistically is the epitome of what an OS should be. Sadly it wasn't the most stable. UI wise I slapped the Zune theme on which IMO was much nicer than the stock UI (I have no idea why MS didn't make it the stock version with maybe a little tweaking).

Windows 11 UI wise the concept IMO is what a modern OS should be, the execution though is horrific and they obviously don't understand the design language which is blatantly stolen and the UI overall is too fragmented and is just a skin over something which is more like Windows 95 if you break the OS... the OS needs a massive overhaul functionality wise and trimming the background **** though.

 

[darael]

Looks as though Microsoft are gunning for software that alters the appearance of their OS, such as StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher, by blocking Windows 11 build upgrades to such users of software.

Microsoft is blocking Windows 11 build upgrades on systems with StartAllBack - Neowin
This app can't run on this device · Issue #3088 · valinet/ExplorerPatcher · GitHub

 

[ED209]

Looks as though Microsoft are gunning for software that alters the appearance of their OS, such as StartAllBack and ExplorerPatcher, by blocking Windows 11 build upgrades to such users of software.

Microsoft is blocking Windows 11 build upgrades on systems with StartAllBack - Neowin
This app can't run on this device · Issue #3088 · valinet/ExplorerPatcher · GitHub

Maybe if their UI was not so terrible and they listened to users people would not need to use 3rd party software lol

 

[Murphy]

Maybe I've read it wrong but it seems they're only doing it on preview releases. If so that seems fair as you, as a developer, want people to try the new features not just avoid them.

 

[Rroff]

If so that seems fair as you, as a developer, want people to try the new features not just avoid them.

It is a valid point, but at the same time they should take note of the fact people do avoid/replace them...

 

[darael]

This applies to Windows 10 and 11:
New Windows driver blocks software from changing default web browser - BleepingComputer
Windows UserChoice Protection Driver UCPD / UCPD.sys / UCPDMgr.exe - Gunnar Haslinger

The UCPD.sys driver is present on my Windows 10 22H2, as well as the scheduled task UCPD velocity.

 

[mattyfez]

This applies to Windows 10 and 11:
New Windows driver blocks software from changing default web browser - BleepingComputer

The UCPD.sys driver is present on my Windows 10 22H2, as well as the scheduled task UCPD velocity.

And that is why anyone with any sense uses Firefox.
Not Chrome, not Edge.

Firefox.
I have chome and edge installed, but they are more a last resort as some websites, very few to be fair, don't work properly with firefox as I've got mine set up pretty tight.