*** Microsoft Windows 11 Thoughts & Discussion Thread ***
- Thread starter Deleted member 77746
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Soldato
Has anyone dealt with W11 being installed in a different language and successfully changed it to English without a complete OS re-install?
Had to nuke and re-install W10 in a Lenovo IdeaCentre purchased in France as many sub-menus remained in French after changing to English in Windows Settings.
Had to nuke and re-install W10 in a Lenovo IdeaCentre purchased in France as many sub-menus remained in French after changing to English in Windows Settings.
should disable it in dislay menu
whenever you need it back, another useful shortcut Win+P allows to extend desktop back to that display in another click
Associate
Well, I've said before I was thinking about it but it's definitely at the point of calling time on Windows 11 for me. I've tried sticking with it, but since Win 11 I've found that in day to day use, there is regularly something that makes me pause and go eh? where is? how? why? because the UI has changed, or removed a feature (taskbar) etc etc. Then combined with other annoyances that MS have no intention of trying to fix / sort / address ( like all the ludicrous language fonts creating excessive lists in applications ), and the direction they are going in general (recall), I'm out.
Linux was going to be the main destination (and is for basic use machines I have), but I have bought affinity and resolve licenses, and they don't work well enough in that environment and are unlikely to the future it seems, and I would like to get some more value from those purchases as this time.
So its back to Mac. On a bit of a whim I bought an old Mac this week and having fired it up, its sealed the deal and put the last nail in the coffin for Windows. Admittedly I'm already invested in the Apple eco-system through the family all having iPhones, but the integration is just so much more practically useful for me. The daily frustrations of looking at Win 11 aren't there. So this old Mac will become a step-stone machine back to a new device once I've sold the PC components.
I am by no means an Apple fanboy, I grew up around PC's, worked for years in IBM. This is a thread about thoughts on Win 11, and the above are mine. There is a lot to like about Win 11. I actually like the look of the newer UI, but if it annoys you everytime you use it, there is a lot to not like too. So it's time to move on.
Linux was going to be the main destination (and is for basic use machines I have), but I have bought affinity and resolve licenses, and they don't work well enough in that environment and are unlikely to the future it seems, and I would like to get some more value from those purchases as this time.
So its back to Mac. On a bit of a whim I bought an old Mac this week and having fired it up, its sealed the deal and put the last nail in the coffin for Windows. Admittedly I'm already invested in the Apple eco-system through the family all having iPhones, but the integration is just so much more practically useful for me. The daily frustrations of looking at Win 11 aren't there. So this old Mac will become a step-stone machine back to a new device once I've sold the PC components.
I am by no means an Apple fanboy, I grew up around PC's, worked for years in IBM. This is a thread about thoughts on Win 11, and the above are mine. There is a lot to like about Win 11. I actually like the look of the newer UI, but if it annoys you everytime you use it, there is a lot to not like too. So it's time to move on.
@Donnie Fisher
Did you consider trying StartAllBack? It's by no means perfect, but it makes Windows 10 and 11 so much more usable for me.
Did you consider trying StartAllBack? It's by no means perfect, but it makes Windows 10 and 11 so much more usable for me.
Associate
Yes, and it does help to an extent, but it’s more than just that. I feel it’s the whole overall product and eco system has gone in a direction that has become something that is misaligned to my mindset of using a computer.
I’d class myself as fairly old school when it comes to computers, the first one in the house was a bbc micro and I went right through all the dial up modems and remember the internet as we know it growing from its early stages.
But through all of that, the computers generally offered a feature set and I did what I wanted to do out of those features.
In windows, I just feel that’s gone. It pushes stuff so hard at you persistently. Co-pilot, the ui changes, lack of options to change things, OneDrive /my documents folder loop linking to each other , the hard drives being hidden behind my pc in the folder tree half way down …. The list goes on. Which I notice day to day, and it irks me.
So you install/spend time adjusting things, or adding apps with MS may come along and break cause it’s not their way leading to having to repeat the process. I feel I have to fight through stuff to do what I want to do… and it shouldn’t feel like that.
Or I could install Linux. Which just starts running and doesnt generally pester once you’ve got it going the way you like.
Or a Mac, again once you’re through the setup it’s fairly reasonable at just letting you get on with things… and even when it has pestered, there have been some very usable features.
“Would you like to use your watch as means to unlock the computer when you sit down at it?” … yes please, that’s useful.
When your starting out in a fresh install, you come to the websites like here, it asks if you would like to use the password from your phone to login… yes please, that’s useful.
I sound like a whine, but I think ultimately I feel I’m being pushed in a direction of using windows in a way I don’t want to and rather than conform, I’ll leave it.
I’d class myself as fairly old school when it comes to computers, the first one in the house was a bbc micro and I went right through all the dial up modems and remember the internet as we know it growing from its early stages.
But through all of that, the computers generally offered a feature set and I did what I wanted to do out of those features.
In windows, I just feel that’s gone. It pushes stuff so hard at you persistently. Co-pilot, the ui changes, lack of options to change things, OneDrive /my documents folder loop linking to each other , the hard drives being hidden behind my pc in the folder tree half way down …. The list goes on. Which I notice day to day, and it irks me.
So you install/spend time adjusting things, or adding apps with MS may come along and break cause it’s not their way leading to having to repeat the process. I feel I have to fight through stuff to do what I want to do… and it shouldn’t feel like that.
Or I could install Linux. Which just starts running and doesnt generally pester once you’ve got it going the way you like.
Or a Mac, again once you’re through the setup it’s fairly reasonable at just letting you get on with things… and even when it has pestered, there have been some very usable features.
“Would you like to use your watch as means to unlock the computer when you sit down at it?” … yes please, that’s useful.
When your starting out in a fresh install, you come to the websites like here, it asks if you would like to use the password from your phone to login… yes please, that’s useful.
I sound like a whine, but I think ultimately I feel I’m being pushed in a direction of using windows in a way I don’t want to and rather than conform, I’ll leave it.
Soldato
Going back a while someone suggested that app "StartAllBack" and I gave it a try. For me it has helped a lot to restore some of the functions and look the way that I like them. I kinda forget that I'm using it, until I see on another persons machine what Vanilla W11 is like.
Whilst there are times when I become unsettled with Windows I would not have a clue where to start with Linux, and it has been a very long time since I used a Mac. So.......sticking with Windows, perhaps an element of complacency applies, as well as being familiar. At least when it breaks, rarely does, I have some chance to resolve it, lol..!
I agree with a lot of what you've said and that's why I'm clinging onto Windows 10 for as long as I can on my main machine. But I have Windows 11 on my laptop, to try and get on with it and maybe even like it. But the thing I hate most about 11 is the interface - Windows 10 is simply much better. I get the impression 11 is dumbed down to an extent - maybe they want to put it onto some kids toys, because that's how it feels sometimes. I can make 11 feel mostly like 10, but it never feels right.
I suspect I'm a similar age to you, where my first dial-up modem was 33.6K and you installed Windows from a dozen floppy disks. Heck I can still remember connecting to the internet for the first time and it felt exciting. These days it's taken for granted.
As @Vimes said while I was typing this post, perhaps I am have even become complacent. I won't lie, Linux has interested me more and more these days, but there are too many variants to choose from and it's not an OS I feel familiar or at home in.
I suspect I'm a similar age to you, where my first dial-up modem was 33.6K and you installed Windows from a dozen floppy disks. Heck I can still remember connecting to the internet for the first time and it felt exciting. These days it's taken for granted.
As @Vimes said while I was typing this post, perhaps I am have even become complacent. I won't lie, Linux has interested me more and more these days, but there are too many variants to choose from and it's not an OS I feel familiar or at home in.
Soldato
Each time that I have tried Linux on a boot USB option, including Mint, I am just totally overwhelmed when the slightest thing goes wrong. Perhaps at some point I will decide to persevere.
My goodness a 33.6k Hayes compatible modem, that was fast...! I remember upgrading to a US Robotics 14.4k......that really was "turbo", along with BBS's, before the Internet.
That dial up sound..........
Associate
If you’re looking for basic use, Linux works well if you stick with it. Yes, it’s a slightly different way of working in the OS but for out of the box usability, normally decent set of applications which will do the bulk of an average users tasks reliably all with little pressure to have particular accounts.
I’ve found that it’s once you start messing with settings under the guise that you can customise anything in Linux is when things start running away and getting complicated and terminals etc etc … but if left alone and used ‘as is’ then it’s generally decent.
But getting back to win11… I totally get the complacency aspect. Something I was happy to fall into for a long time. When trying Linux and then coming back to windows, a lot of things just worked better … or more that I knew how to get things done quicker / easier. The comfort zone is there.
What I don’t get with windows in general is how they haven’t got rid of the old underneath. You still fall back into old looking areas and the UI is a mess of inconsistency as a result.
These are the sorts of things I wish they would address.
I don’t really understand why they insist on the TPM side of things and have tried to draw a line in the hardware, yet don’t in the software.
To me, the windows product as a whole feels like it need a line drawn and written from the ground up with a lot of old stuff left out.
I get the feeling that people are hesitant to jump to Apple as it’s another massive company like Microsoft .. but reality is that in the desktop world , it’s still very much a minority (15% market share vs windows 75%) so it’s still an underdog so to speak.
I’ve found that it’s once you start messing with settings under the guise that you can customise anything in Linux is when things start running away and getting complicated and terminals etc etc … but if left alone and used ‘as is’ then it’s generally decent.
But getting back to win11… I totally get the complacency aspect. Something I was happy to fall into for a long time. When trying Linux and then coming back to windows, a lot of things just worked better … or more that I knew how to get things done quicker / easier. The comfort zone is there.
What I don’t get with windows in general is how they haven’t got rid of the old underneath. You still fall back into old looking areas and the UI is a mess of inconsistency as a result.
These are the sorts of things I wish they would address.
I don’t really understand why they insist on the TPM side of things and have tried to draw a line in the hardware, yet don’t in the software.
To me, the windows product as a whole feels like it need a line drawn and written from the ground up with a lot of old stuff left out.
I get the feeling that people are hesitant to jump to Apple as it’s another massive company like Microsoft .. but reality is that in the desktop world , it’s still very much a minority (15% market share vs windows 75%) so it’s still an underdog so to speak.
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My issue with Linux is the way you have to install everything.
Windows you just double click the exe file and it does the rest for you, with linux you need to run a command or look it up first before doing so. (Unless this has all changed).
I am tempted to try Linux on my new system because all I use my PC for is gaming and web browsing.
Windows you just double click the exe file and it does the rest for you, with linux you need to run a command or look it up first before doing so. (Unless this has all changed).
I am tempted to try Linux on my new system because all I use my PC for is gaming and web browsing.
Associate
A lot of the linux versions have a form of App Store where for the common applications, its a case of click once to install and it does. There are different methods in how it goes about actually doing it, but its fairly reliable.
Soldato
Unless you're after some niche application then it's all changed
. Most stuff is either installed from an app store within the OS or a simple installer that you download from the software's website (no different to Windows). It does rather depend what Linux distribution you choose though. Some are better than others.
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Will have to have a look at versions and see which 1 to give a try then.Unless you're after some niche application then it's all changed
I have wondered a few times about going back to W10 but as I use explorer patcher I forget half the time that I am even using W11 as I've made it look like W10.
I tend to have Windows updates disabled and just run it manually every now and then. Let everyone else test the new features\bugs\issues and by the time I get to the updates they are resolved or pulled
Sadly the only way to fully block updates is using 3rd party software and I think Windows Update Blocker is the only one which 100% does it. Even that doesn't entirely stop some behaviours and future updates might break the software if like me you do like to periodically apply updates when it is convenient for me to do so...
Annoys me as I want to stay on top of critical updates especially security while applying any others 100% at my leisure and there is no proper way to do that in Windows 10 or 11, 11 does have marginally better updates behaviour than 10 but even then sometimes MS will randomly push through updates, etc.
There seems to be an increasing number of little irritations with 11 - something will periodically reset OneDrive settings like [not] being pinned in File Explorer if you have them set differently to what MS wants... on mobile devices screen rotation lock will randomly switch on - sometimes due to 3rd party control panel software but mostly due to some kind of Windows bug, the Start Menu is a joke unless you use 3rd party software but then you do run the risk of that being broken by updates, increasingly the OS will get much more frequently busy in the background if it thinks the system is idle - I do NOT want to hear my CPU fans, etc. spinning up when I'm away from my PC and it is supposed to be doing nothing never mind it increases energy use, etc. etc. etc.
EDIT: Not to mention the constantly re-flagging that automatic sample submission is off even though it is a small annoyance and sits in the system tray unnoticed until you interact with it but still, I choose to have that off so **** OFF MS.
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Man of Honour
Sledgehammer still works and is what I use to block Windows updates so that they run when I want them to. I can also choose which updates I want to install.
