*** Microsoft Windows 11 Thoughts & Discussion Thread ***

[Armageus]

1. NTFS could use a big update. I am no dev., so no specifics.

It already is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReFS

2. The Registry, OMG organize that.
all it needs is 2 main trees System & User.

Other than completely scrapping it, I'm not sure what organisation it needs?

It already does have the 2 main trees you mention:

HKCU is the "User" tree (for the currently logged on user)
HKLM is the "System" tree

CURRENT_CONFIG and CLASSES_ROOT are largely just shortcuts to other parts of HKLM and HKCU, other users are stored in HKEY_USERS

 

[Edward78]

It already is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReFS


Other than completely scrapping it, I'm not sure what organisation it needs?

It already does have the 2 main trees you mention:

HKCU is the "User" tree (for the currently logged on user)
HKLM is the "System" tree

CURRENT_CONFIG and CLASSES_ROOT are largely just shortcuts to other parts of HKLM and HKCU, other users are stored in HKEY_USERS

I though ReFS wasn't bootable.

 

[Murphy]

It can be but needs a lot of faffing around, it's basically a lack of development.

MS seem more focused on eye candy than actual technological improvements (IMO).

 

[Edward78]

It can be but needs a lot of faffing around, it's basically a lack of development.

MS seem more focused on eye candy than actual technological improvements (IMO).

Hope that replaces NTFS soon, Windows need a new FS.

 

[Edward78]

It can be but needs a lot of faffing around, it's basically a lack of development.

MS seem more focused on eye candy than actual technological improvements (IMO).

Just seems by now, it would be mature enough to become the new Windows FS. I read server 2012 supported it.

 

[Armageus]

Hope that replaces NTFS soon, Windows need a new FS.

Why do you think that? What issues do you experience with NTFS?

Just think it would be bootable by now, I read server 2012 supported it.

Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11 v21H2 are the first versions that can boot it afaik

 

[Edward78]

Why do you think that? What issues do you experience with NTFS?


Windows Server 2022 and Windows 11 v21H2 are the first versions that can boot it afaik

Is it ready to be a complete replacement for NTFS?

 

[Rroff]

Rust is taking over Windows!

In this video, we'll be discussing the latest news about Rust's integration into the Windows kernel. This is a significant development, as it means that Rust...

www.youtube.com

Have 2 more projects for MS.

1. NTFS could use a big update. I am no dev., so no specifics.
2. The Registry, OMG organize that.
all it needs is 2 main trees System & User.

I don't get the buzz with Rust - it seems a less intuitive, less easy to read language than well written C/C++, sure on the other hand it may enforce a better written approach than you might get with badly written C/C++, likewise the security aspects, etc. it might enforce a higher minimum standard but again nothing which can't be accomplished with well written C/C++. Though I can see the attraction to a business trying to ensure a minimum level for the long run but ultimately I think that becomes a crutch for for the lazy and generates other problems down the line such as people not actually having a low level understanding of the why of something, etc.

 

[Throrik]

I don't get the buzz with Rust - it seems a less intuitive, less easy to read language than well written C/C++, sure on the other hand it may enforce a better written approach than you might get with badly written C/C++, likewise the security aspects, etc. it might enforce a higher minimum standard but again nothing which can't be accomplished with well written C/C++. Though I can see the attraction to a business trying to ensure a minimum level for the long run but ultimately I think that becomes a crutch for for the lazy and generates other problems down the line such as people not actually having a low level understanding of the why of something, etc.

I think lots of it is some of the frustration of writing C, and partly because it's ancient and people want new things to work with. Which Rust is gonna be great for, at least in the short term. C has stood the test of time however, and the Lindy Effect is fully in place with it. I think it's good to have Rust come into things like the Windows and Linux Kernel and see if it can compete with or replace some of the antiquated C code. There's also the challenge that getting the committee to do anything new in C is a bloody nightmare.

I think using the argument of "nothing which can't be accomplished with well written X" is a bit of a dud though, competition is good, and C is so vast, widely distributed, supported and has so much tooling that it'll take years and years for Rust or whatever supersedes Rust to get anywhere near that, but adding support to use them is great, whether that will be fully embraced is another matter. I'm also not sure your low level understanding argument is correct either, it has all (or most) of the low level features, even if it tries to avoid raw pointers they are there - it just has the higher level features that lots of people want too.

All in all I think things will continue to be written in C for decades, but it's great to see some of the younger people embrace Rust and see what they can come up with too.

 

[Armageus]

Is it ready to be a complete replacement for NTFS?

No but for 99% of desktop Windows use cases, does NTFS really need replacing?

You've still not answered why you think Windows needs a new Filesystem, or what issues you have with NTFS?

 

[Rroff]

I think lots of it is some of the frustration of writing C, and partly because it's ancient and people want new things to work with. Which Rust is gonna be great for, at least in the short term. C has stood the test of time however, and the Lindy Effect is fully in place with it. I think it's good to have Rust come into things like the Windows and Linux Kernel and see if it can compete with or replace some of the antiquated C code. There's also the challenge that getting the committee to do anything new in C is a bloody nightmare.

I think using the argument of "nothing which can't be accomplished with well written X" is a bit of a dud though, competition is good, and C is so vast, widely distributed, supported and has so much tooling that it'll take years and years for Rust or whatever supersedes Rust to get anywhere near that, but adding support to use them is great, whether that will be fully embraced is another matter. I'm also not sure your low level understanding argument is correct either, it has all (or most) of the low level features, even if it tries to avoid raw pointers they are there - it just has the higher level features that lots of people want too.

All in all I think things will continue to be written in C for decades, but it's great to see some of the younger people embrace Rust and see what they can come up with too.

I find pure C frustrating but being ancient isn't necessarily a disadvantage - people seem to get far too locked into a mindset of newer = better. At this point IMO Rust will be more of a distraction than something which aids in getting Windows to a better place.

 

[Throrik]

I find pure C frustrating but being ancient isn't necessarily a disadvantage - people seem to get far too locked into a mindset of newer = better. At this point IMO Rust will be more of a distraction than something which aids in getting Windows to a better place.

I highly doubt that Rust will be a distraction in improving Windows to be fair, for the Kernel development I suspect there'll be R&D teams which are potentially trying things in Rust, but I highly doubt there'll be mainstream Rust implementations in there any time soon. Obviously we can see what's happening with the Linux Kernel much better, despite it being 'introduced' and nothing serious will be written for it, it just gives the opp - I assume the same will be happening in Windows if at all. C is here for a long time yet, as is assembly where it's needed.

I agree with you on C and it's ancient-ness not being a disadvantage, it's more the politics around it that's frustrating, the committee 'protecting' it can sometimes be frustrating etc. I wonder how much of the issues are kernel based though in Windows and not outside of that, not sure what everything is written in but know the kernel is C and Assembly.

Also newer is never better until it's no longer newer that's how it gets good with lots of fixes.

 

[FredFlint]

I find pure C frustrating but being ancient isn't necessarily a disadvantage - people seem to get far too locked into a mindset of newer = better. At this point IMO Rust will be more of a distraction than something which aids in getting Windows to a better place.

I liked C when I used it, its simpler than C++ which can be harder to read without lots of research. C++ is probably better for large projects though. I have played around with Rush and hope MS adds it to Visual Studio. Think Rust is a good option to have for doing services. The extra memory safety is a good thing as even the best programs can have bugs. For work, I now use .Net mostly so going back to C++ is always a big shock I am currently learning the Volkan API using C++ just for fun. C++ has changed quite a bit from when I last investigated it, I normally just use my old base code but its 25+ years old now so refuses to compile using x64(it does not like all the inline asm code).

 

[Rroff]

I liked C when I used it, its simpler than C++ which can be harder to read without lots of research. C++ is probably better for large projects though. I have played around with Rush and hope MS adds it to Visual Studio. Think Rust is a good option to have for doing services. The extra memory safety is a good thing as even the best programs can have bugs. For work, I now use .Net mostly so going back to C++ is always a big shock I am currently learning the Volkan API using C++ just for fun. C++ has changed quite a bit from when I last investigated it, I normally just use my old base code but its 25+ years old now so refuses to compile using x64(it does not like all the inline asm code).

To be honest my main frustration with C is actually string (char) handling :s though easy enough to learn there are some quite unintuitive ways byte data is handled and coming back to it from other languages I find I'm automatically starting to use higher level techniques before catching myself.

I actually quite like the simplicity of building my own structures, etc. in C and so on but that isn't very popular these days.

 

[Murphy]

No but for 99% of desktop Windows use cases, does NTFS really need replacing?

You've still not answered why you think Windows needs a new Filesystem, or what issues you have with NTFS?

Not sure about replaced as IMO that's a bit subjective, most people don't know something's a problem until it becomes one. Having said that, and off the top of my head, NTFS does have *some limitations.

The main one being its designed to be more resilient, having to take a 20TB drive offline to check the file system isn't great. Not to mention how screwed up metadata can really screw up an NTFS volume. Then there's the performance improvements but if you don't use mirrored sets, VMs, or cloning those won't be much use to you.

*Not limitations for me personally hence why i think it's a bit subjective.

 

[photoshop]

Just upgraded from Win10 to Win11 which went smoothly.

Is there anyway to resize the taskbar because its huge and i like it a little smaller?

Regedit of TaskbarSi no longer works on my latest build....

 

[slipd]

Hi guys,

Any way of ungrouping by date, my Home folder?

I've had a quick read-around and it looks like the only way to do it is with a script or some reg editing...

 

[Mujja]

On my Home folder the "group by" is also greyed out. Go in to another folder, change the view and group settings then in folder options select "Apply to Folder", or in the same location select "Restore Defaults", not sure if the restore will work.

 

[Gee]

Guys, can you do the 10 to 11 upgrade (offered via Win Update) only using a local account without having to faff around logging in with an email etc.? Some contradicting information from what I gather online but I only want a local account on my machine. Cheers!

 

[Rroff]

Guys, can you do the 10 to 11 upgrade (offered via Win Update) only using a local account without having to faff around logging in with an email etc.? Some contradicting information from what I gather online but I only want a local account on my machine. Cheers!

You can but MS are increasingly making it difficult and trying to trick/force/annoy people into an online account so may need to Google the various procedures.