I’m asked several times a week about Windows 11 and if I’m doing a tweak guide for it. So, I imaged my rig this weekend and once again did a test drive of Windows 11…
Here were my first thoughts on Windows 11 Beta: Upgrading To Windows 11 Beta, July 30, 2021
My opinion of Windows 11 after 2 hours….
Taskbar is all screwed up and not customizable
Start10 doesn’t start but if you hit the Windows key it comes up
Explorer looks better
Networking is snappier
The widgets suck, the location is off, and if you set it it will reset after you clear browser history.
So far Windows 11 seems to give nothing special, takes away customization, and IMHO is harder to use. I’m not getting the point.
I made my immediate reaction to Windows 11 final pretty clear here: Windows 11…(nsfw)
I’ll use the points in this article to start: Cnet – Every Difference You Should Care About Between Windows 10 and Windows 11
Design and interface
“Windows 11 brings a brand-new, more Mac-like interface to the OS.”
Reason enough not to use the OS right there. If we were in grade school I would tell Windows 11, “You’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny.”
As I’ve said before Microsoft is once again pushing off a touch centric OS on desktop users.
And, why the hell can I still not add a custom Toolbar to the Taskbar?
Android app integration
Had that with Win10 and my Samsung Galaxy phones. Thought it would be cool, never used it beyond playing with it.
Better virtual desktop support
I use VMware Workstation Player. I can use the same virtual machines across computers and operating systems.
Easier transition from monitor to laptop
I don’t even get this point. I’ve never had an issue with this in Windows 10.
Microsoft Teams added to the Taskbar
Seriously? A shortcut is one of your major features?
Widgets (well, sort of)
No…just…NO.
Xbox tech to improve gaming
Gaming has always been one of the reasons to upgrade. Newer games work better on the newer OS. Twas ever thus.
After roughly a year and a half my opinion of Windows 11 is unchanged, “I’m not getting the point.”
The only reason I might do a Windows 11 Tweak Guide is for folks buying new computers. I’m still mulling that over.
Thanks for the insights…. that’s kinda what I thought. As we say in Texas: “Big hat; no cattle”.
I’m looking at a new desktop, but they’re all coming pre-loaded with WIN11. I’m assuming I can (and it’s easy and it doesn’t bork the system) down rev WIN11 to WIN10?
If WIN11 never gets real, I guess when WIN10 support ends, I’ll just do Mint exclusively?
“Big hat; no cattle”, isn’t that the Cowboys motto?
😛
I digress, I would check on the driver situation before downgrading.
I was an early adopter, and hoo boy. The decisions they made on the UI were absolutely terrible.
Even on 10 I had to use classic start, because the new start menu design was atrocious, and windows 11 makes it even worst. But now I needed a way to bring the taskar to the top of my screen since for some reason it wasn’t a feature out of the gate, I still have to use win 10 volume controls just to verify if my spacial audio is enabled. The user experience is such hot doggy doo.
The new context menu was unnecessary, and needed to be fixed. Luckily it was easy to get the old one back. I have my days where I will 7z a ton of files separately so the new context was both annoying and time lost.
I run a Ryzen 5800x, and for some reason windowsband AMD cannot get their shit together in windows 11. I remember having to buy a $30 tpm chip because ftpm was causing infrequent stuttering. Luckily that was fixed since those external tpm chips are pretty finicky, it eventually died on me when ftpm was fixed. The idea that I even need that level of security is beyond me, my opsec is not great but I also haven’t seen any bad actors on my pc since windows xp. Doesn’t make me bullet proof but the choice should be up to me, same with securely, that is extremely limiting since it actually controls what you can and cannot do with your pc. It doesn’t matter if you approve of that driver, secure boot wants to keep you safe 😀. Thanks microsoft for protecting me from particularly nefarious software such as but not limited to lowering latency on my gamepads.
Windows 11 is the inevitable future, unfortunately. I am just glad there are people out there that release software to make it bearable.
I find it hard to believe that all those AMD/Win11 things were an accident…
I have had a new laptop pre loaded with W11 home for just over a month, and it has taken me more than a weeks tweaking to make it usable. There was so much bloat that I think I must have removed half the programs it came with.
Its now in a usable state, but W10 is better all round, which is what is staying on the Desktop.
Most annoying bits left to sort out include the right click menu, quick access to the Audio controls and task bar icons not sticking.
If I came to Windows with know knowledge I would assume that W10 was the upgrade and W11 the original
Never mind, its better than Vista 🤣
“If I came to Windows with know knowledge I would assume that W10 was the upgrade and W11 the original”
LMAO, so true!
Eric, I see what you mean on the negatives of Win 11 but working in IT I try to always update immediately and had upgraded my 3 machines as soon as Win 11 had been released to the public just over a year ago now. Luckily I’m all Intel and didn’t have to worry about the initial AMD issues. I’ve wondered about a Win 11 tweak guide but for the most part I’ve applied a lot of what I have in the purchased Win 10 Tweak guide. First thing I changed after Win 11 install was that Apple Mac toolbar look. Luckily, that can be turned off. There’s a couple of the App removals from your Win 10 guide that no longer work in PowerShell on Win 11, no biggie (*people* & *xbox*). Stuff like user accounts/control, libraries, page files, power options, still tweak well. M$FT is still trying to eliminate local accounts but I was still able to do it after a lot of fudging. If you approach the challenge of a Win 11 tweak guide, start with the 10 guide and just remove what doesn’t work. I’m sure along the way you’ll find some new stuff to add. There was also a lot finagling I had to do with the PC that didn’t have the recent CPU that M$FT wanted. Luckily they offer ways and tweaks around that. Since I’ve been on the OS for so long, I don’t even notice the differences any more. Everything I’ve put on it software-wise works fine. I’ve even got (2) 2TB M2 drives linked together for my OS drive. Regards, Steve
You’re a true GEEK my friend!
Strong and Proud for over 25 years…… 🙂
Hi Eric, a little late with this but agree about Windows11. Have a newer laptop that met requirements so did the upgrade(?)from 10 to 11, only to learn it and help others with problems. Mostly eye candy and interface differences with a little less function. Lack of size adjustment to the taskbar is stupid that can be changed in the registry, but alignment is off. Win11 isn’t bad but I like 10 a little better, plus 10 has finally matured into a really good OS. Tweak guide would be awesome for 11 but know its intense and very time consuming!