https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-21h2

Marla wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2021 at 12:29pm:


Thanks Marla. I've had a look at some of the changes and I don't see that there's much improvement for the occasional computer user like me.

Every good Marxist must have one.

Me, I LOVE my RISC laptop.

20 that is TWENTY hours of battery life!

Very LITTLE heat generated

Fast and responsive.

Apple always leading.

Not a big fan.

Mainly because my four-year-old, top-shelf i7 laptop won't run it
because its CPU isn't supported.

I'm understandably reluctant to spend another $2000+ for a new
computer when this one is still in good working order.

And yes - I DO need a high-end (therefore expensive) laptop due
to the fact that I do a lot of video editing, much of it in 4K, which
does require a powerful machine with decent graphics capability.

Kat wrote on Oct 28^th, 2021 at 7:38am:


Have to agree there, Kat.

I have 2 desktop PC's here, one with an older 4th Generation Intel i3-4160 CPU (Haswell) and the other with a 7th Generation Intel i5-7600 CPU (Kaby Lake) and neither of them will (officially) run Windows 11.

There are ways to 'force' the installation of Windows 11 on unsupported hardware but there's no guarantee it will work and then no guarantee that Microsoft will allow updates if you do get it to work.

I also have a little Lenovo laptop that I bought about 4 months back which I could run Windows 11 on since the CPU is on the supported list and it also has a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) built in (which is another of the requirements) but I really can't be bothered installing 11 at the moment. I do have Macrium Reflect image backups of both desktop PC's and the laptop so it isn't a problem to quickly go back to Windows 10 if something goes wrong trying to install 11.

Nah... stuff it... I'll stay with 10 for the moment, thanks. I also believe this whole 'unsupported hardware' BS is just another ploy with Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers trying to get people to buy or build new PC's just to run Microsoft's latest Windows version.

And, Microsoft does have prior 'form' with things like this - they 'artificially'stopped Windows 7 being installed on 7th Generation and above CPU's back in 2017 when they were pushing Windows 10 hard. Actually, they didn't stop Windows 7 being installed but they stopped people getting Windows Updates for Windows 7 with these processors (but, as always, there were/are still ways of getting around that as well).

I have found windows 10 to be the worst  virus I have ever had on my computer.
As bad a millennium they brought out, and quickly scrapped, several years ago.

Windows 7 seemed to be the most responsive and functional I have used.
But it didn't have the necessary ability to download everything on your computer while it's pretending to be updating.

This continual updating is a serious PITA,  I turn mine off and once a month I update.
It takes hours and there is never any improvement, usually I have to do a few fixes afterward.

If only the actually released a functional and fast platform.
But the geeks and boffins just out of school now have no idea how to make it work properly.

Wait until Windows 13.
It will be gender neutral and you will be required to name all 72 genders before you can log on.

I haven't used Windows for personal computing for 7 or 8 years now.

I just see no need for it.

Setanta wrote on Oct 28^th, 2021 at 8:05pm:


No. I don't like Apple.

And I hardly drink coffee.

I use Chromebooks.

Have half a dozen of them (two at home, one at Mum's, one at Dad's nursing home, one in the office, and a spare in the car).

Apple, Window, Linux; arguments about which is best remind me of arguments about which football team is the best.
I fled to Apple after being driven insane working with Australia’s largest Windows network in a security setting.
Haven’t regretted it for a minute. A brief experience with a friends latest windows system didn’t impress. Nothing in particular went wong but the look of the thing ? ERK!

Frank wrote on Oct 29^th, 2021 at 3:22pm:

Trust you to dump that odious amateur on us. Not many musicians (and I use the term very loosely) give me the absolute horrors. This one does.

Ayn Marx wrote on Oct 29^th, 2021 at 4:17pm:


Amateur? George was the highest paid English entertainer during WW2...

New Survey Confirms Over Half Of Business PCs Can't Install Windows 11

Quote:


I'm betting it won't be long now before Microsoft relents and allows most or all of these older PC's to run Windows 11.

So, let's see. Windows 11 has only been widely available for a couple of months and we're already seeing a pile of monthly security updates for it just like Windows 10 (and all other previous Windows releases).

https://www.windowscentral.com/november-2021-patch-tuesday-here-windows-11-and-1...

My question now is: what is the point of the strict hardware requirements plus TPM2 when it looks like Windows 11 users are going to have to jump through the same 'Patch Tuesday' hoops as Windows 10 users have to every month?

As I said earlier: I strongly suspect this whole Windows 11 hardware requirements BS is just a ploy to sell more new PC's. And, of course, to also sell Windows 11 licences for these new PC's seeing as most people (myself included) got Windows 10 for 'free' by using our Windows 7/8.1 keys.

Most of these older PC's that had the 'free' upgrade to Windows 10 are probably now locked out of the 'free' upgrade to Windows 11 because of 11's hardware requirements.

I also read somewhere that some believe the '8th generation and above' CPU requirement is because these later processors are not susceptible to Meltdown and Spectre and don't need software patches for protection (which slows the processors down) like the 7th generation and earlier processors do.

However, nearly 4 years after the entire PC world got its panties in a wad about Meltdown and Spectre I still haven't heard about ANYONE being affected by these vulnerabilities... which is also the case for the majority of these alleged security vulnerabilities we hear about every month.

But, I guess it keeps all of these 'security companies' gainfully employed and also allows Microsoft to keep a 'leash' on customers' PC's with the never ending updates.

I would prefer Microsoft to drop the stupid 'artificially created' hardware restrictions for Windows 11.

They pulled the same 'unsupported hardware' BS for Windows Update with Windows 7 for 7th generation and above CPU's about 4 or 5 years back when they were pushing Windows 10 hard (although there were/still are ways to get around it).

Speaking of which, I am seriously thinking about giving Windows 10 the boot and setting up a dual boot system I was using a few years back with a 'never connected to the Internet' Windows 7 and Linux Mint or Ubuntu for everything I need to do online - and I know how to get all of the 'extended support' updates for Windows 7 which have been released since January 2020 when 'official' support ended. 

6 years ago we had all sorts of third party programs and workarounds to stop Microsoft forcing Windows 10 onto peoples' Windows 7/8.1 PC's.

Looks like history is about to repeat with keeping Windows 11 off peoples' Windows 10 PC's.

Valkie wrote on Oct 28^th, 2021 at 6:09pm:


I think you will find that by the time Windows 12 comes out, the concept of wokeness and the 72 genders will have gotten pass the expiry date. People will be over it by then and have seen it as something of a 10-year phase.

The Heartless Felon wrote on Oct 23^rd, 2021 at 9:25am:


My machines are not compatible so its a no go for me. I probably would if I could but it is no big deal.

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 6^th, 2022 at 4:05pm:


I have Avast cleanup which I run regularly alongside cleanup and defrag and TotalAV checks..... keeps it running pretty smoothly.  Cleanup has a disc check so it spots any issues with the physical disc as well.

Clean up the memory first and then try.

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 8^th, 2022 at 1:16am:


Always a good idea to have a backup of passwords from Credential manager and if you use Chrome -  settings / advanced/ autofill/ passwords.

UnSubRocky wrote on Jan 8^th, 2022 at 1:44am:

Given the issues discussed here I’m left wondering why so many of you cling to Mr Gate’s spaghettiware.

Ayn Marx wrote on Jan 11^th, 2022 at 7:55am:


Same here.

I haven't used Windows at home for about ten years now.

I thought that I lost my yearly subscription to internet security. But I managed to reinstall the program with an update.

I am not that far away from transferring some RAM over to my current computer before I consider upgrading to Windows 11.

Much like mobile phones, you will be required to update every 5 years to keep up with the latest technology and applications. Otherwise, you won't be able to communicate with others.

Well, I decided to reinstall Windows 11 on this "unsupported" PC in the attached picture and set everything up pretty much the same as I had everything set up in Windows 10.

Taking a while to get used to some of the changes but so far I'm liking 11 and I don't plan on going back to 10. I've done all of the Windows Updates with no problems and so far I haven't seen a message about running on unsupported hardware appear on the desktop.

I'll be setting up my other PC shortly which has a new motherboard and CPU (both "officially supported" by Microsoft for W11) to replace these ones. At least I was able to reuse the RAM in the new motherboard.

I'd actually put Windows 10 on there already now I'm going to wipe it and put 11 on... never mind, it passes the time I guess?

I'm also in the process of putting Windows 11 onto my little Lenovo laptop which I've had for about a year. 

I've swapped PC's over and I'm now using the other one which has the new motherboard and CPU and is fully Windows 11 "compliant".

I've dismantled the older PC since my previous posts (I didn't particularly care for that blue case) and I'm getting a new case similar to the one on my desk right now. I'll reassemble it at a later date and I might get a separate desk to put in on with it's own keyboard, mouse and monitor rather than swapping PC's around every few weeks for updating, etc. I have a 21inch LCD TV here doing nothing at the moment that I can use as a monitor and I can also watch TV on it and also connect up my BluRay player.

I also have a little Lenovo laptop which I did a clean install of Windows 11 on last week and even though it fully "complies" with Windows 11's requirements it took ages to install 11 (the laptop only has 4GB of RAM and a slow Intel Celeron N4020 CPU) and then I spent another hour and a half trying to do Windows Updates on it and even though I was eventually informed it was "Up To Date" I found that I could no longer adjust the screen brightness (it was fine in Windows 10).

I gave up and put Linux Mint on the laptop and it was up and running in less than half an hour including installing updates and setting up Firefox and Thunderbird Mail (I've put a Windows 10 theme and wallpaper on it as you can see in the picture).

I only use the laptop for Internet and email while I'm watching TV in the lounge room in the evenings and Mint is just perfect for that.

The only problem I've had so far with Windows 11 on the main PC is the scanner for my 4 year old Epson XP-6100 printer and scanner won't work properly most of the time. Keep getting error messages about scanner not found or it's busy and in use (when it isn't).

A lot of people are having scanner problems with Windows 11 from what I've been reading. I'll just wait for an update or fix.

I have a big HP laser printer/scanner and that works OK with W11 so I can still scan things if I need to. I'm only keeping the Epson inkjet to print on those white printable DVD and BluRay discs occasionally... can't do that with a laser printer (the discs would probably melt even if there was a way of putting them through the laser printer.. lol).

I also bought a new adjustable monitor stand from our local Officeworks last week... I like the monitor up higher than it was on the original stand.

My BenQ monitor is nearly 7 years old.

It's a 24" GL2460 and I haven't had a bit of trouble with it in all that time, no dead pixels, uneven light or anything. It only has DVI and D-sub inputs (I use DVI which is the better of the two).

I've thought about getting a new larger monitor from time to time but this one is just fine for me... if it eventually dies I'll need a new one, of course.

Micro$oft keeps giving me build updates every few days or so. It's really goofy, goofy as in Mico$oft seems to create problems such as folders, speed, security and then dismantles them only to create new ones. These are major updates, too. It's been over a year-and-a-half now and still no Android apps you can run unless you want to purchase specific ones from where else...Amazon.


So I'm convinced now it's f - king garbage as seems to be the trade with most Mico$oft products. Widows 11 was a marketing scheme to get gullible consumers to buy their overpriced Surface tablets and it appears that has backfired.

I tried to do a windows 11 update last year on my old computer. My computer pood itself and has not been able to work since. But, I do not know if it was the computer doing that or the windows 11 changeover.

Marla wrote on May 18^th, 2022 at 5:37am:



Aahh Millie, you do enjoy your pooty calls...

UnSubRocky wrote on May 17^th, 2022 at 1:01pm:



You could try a fresh install on your old PC that pooed itself of the older Windows 10 via USB stick set up to install on another computer ...

Go with the download tool and follow the steps in "select Create installation media for another PC"




https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10

Oh, OK I had thought that the Windows 11 attempt had immediately pooed your PC.

No worries, please disregard my Windows 10 post. 

UnSubRocky wrote on May 19^th, 2022 at 11:51am:


In that case, the USB stuff mentioned above might get it going again because the PC "should" boot off the Windows media created USB.

I think there is the option to keep documents that were on the dead PC but all other software would be wiped if you went ahead with the fresh install of Windows via the USB.

Jovial Monk wrote on May 19^th, 2022 at 7:25pm:


I should be able to access my old files when I put the hard drive into the docking station that I have and hook it up with my current computer.

Well, assuming that I want to reuse my 7 years old computer, instead of taking it apart for spare parts, I will consider what you said.

As a young worker, I eagerly bought Windows 1.0

Here's what it did.

Loaded into RAM and displayed a GUI and mouse interface that only showed icons of applications you defined
If you clicked on an icon it launched the app, which were all character based.
But the Win 1.0 occupied almost all of the available 640K Ram so some of the apps could no load at all.

I kicked it off, dumped the purchase in the bin.

But because I worked for organisations that were MS based I had to use it at work.  The only two versions that were stable and half usable were 95 and Windows 7.

You cannot polish a turd.

I have 2 desktop PC's and 2 laptops.

Not long ago I had all 4 running Windows 11 (one of the desktop PC's was "unsupported" but it ran OK).

Today, 3 of the 4 machines are running Windows 10 again.

The only machine with Windows 11 left on it is the smaller laptop and that might be back on Windows 10 before too much longer depending on what "22H2" looks and behaves like.

Seems like "change for the sake of change" is the mantra at Microsoft (and a lot of other software companies) these days. Why keep changing and moving things around (and adding more and more useless cr@p) when something like Windows 7 was adequate and functional for most people?

I believe a lot of it has to do with keeping employees (or employees keeping themselves) "gainfully employed" - if they had nothing to do they would be out of a job.

Bobby. wrote on Sep 21^st, 2022 at 8:47am:


Exactly, but it was the best of the Microsoft systems.

Wat I sed.

random wrote on Sep 21^st, 2022 at 9:09am:



I remember doing some CAD design at work back in the mid 90s using Win95
and a new CAD package of software.
I had to save the results every 30 minutes as a file with a new name -
in case the computer failed with that "blue screen of death" -
that everyone saw on Win95 - usually once per day.
That saved me losing all my work many times.
If you didn't you could lose a whole week of design as
even the file you saved could be corrupted as well -
hence the need to keep multiple updated versions.

WinXP was a lot better and then Win7 - 64 bit was better still.
I now have Win10 - 64 bit and it's not bad but really no better than Win7.
I shudder to think of loading Win11 as I know
many of my important legacy programs won't work.

I thought I'd try Windows 11 yesterday;  I'm currently more than
happy with 10, but it's easy to roll back if you don't like 11.

I couldn't see even one advantage over 10.  Are there any?

I've had the task bar vertical on the left-hand side of the screen
for 20 years, but you now have put up with it fixed on the bottom
of the screen.  Doesn't MS understand muscle memory?

The default slider bars are too skinny, and too hard to click on
quickly.  I slipped into regedit and attempted to thicken them
up, but it only worked on some sites, or mostly not at all.

File manager has become even more clumsy for quick use too.

All in all it's a waste of time "upgrading" to 11.     Avoid.