What's next for Windows?

[Essence Lumin]

Microsoft makes most of the money in the OS market selling Windows bundled with new PCs. By severely tightening the hardware requirements and limiting what currently-in-use hardware can run it, it will (in theory) drive large numbers of people to have to buy new equipment, and thus pay for new Windows installations.

I don't see anything about Windows 11 that would make people care about having it.

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

I don't see anything about Windows 11 that would make people care about having it.

Except for Windows 10 EOLing in four years. That one caught my attention, since I don't see myself being able to buy a new laptop any time soon. Oh well, I guess I'll just remove Windows entirely and run Linux full-time. I just won't be able to play Sims anymore.

 

[Clara D.]

Except for Windows 10 EOLing in four years. That one caught my attention, since I don't see myself being able to buy a new laptop any time soon. Oh well, I guess I'll just remove Windows entirely and run Linux full-time. I just won't be able to play Sims anymore.

I'll just be getting a newer cheapo refurb and switching this beast over to linux. I've been waffling about another laptop or getting a thinkstation -- I don't game when I'm out and about, so it would still be useful for portability.

 

[Romana]

Not sure if this has been brought up already, since I'm apparently further behind in this thread than I thought, but...

Microsoft makes no money allowing for free upgrades to their latest OS. I think the only reason they did it for 10 was to lure as many people as they could onto the new OS (plus also avoid the problems with people holding out until their current Windows 7 or XP installs rot), and they're extending it to Windows 11, but with significant hardware limitations, which brings me to:

Microsoft makes most of the money in the OS market selling Windows bundled with new PCs. By severely tightening the hardware requirements and limiting what currently-in-use hardware can run it, it will (in theory) drive large numbers of people to have to buy new equipment, and thus pay for new Windows installations.

Their "health check" sure seems to be steering people that way. I don't recall seeing any message about checking my BIOS for any settings. It just says "your PC can't run Windows 11. You might want to consider getting a new PC". That's not going to go down well with a lot of folks.
We'll see if M$ sticks to this. They can't think everyone can or will rush out and buy a new PC just to run Windows 11.
And do all the new PCs now come with those settings enabled by default? I'm guessing not, or not yet, unless M$ has been pushing for it. So people who buy a new PC and are expecting to be able to run Windows 11 are gonna be going "WTF?".
I'm not in a hurry, and I sure don't want to be a guinea pig, so I'll just sit back with my and watch the show.

 

[Clara D.]

Their "health check" sure seems to be steering people that way. I don't recall seeing any message about checking my BIOS for any settings. It just says "your PC can't run Windows 11. You might want to consider getting a new PC". That's not going to go down well with a lot of folks.
We'll see if M$ sticks to this. They can't think everyone can or will rush out and buy a new PC just to run Windows 11.

And right now is a bad time to build a new pc with problems with getting a GPU. Though personally my needs could be met with a 1060.

Eh, windows 10 doesn't go away for another few years, so there's time to decide.

And do all the new PCs now come with those settings enabled by default? I'm guessing not, or not yet, unless M$ has been pushing for it.

The ones that come with W11 preinstalled will. It's sort of a crapshoot with current ones.

 

[Noodles]

Microsoft makes no money allowing for free upgrades to their latest OS. I think the only reason they did it for 10 was to lure as many people as they could onto the new OS (plus also avoid the problems with people holding out until their current Windows 7 or XP installs rot), and they're extending it to Windows 11, but with significant hardware limitations, which brings me to:

I am pretty sure they were really hoping the store would take off.

Maybe the new Windows 11 store will be better, but the Windows 10 store is completely awful. I could rant on this but generally.

They need need need to police out the obvious bootleg apps. They don't even seem to remove bootlegs of their own properties, the dozen really blatant Minecraft takes, and games like Need For Horizon Speed Motorsport 7" where they do goofy names combining popular titles in the genre.

They should dump or seperate the media store. The front page really pushed media more than apps, except it's supposed to be the official app repository for Windows.

 

[Noodles]

I don't see anything about Windows 11 that would make people care about having it.

The most compelling thing is the Android App integration.

In general, I have no idea why there isn't an official "Android Emulator" of any kind that is easy to use in the first place. Bluestacks exists but it feels like some really nasty spyware.

 

[Romana]

The most compelling thing is the Android App integration.

In general, I have no idea why there isn't an official "Android Emulator" of any kind that is easy to use in the first place. Bluestacks exists but it feels like some really nasty spyware.

I had a look at my Android tablet, and I can't think of any of the apps I'd want on my PC. But I haven't played games on it in a while.

 

[Essence Lumin]

I had a look at my Android tablet, and I can't think of any of the apps I'd want on my PC. But I haven't played games on it in a while.

There's a good chance it wouldn't be available anyway. Windows 11 will only accept apps from the Amazon store or sideloaded. There are 460,000 at Amazon. There are 2.5 million apps in Google's play store.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

So far. I will be willing to bet a substantial sum that Epic will put a gamestore app on the Windows market. That is assuming Steam and Epic don't manage to create an install method from their own launcher. With MS allowing apps to use their own payment processor there is a lot of money to be made.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

It also requires Secure Boot be enabled in the BIOS. This may not bode well for some of us who dual-boot with Linux.

Depends on the distro, Fedora supports secure boot.

Oh well, I guess I'll just remove Windows entirely and run Linux full-time. I just won't be able to play Sims anymore.

Sure you will, Steam version has gold compatibility with Proton, Steams compatibility layer for Linux.
Failing that, there is always the console version, which you can play with mouse+keyboard if you want.

As for me, I only run Linux, but I do have a tpm module:

[CronoCloud@potos ~]$ tpm_version
��6V  TPM 1.2 Version Info:
  Chip Version:        1.2.4.32
  Spec Level:          2
  Errata Revision:     3

 

[Kalel]

They removed the health check app to "adress feedback" will be back in fall

Will Windows 11 Run on Your Computer? Here's How to Check

Not every PC makes the cut for Windows 11. See if yours does.

www.cnet.com

Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements

Windows Insiders, Today we’re releasing our first Insider build for Windows 11, and we’re looking forward to the insight that comes from you installing and using on a variety of your PCs. Last week’s

blogs.windows.com

 

[Free]

 

[Knutz Scorpio]

Pisses me off being forced off an OS that's been working perfectly fine for me (again).
Pisses me off that the computers I am very happy with won't run this new Winblows, and the common response is "just buy a new one"
Pisses me off that a Microsoft account may be required to run the new Winblows (The Verge 5/24/2021)

Probably going to die of a heart attack before this even comes out

 

[Noodles]

They removed the health check app to "adress feedback" will be back in fall

Will Windows 11 Run on Your Computer? Here's How to Check

Not every PC makes the cut for Windows 11. See if yours does.

www.cnet.com

Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements

Windows Insiders, Today we’re releasing our first Insider build for Windows 11, and we’re looking forward to the insight that comes from you installing and using on a variety of your PCs. Last week’s

blogs.windows.com

"This app is telling literally everyone that they can't use Windows 11 and there may be an easy settings toggle but no one can figure it out."

 

[danielravennest]

"This app is telling literally everyone that they can't use Windows 11 and there may be an easy settings toggle but no one can figure it out."

So apparently they didn't test the app on an assortment of machines, like they don't test their OS before rolling out an update.

 

[Ashiri]

So apparently they didn't test the app on an assortment of machines, like they don't test their OS before rolling out an update.

I think it's more ridiculous they didn't add more information about why the machine wouldn't run Win 11, because getting the machine into a state where it can run Win 11 might not be a major issue.

(I expect to have a Ryzen 5 2600 spare later this year when I upgrade the CPU)

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

IIRC the health app actually did include a message in the specific case that you failed the TPM test saying that it was possible your computer could be made Win11 ready and referring you to your mobo manufacturer or whatever.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

So I looked for a TPM for my computer, and they had sold out everywhere, then prices went insane, but I finally caught one at MSRP and ordered. Mostly to get the Android integration once Win11 is here.

The dev channel has hands on Win11, and as of now MS isn't enforcing hardware to install, so it has turned up on a Lumina 950Xl and Raspberry Pi 4.

 

[Clara D.]

IIRC the health app actually did include a message in the specific case that you failed the TPM test saying that it was possible your computer could be made Win11 ready and referring you to your mobo manufacturer or whatever.

Sometimes. It wasn't amazingly consistent, hence that third-party app.