Windows 10/11 Download

[harshness]

What is stopping you from upgrading to Windows 11?

Speaking for myself, there's too little to be won in changing Windows versions and some significant things lost.

Others have a similar view if the surveys showing Windows 11 declining in Worldwide penetration percentage are to be believed. Statcounter says that as of July 2024 (just over three years after its formal introduction), only 30.8% of Windows users are suffering Windows 11 while more than 3% are still rocking Windows 7. We're well beyond the honeymoon period and Microsoft still hasn't delivered all that they promised. Even Windows 8.1 made a surge for a short time last fall!

It is about what's best for us, rather than what's best for Microsoft. The stink of Windows version numbers has migrated from even to odd.

 

[HipKat]

Nothing -If it's not broken no need to replace it at the whim of MS

My first chordless phone with the pull-out antenna probably still works, too....lol

 

[HipKat]

Speaking for myself, there's too little to be won in changing Windows versions and some significant things lost.

Others have a similar view if the surveys showing Windows 11 declining in Worldwide penetration percentage are to be believed. Statcounter says that as of July 2024 (just over three years after its formal introduction), only 30.8% of Windows users are suffering Windows 11 while more than 3% are still rocking Windows 7. We're well beyond the honeymoon period and Microsoft still hasn't delivered all that they promised. Even Windows 8.1 made a surge for a short time last fall!

It is about what's best for us, rather than what's best for Microsoft. The stink of Windows version numbers has migrated from even to odd.

I guess but to me it seems like the best version of Windows yet. It's very fast, I can still use Linux - although I rarely do in the Windows Environment, the interactive choices work very well. I do ignore their cheap AI, but I'm just not enamored by AI yet anyway and anything working under the hood so far is not something I need to complain about.

Windows is probably losing steam, not because of upgrades, but MAC is still the go-to for a lot of applications and is more secure and Linux is slowly growing on more computer users because again, security, more options to customize and just learn more about programming, etc. I mean, Windows has very little learning curve anymore while Linux still has that for tinkerers

 

[harshness]

Windows has very little learning curve anymore

That Windows 11 has the learning curve that it does is one of the biggest beefs. Why should there be such an impediment placed on users -- especially when nothing seems to be cast in stone.

As for AI, it is going to be invading everything (unless you traverse a multitude of checkboxes and change their state on some hard-to-find dialog).

There's no learning curve for Windows 10 and while its interface isn't entirely consistent, it is all there and well-documented.

The recent dust-up with dual-booting Linux may be sign of stupidity to come and WSL remains pretty clumsy.

 

[HipKat]

That Windows 11 has the learning curve that it does is one of the biggest beefs. Why should there be such an impediment placed on users -- especially when nothing seems to be cast in stone.

As for AI, it is going to be invading everything (unless you traverse a multitude of checkboxes and change their state on some hard-to-find dialog).

There's no learning curve for Windows 10 and while its interface isn't entirely consistent, it is all there and well-documented.

The recent dust-up with dual-booting Linux may be sign of stupidity to come and WSL remains pretty clumsy.

The difference between using Win 10 and Win 11 is minimal. VERY little difference from what I see and most are just UI, for the most part. I still run old programs like Adobe Creative Suite 5 with no issues

 

[harshness]

The difference between using Win 10 and Win 11 is minimal.

As someone who does maintenance on Windows machines, the differences are substantial and annoying.

For someone who runs a few applications and browses the Internet, there isn't much new but if you get much deeper, it goes south fast.

For those running new Intel hardware, things are pretty slick but if you're running old hardware or AMD CPUs, there are some contrived issues built into Windows 11.

 

[HipKat]

As someone who does maintenance on Windows machines, the differences are substantial and annoying.

For someone who runs a few applications and browses the Internet, there isn't much new but if you get much deeper, it goes south fast.

For those running new Intel hardware, things are pretty slick but if you're running old hardware or AMD CPUs, there are some contrived issues built into Windows 11.

Now that Intel has patched its Bios issues. But too, most people are just end users who surf and game

 

[Foxbat]

But too, most people are just end users who surf…

Get a Chromebook. Especially if you’re Tech Support for the IT-challenged, don’t make them deal with Windows. If they can open a tab in Chrome, they’ll get used to the Chromebook. And you’ll notice a lot more quiet time…

Plus, when it comes time to upgrade, all they need to do is buy the new shiny model, log into their Google account, and that’s pretty much it. All the configuration options are stored in the Cloud, so they show up on the new machine.

 

[harshness]

Now that Intel has patched its Bios issues.

Know that this 0x129 patch is perhaps Intel's first official run at fixing the overvoltage heating problem. They're still hitting boiling temperature (100C) in testing so they may have to do more.

 

[harshness]

Get a Chromebook.

Not an option for console-style gamers. Gaming is one of the leading reasons that experienced home users keep Windows machines around.

My beef with Chromebooks is that they seem to have become rather expensive and their screens are typically sized for much younger eyes (the same is true of many Macbooks; on both counts).

 

[Foxbat]

Not an option for console-style gamers.

Which is why my quote stopped at ‘end users who surf’ and did not include those ‘who game’.

My beef with Chromebooks is that they seem to have become rather expensive and their screens are typically sized for much younger eyes

My one technophobe friend ran into this when she had to replace her original HP Chromebook. I think the 12” screen resolution was close to 1366x768, but the 15” Samsung replacement was full 1920 by 1080 and she didn’t like how small everything was. Fortunately, there is a scaling setting which got the text and screen icons to render in a size that was agreeable to her.

The Samsung is a much nicer Chromebook than the $149 HP she picked up from Best Buy. I found a special at B&H Photo for $229. The speakers are also much better than the cheaper HP, the screen has better contrast, it’s snappier. A very worthy upgrade, except for the “small” GUI elements which were addressed.

But, yeah, I see Chromebooks are pushing Windows notebook pricing. However, it’s still possible to get a 14” Acer with 1920x1080 screen for under $240.

 

[HipKat]

Know that this 0x129 patch is perhaps Intel's first official run at fixing the overvoltage heating problem. They're still hitting boiling temperature (100C) in testing so they may have to do more.

The work around is undervoting in the Bios settings which is not making power users and overclockers very happy

 

[harshness]

The work around is undervoting in the Bios settings which is not making power users and overclockers very happy

Overclockers are perhaps never happy unless they're pouring liquid nitrogen on their CPU.

 

[mdonnelly]

I had a "forced" upgrade to Windows 11 from Windows 10 on my government laptop around the beginning of January. I've been pleasantly surprised that my various engineering and documentation applications continue to run without issues. I wasn't happy originally with some appearance issues, but I've gotten used to it. Now they intend to swap out the laptop that I use for a newer model. I know that will cause headaches with re-installing applications, even though I have elevated rights on my laptop.

 

[harshness]

From an applications software standpoint (other than Microsoft applications), not a whole lot changed. Most of the changes were in the UX (and, in large part, not functional improvements).

I'll upgrade when my tax software no longer runs on Windows 10 (one of a few reasons I even have a Windows machine and that I'm running Windows 10).

 

["MysteryMan"]

2024-09 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 Builds: 22621.4169 and 22631.4169 for x64-based Systems (KB5043076) has been released. Moderate time needed for those wishing to perform a manual download/install/restart. Quality improvements only. No new operating system features.

 

[harshness]

Quality <> Security

• 30 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities
• 4 Security Feature Bypass Vulnerabilities
• 23 Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities
• 11 Information Disclosure Vulnerabilities
• 8 Denial of Service Vulnerabilities
• 3 Spoofing Vulnerabilities

Along with what they have tried to fix, there were four actively exploited zero-days (one of which has been publicly revealed).

One of the zero-days is in Publisher (resulting from an August update?) so that probably doesn't count for much.

Windows: The Swiss cheese of computer security.

 

[HipKat]

Quality <> Security

Along with what they have tried to fix, there were four actively exploited zero-days (one of which has been publicly revealed).

One of the zero-days is in Publisher (resulting from an August update?) so that probably doesn't count for much.

Windows: The Swiss cheese of computer security.

Btw, I use Arch….lol

 

[harshness]

Btw, I use Arch….lol

All of my real computer stuff is done on Debian machines but I still have to support Windows Pee Cees and servers.

 

[TRG]

The only way I'll go back to Windows is if they bring back the paperclip.