AskWoody subscribers test Windows 11

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ISSUE 18.48 • 2021-12-13 LANGALIST By Fred Langa AskWoody members are experimenting with Windows 11 … and getting mixed results. Today’s examples: O
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lmacri, WarningU2, rc primak, abbodi86

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All those “tiny little speed bumps” can add up to major frustrations and productivity losses, especially in a business/small business environment. Still waiting for the “dot-one” version late next year or early 2023. Not interested in installing and configuring (and reconfiguring with each Windows Update) three or four third-party tweaking tools just to use my desktop and start menu productively. Also, not fun playing “hunt and peck” for screen shares during Zoom meetings.

-- rc primak

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I see scant reason why Windows 10 hardware drivers would not work in Windows 11.  There is one and only one annoying reason, namely, that Microsoft changed the driver model and/or driver APIs once again.  Otherwise, it’s a matter of sloppy packaging of the Windows 11 ISO, omitting something or other.

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Fred Langa had mixed results. On one older machine, the existing drivers worked just fine. But on one laptop which was supposedly able to upgrade, the Windows 10 WiFi driver did not work during the upgrade.

So no, not all Windows 10 drivers will work in Windows 11, it seems. Graphics drivers come to mind, but WiFi and others can also need upgrades. You can install and transfer Windows 10 drivers into Windows 11, and I am guessing most will work just fine. But you will probably run into an oddball driver or maybe a few, which will not work.

If a driver is not working when transferred form Windows 10 to Windows 11, upgrading (if a newer driver is available) will be the same process as in Windows 10. There’s not much change in the underlying driver infrastructure. Device Manager is pretty much the same.

A BIOS upgrade may also be offered for some Windows 11 eligible computers.  This may or may not be functionally needed, but it may be offered.

-- rc primak

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I’ve “hard” installed Windows 11 on several machines and have developed some affection for it. It’s going to stay on my machines.

More problematic is the interaction between Firefox Browser and some Microsoft sites where I must invoke Edge Browser.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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For the first time in my computer life (over 35 yrs), I have absolutely no intention of upgrading to Windows 11.   I’ll stick to Windows 10 to my grave.

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BobbyB

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I upgraded one side of my dual boot daily driver to Windows 11 on unsupported hardware November 4th.  I’ve tried virtual machines in the past, but on occasion found that the minor glitch I was experiencing was the virtual machine, not the OS.  I much prefer to see how the OS actually works in hardware, so I haven’t used a virtual machine in years.  As for risk-free, nothing beats an up-to-date drive image.

As for how Windows 11 is doing, I have no complaints other than the sucks-out-loud UI, and StartAllBack took care of that in the blink of an eye.  I’ve been using Windows 11 every day since (at the moment, included) and in my view, it is for all intents and purposes a very minor upgrade for Windows 10 21H2.

I haven’t used a Windows menu since Windows 7.  With StartIsBack for 8, 8.1 and 10, and now StartAllBack for 11, they all look pretty much the same.

Edited for clarity:  I used the Windows 7 Start Menu, just as I used the XP Start Menu before that.  When I upgraded to Windows 8, I installed StartIsBack, the Windows 7 Start Menu, which was disabled (not removed) in Windows 8 but all the requisite pieces were still there.  StartIsBack re-enabled it.  StartIsBack in Windows 8 ran without any additional process running—only resident Windows processes were required.

StartIsBack moved right along with the Windows timeline, with StartIsBack+ for Windows 8.1, and StartIsBack++ for Windows 10.  Now with Windows 11, the new version is StartAllBack.  All are from the same author and group of developers, and all can be configured as Windows 7/XP style Start Menu.  Hence my statement, “they all look pretty much the same.”  More in my reply to Will Fastie below.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Will Fastie

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bbearren wrote:

I haven’t used a Windows menu since Windows 7.

This is an interesting point.

I used to argue with an associate about the efficacy of the point-and-click model compared to the command-line model. Her point was that the majority (her analysis) of tasks were completed more quickly by typing commands rather than mousing “endlessly” through Explorer. She had a point, but I stubbornly stuck to my guns.

Today, I often hit the Windows key and just type something. Search is often quicker than digging through menus to find the clickable item. And it can even be faster than wading through my cluttered desktop, where I hedge by adding direct-access icons. I’ll have to get in touch and tell her she might be winning the argument after 35 years.

Nonetheless, I will miss the flexibility of the Windows 10 Start menu, which proved a workable compromise between the Windows 7-style and the bad choices made in Windows 8.

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AlexEiffel

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@bbearren meant he has replaced the Windows start menu with Startisback not that he is completely command line.

--Joe

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bbearren

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Will Fastie wrote:

Today, I often hit the Windows key and just type something.

StartIsBack++ and StartAllBack are both configurable as Windows 7/XP flyout menu.  Click the Start button and every installed program/app/Windows accessory is just one more click away.  I am a fast typist, but I’m not that fast.  On the other hand, I can also just start typing something after clicking Start.  If I want a Command Prompt, I right-click Start and slide my cursor up the Menu—two clicks, with the occasional acknowledgement of UAC if I want to use the Admin Command Prompt.

Will Fastie wrote:

Search is often quicker than digging through menus to find the clickable item.

“Digging through menus” is only sliding the mouse over labeled entries on the flyout Start Menu.  In addition, whatever I regularly work on has a shortcut on my desktop.  The items I use regularly are bunched in the four corners.  For example, being retired and on a fixed income, I keep track of my expenditures daily.  The only bill that I don’t have setup on auto-pay is my utility bill, because my little town doesn’t have anything online except for an unlinked website.

My monthly budget, income/expenses are on an Excel spreadsheet in my Documents folder, but I have a shortcut on the bottom right of my desktop.  I use Microsoft Money Plus Sunset edition, with five shortcuts on my desktop.  Every morning I launch Firefox from my Taskbar, click on the bookmark for my financial institution, navigate to my checking account and download a *.OFX file to the appropriate desktop shortcut.  I’m asked if I want to overwrite the shortcut, click OK and move to my Visa account and do the same.

Double-clicking one of those will launch Money in the appropriate account and import the file.  Then I launch my spreadsheet and update it.  I can do all of that with a few mouse clicks.  I only need the keyboard if I want to make a note on a spreadsheet entry.

I’ve spent more than twenty years massaging Windows into doing things my way, and upgrading to a new version of Windows only requires a few minor adjustments.  The vast majority of my routine maintenance is done in the wee hours via Task Scheduler.  Drive images are automated, data copies to multiple places are automated, Defender scans are scheduled, Malwarebytes Premium scans are automated, Disk Cleanup is automated.

I have a number of short cmd.exe scripts saved as *.cmd on my desktop in a vertical row that I’ve used since the XP days.  Right-click the file, click Edit, click and slide to select, right-click, click copy, right-click Start. click Command Prompt, click on the Command Prompt blinking cursor and it automatically pastes.  Hit Enter.  Not only is that much faster than using the keyboard, there is no chance of typo’s.  In other words, I’m still running Windows 7, it’s just that the underlying platform is current.

Will Fastie wrote:

Nonetheless, I will miss the flexibility of the Windows 10 Start menu

Your choice; StartAllBack can give that to you very easily.  Stay inside the lines, inside Microsoft’s box if you want to, but it isn’t at all necessary.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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