I had to upgrade to 11 for work (we're developing some win apps that must be W10 and W11 compatible). Nothing really earth shattering for me (although I don't game at all) I use my system strictly for development (web, sql and C#), email, word processing (occasional Excel spread sheets), and web browsing. I installed W11 on an MS Surface that I use both in the laptop and tablet mode. I also purchased a Lenovo Flex 14" 2-1 laptop for my wife that already had W11 installed (she's mostly an OSx and iOS user). Her use is mostly word processing, email, and web browsing.

My impressions:

W11 seems mostly like a fresh coat of paint on W10 when in a desktop mode. It is very much improved in the tablet mode. I understand that not much changed under the hood but the UI does have changes, some significant.

The task bar is a little different. The start menu and icons now appear in the middle of the screen. That can be easily changed to the left side of the screen. There is only one menu option available on a task bar right click and that is task bar settings. There is no provision for bringing up the task manager. That has been moved to a right click on the start icon. The right click menu has many options and once you get used to them that seems like a definite improvement. One last thing, the task bar is always docked to the bottom of the screen. It can be moved to the top by changing a registry entry via regeidt.exe. Some may shy away from that but it's really not a big deal.

The file manger has changed somewhat. A right click on a file now has icons for cut, copy, paste, rename, and delete. That context menu also has a "more options" which pulls up the trusty W10 context menu. I would suggest not using that menu and bite the bullet with the new menu. Took me about an hour to be comfortable with the new menu.

The desktop can be immediately accessed by a click to the bottom right corner of the task bar. That used to be a right click on the task bar. That took a bit of getting used to.

The Start Menu changes are significant. You'll either love it or hate it, there doesn't seem to be many in the middle. You can no longer create groups of apps. You can still add your own apps to it but no grouping. You can arrange the icons so they're grouped but no headings over a group. There is no list of installed apps that appear by default as they do in W10. There is now an "all apps" button that replaces your icons with an exhaustive list of applications. That list has a back button to bring back your icons. I've heard my team members really bitch about the Start Menu but to me it's just different. This will probably be a big deal to casual users too, since the Start Menu is used so often.

My wife's impressions:

She was always more Apple that Win except for her work machines. After using a 2 - 1 with Win 11 she's almost (key word there is almost) ready to ditch the iPad. There's also that Apple ecosystem, so don't throw an iPad way for a W11 2-1 The iPad is lighter than her Lenovo but W11 makes a 2 - 1 very easy to use. I would agree with her on that. She also likes needing one device for a tablet and a desktop (although both are somewhat compromised). Using my Surface in W10, it could be done but it was a bit of a struggle. W11 is much easier. The icons are spread further apart and are easier to tap.

Neither of us have had any issues with app compatibility nor have we hit a noticeable OS bug. We are pretty focused uses. She mainly uses Word plus a few other minor productivity enhancers. She actually does use the new Edge browser. From my observations it uses significantly less memory than Chrome. I may start trying Edge but I am a creature of habit and instinctively click Chrome.

I use some fairly heavy duty applications: Sql Server, Sql Server Management Studio, IIS server, Visual Studio, and PostMan (for Rest API testing). All actually seem to run a bit faster but that is a seat of the pants observation.

Overall, we like W11. It took me about 4 hours to get used to the changes but I am at my keyboard almost all day every day. W11 seems like a good next step in the touch screen and keyboard evolution. Casual users may hate being forced to make some changes and I don't blame them. It appears like MS could have implemented the good new stuff and left the old. My wife drew an analogy to her iPhone updates. The UI often changes with an update but why?

Either upgrading or staying in place with W10 won't be an issue for at least 5 more years. It could go longer if hardware manufacturers don't produce machines that meet the W11 specs. There's no big rush to make the jump unless you want to or are curious.

I'm looking forward to seeing other impressions from users who have actually used W11, lovers and haters are welcome .

Thank you, Bytes. I'm using many of those same apps and it's good to know what to expect.

To me, it’s about the equivalent of a whole number iOS update.

I find I use the Windows 11 search box more. Finding some things now requires 2 different menu clicks. I had to change quite a few settings to feel more like Windows 10. Overall not that big of change to me.

I haven't used it extensively but do have a new laptop with it on. A few things that stood out to me are the cut/copy/past options now have icons instead of the words in the windows explorer right click options menu as mentioned. Setting default apps seems to be no longer a one click option. Apparently they have decided that making you account for every file extension individually is the way to go

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:
I haven't used it extensively but do have a new laptop with it on. A few things that stood out to me are the cut/copy/past options now have icons instead of the words in the windows explorer right click options menu as mentioned. Setting default apps seems to be no longer a one click option. Apparently they have decided that making you account for every file extension individually is the way to go

I haven't had to set any default applications yet due to me upgrading from W10. You are correct and this is definitely a step backwards Link

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:
I haven't used it extensively but do have a new laptop with it on. A few things that stood out to me are the cut/copy/past options now have icons instead of the words in the windows explorer right click options menu as mentioned. Setting default apps seems to be no longer a one click option. Apparently they have decided that making you account for every file extension individually is the way to go

I haven't had to set any default applications yet due to me upgrading from W10. You are correct and this is definitely a step backwards Link

I agree, the ONLY improvement I have noticed is the use of Windows/Shift/S to launch the Snip service. To say that's a trivial improvement would be an overstatement.

There was talk of requiring everyone to use Edge in the future. Is that still a thing?

I saw a video about six months ago that said Edge was a breeze to set as the default browser and all others were a chore. I'm not sure if that is still true. They gave MS a lot of well deserved grief over that. My install currently allows any browser.

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I agree, the ONLY improvement I have noticed is the use of Windows/Shift/S to launch the Snip service. To say that's a trivial improvement would be an overstatement.

Will have to try that!

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
I saw a video about six months ago that said Edge was a breeze to set as the default browser and all others were a chore. I'm not sure if that is still true. They gave MS a lot of well deserved grief over that. My install currently allows any browser.

While they allow you use other browsers they are obviously making it painful to do so.

Another thing, if you want to setup a local account you have to open a command prompt to kill an underlying process to move to the local account setup.

"..hit Shift-F10, type “taskmgr” in the command
prompt window, and kill the process called “Network connection flow.”


https://www.extremetech.com/ex...with-a-local-account

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I agree, the ONLY improvement I have noticed is the use of Windows/Shift/S to launch the Snip service. To say that's a trivial improvement would be an overstatement.

Will have to try that!

Also in Windows 10.
Maybe it was added in an update but it is there now.

My experience: I wanted very badly to upgrade at least one of my 4 windows computers, but I found out that none of them are new enough to be able to run windows 11.

Most had TPM issues (I think -- it was weeks ago now). After spending some time (hours) on work arounds, I gave up.

My computers range from 5 years old to 10 years old. an i7, an i5, and the 2 others are very old dual core units. Asus, and Gigabyte mobo's and an 8 year old Lenovo laptop.

So that's that.

I wanted to add these statements to the thread to set expectations for others with old machines. --- You may waste time trying to get your hardware to work on Win 11 only to find that you really can't.

thanks

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I agree, the ONLY improvement I have noticed is the use of Windows/Shift/S to launch the Snip service. To say that's a trivial improvement would be an overstatement.

Will have to try that!

Also in Windows 10.
Maybe it was added in an update but it is there now.

Nice, thanks!

I have been offered the upgrade, and I learned it would work fine on my machine, but it is nice to get a review of what the changes are like.

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:

quote:

Originally posted by SPWAMike0317:
I agree, the ONLY improvement I have noticed is the use of Windows/Shift/S to launch the Snip service. To say that's a trivial improvement would be an overstatement.

Will have to try that!

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
I saw a video about six months ago that said Edge was a breeze to set as the default browser and all others were a chore. I'm not sure if that is still true. They gave MS a lot of well deserved grief over that. My install currently allows any browser.

While they allow you use other browsers they are obviously making it painful to do so.

Another thing, if you want to setup a local account you have to open a command prompt to kill an underlying process to move to the local account setup.

"..hit Shift-F10, type “taskmgr” in the command
prompt window, and kill the process called “Network connection flow.”


https://www.extremetech.com/ex...with-a-local-account

Thanks. I think the fact this is an issue will put me off from updating until the obstacle is removed.