Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I did 2 upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and 2 clean installs of Windows 11 in the last 4 days.
I am using a temporary M.2 drive for about a week so I decided to test drive Windows 11 by doing a fresh install on my desktop couple of hours earlier. Here is my initial impression after only using it for a short while:
- If you can, do a clean install which is typically my preferred method of installing Windows anyhow but upgrading 10 to 11 takes a lot longer than a clean install.
- Windows 11 is truly a candy coating, a lot of UI changes and not necessarily in a way I cared for
- Out of the box, it is actually seemed like a lame MacOS imitation with the Menu button and Taskbar icons being in the middle. It felt awkward at first.
Technically and logically though, center location makes much more sense than any corner but some will like it and some will not. Fortunately, changing this back to the good old left corner of the screen is easy (Screenshot: Win11 Taskbar Alignment - Center & Left)
Two things that annoyed me the most are the right-click content menu and changing default Apps!
To get the old right-click menu on any content, you will either have to:
Right-click on an object and then select "Show more options" (bottom entry)
- OR -
Single click on the object then hold SHIFT and then press F10 key
To some it may not matter much or they may even like the new, condensed menu better. I do, however, use a registry hack to add "Copy to..." and Move to..." entries to the list and also occasionally use the Copy/Cut/Paste options on folders so this just creates an extra step. Obviously not a showstopper but definitely a less efficient menu design compared to earlier Windows so it is a fail in my book (Screenshot: Win11 Right-click Menu)
Default Apps design is even worse. Windows 10 had it pretty good; you had a list of all the core apps that were currently associated with the file types on the system. So, to change the default browser, you simply locate the one on the list, click on it, then select the alternate one you wanted to use from the list of available ones it displayed. Either I am blind or Windows 11 got rid of that. It seems to give you only file type and link type. Neither is quick nor simple like the way it was with Windows 10. This is another fail which is actually a pretty big fail (Screenshot: Win11 Default Apps)
Even though, I believe Windows 11's Settings panel (Windows key + i) seems more logical, I am not sure which one I like better (Screenshot: Win11 Settings Panel)
Windows 11 doesn't seem to add any features or functions I cared for during my initial drive but it did seem to exclude or change certain settings and system menus in a way which I disliked.
I will keep playing with Windows 11 until my new drive comes then I will keep Windows 11 on my laptop to tinker with whenever I have free time.
So, is the upgrade worth it? For me, it is a "No" for the time-being.
Last edited by TurcoLoco; 10-18-2021 at 02:11 AM..
Thank you, TurcoLoco, for the excellent explanation. Given that, and my earlier thoughts on upgrading from an O/S that already works just fine, I'm fine with my decision to stay with Win10.
Again, thanks.
Darn. It appears I can't give you any rep right now.
Last edited by PNWlauree; 10-18-2021 at 02:15 AM..
- Out of the box, it is actually seemed like a lame MacOS imitation with the Menu button and Taskbar icons being in the middle. It felt awkward at first.
:
Thanls for your review. I only have one question. How is it like MacOS? I don’t see it from your description and pictures I have seen.
If it had taken me 4 tries, I wouldn't have done it.
And here are my thoughts after upgrading easily first try, in place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TurcoLoco
- If you can, do a clean install which is typically my preferred method of installing Windows anyhow but upgrading 10 to 11 takes a lot longer than a clean install.
This used to be a much bigger deal in the Win7 and prior days. 8-10 and now 11 it may take longer but it works perfectly fine. I think this has much to do with just how these OS'es are built today. And every single program I have used since I did the in place upgrade works perfectly fine. No issues.
Quote:
- Windows 11 is truly a candy coating, a lot of UI changes and not necessarily in a way I cared for
- Out of the box, it is actually seemed like a lame MacOS imitation with the Menu button and Taskbar icons being in the middle. It felt awkward at first.
Agree that it's very much a visual upgrade. However, I LOVE it. I think it's GORGEOUS. And yea, that menu being in the middle, just why MS? That totally does feel like MS copying Apple. Like, admitting it's the better way?!? Really?? Very first thing I did was put that on the left WHERE IT BELONGS.
But it is pretty. A proper well baked dark mode that puts a little color bar around a the active window for extra focus. Love. I like the icons for music and photos etc not being ugly folders now. The simple menu bar with icons in the computer browser is very basic and pretty and I'm cool with it. The rounded corners on open windows (also "Appley") is nice.
Quote:
Two things that annoyed me the most are the right-click content menu and changing default Apps!
To get the old right-click menu on any content, you will either have to:
Right-click on an object and then select "Show more options" (bottom entry)
- OR -
Single click on the object then hold SHIFT and then press F10 key
I love how different people are! I LOVE this. The #1 thing I use right click for is to OPEN WITH a different app, or CUT, COPY. It's SO much cleaner now. I LOVE that the default right click action is now 5 things.... instead of 50. Just one extra click to expand the list to see everything? I don't think it's too much to ask for the much cleaner and more concise smaller first click menu.
Quote:
To some it may not matter much or they may even like the new, condensed menu better. I do, however, use a registry hack to add "Copy to..." and Move to..." entries to the list and also occasionally use the Copy/Cut/Paste options on folders so this just creates an extra step. Obviously not a showstopper but definitely a less efficient menu design compared to earlier Windows so it is a fail in my book (Screenshot: Win11 Right-click Menu)
But CUT COPY and DELETE are already in that first click right click menu? Did you miss it? There's a row of icons across the top. Love. Love. Love. SO PRETTY.
Quote:
Default Apps design is even worse. Windows 10 had it pretty good; you had a list of all the core apps that were currently associated with the file types on the system. So, to change the default browser, you simply locate the one on the list, click on it, then select the alternate one you wanted to use from the list of available ones it displayed. Either I am blind or Windows 11 got rid of that. It seems to give you only file type and link type. Neither is quick nor simple like the way it was with Windows 10. This is another fail which is actually a pretty big fail (Screenshot: Win11 Default Apps)
Disagree here, too. You are talking about the default apps page that had like 6 things listed there?
EMAIL, BROWSER, VIDEO, PHOTOS.
How often were you going in there in W10? Me? All the time because for some reason Windows 10 would never recognize Outlook as the default. But I also set up computers for employees pretty frequently. How many times do I go there on my personal computer? Never. Once when I first set it up maybe? And never again. And the new Default Apps setting thing is MILES better then the previous one in Windows 10. I always hated that. It is SO much simpler now. Before you would go in here and there would be a list of 1,000's of file extensions... and that is still there if you like... but the section now defaults to Programs first. So I can select a program, select a file, and switch it to something else. That's neat.
Also it feels a little bit faster now and this is on an in place upgrade so it's not because it's a fresh install.
So far the only thing I don't like was the option for combining folders on the taskbar. I prefer "Combine only when full". That looks like it's gone.
Even though, I believe Windows 11's Settings panel (Windows key + i) seems more logical, I am not sure which one I like better (Screenshot: Win11 Settings Panel)
Quote:
So, is the upgrade worth it? For me, it is a "No" for the time-being.
And it's a hell yes from me! I was going to wait, but my Work PC is expendable and I had a slow afternoon last week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkf747
Thanls for your review. I only have one question. How is it like MacOS? I don’t see it from your description and pictures I have seen.
Thanls for your review. I only have one question. How is it like MacOS? I don’t see it from your description and pictures I have seen.
I believe Peregrine took care of that. Mainly, the center Start location and really amazing desktop colors and menu frame, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peregrine
If it had taken me 4 tries, I wouldn't have done it.
And here are my thoughts after upgrading easily first try, in place.
I should have made it more clear. I upgraded one of my laptops. I clean installed it on my desktop.
I did an upgrade on a Lenovo Ideapad 3 at work and after successfully upgrading it and running updates, etc. After the 3rd of 4th reboot, started getting BSoD. I had two different restore points on 2 different days and neither yielded a successful outcome. Windows Startup repair, etc. all utilities failed so I decided to do a fresh install. For some odd reason, Lenovo did not see the M.2 drive even the one it came with! Then I figured the related drivers were not included with the bootable media as Windows 10 install media also failed to detect the drive. Culprit was the "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" driver, short for IRST.
I download it from Lenovo's website, ran it as "extract only" then copied the driver folder to the root of the Windows 11 installation media. During the drive selection screen, you have to browse to the folder and select the top driver (there were two listed), and Bingo! (Screenshot: Win11 - IRST)
Quote:
Agree that it's very much a visual upgrade. However, I LOVE it. I think it's GORGEOUS. And yea, that menu being in the middle, just why MS? That totally does feel like MS copying Apple. Like, admitting it's the better way?!? Really?? Very first thing I did was put that on the left WHERE IT BELONGS.
But it is pretty. A proper well baked dark mode that puts a little color bar around a the active window for extra focus. Love. I like the icons for music and photos etc not being ugly folders now. The simple menu bar with icons in the computer browser is very basic and pretty and I'm cool with it. The rounded corners on open windows (also "Appley") is nice.
I agree, it looks really nice but I care more for compatibility and functionality, not to forget customizability.
Only time will tell who well the other 3 factors are with Windows 11. And each person may have a different experience with those 3 in mind.
Quote:
But CUT COPY and DELETE are already in that first click right click menu? Did you miss it? There's a row of icons across the top. Love. Love. Love. SO PRETTY.
Actually, noticed those later but still, any customization or new menu entry gets omitted.
Quote:
Disagree here, too. You are talking about the default apps page that had like 6 things listed there?
EMAIL, BROWSER, VIDEO, PHOTOS.
How often were you going in there in W10?
With Windows 10, you could select one of the core apps on the list and pick an alternate and Windows would automatically transfer all the file associations from the former app to the new one. Windows 11 didn't seem to do this. After selecting VLC Player or FasStone Image Viewer, I still had to go and individually and one by one change the association for a ton of other file extensions on the list. I actually checked this with 3-4 different apps and it was indeed the case. Once you set it, it is OK but doing this the first time is ridiculously tedious and time consuming!
I could see a 3rd party app or registry being created to manage this much easier and quicker.
Quote:
And it's a hell yes from me! I was going to wait, but my Work PC is expendable and I had a slow afternoon last week.
I believe Peregrine took care of that. Mainly, the center Start location and really amazing desktop colors and menu frame, etc.
.
I admit that I still don’t get it.
How is having it in the middle similar to MacOS? The other stuff I sort of get, but I’m missing the similarity between the two. MacOS doesn’t have a center menu. It’s not a big deal but i have seen others make that comment and i am not understanding that..
I believe Peregrine took care of that. Mainly, the center Start location and really amazing desktop colors and menu frame, etc.
@DKF... the Apple dock is centered on the bottom?!? Once you get a few apps open on W11 it looks just like that. The only difference being, W11 has a bar across the bottom that contains the icons.
Quote:
I should have made it more clear. I upgraded one of my laptops. I clean installed it on my desktop.
I did an upgrade on a Lenovo Ideapad 3 at work and after successfully upgrading it and running updates
Ohhhh. Gotcha.
Quote:
I agree, it looks really nice but I care more for compatibility and functionality, not to forget customizability.
Only time will tell who well the other 3 factors are with Windows 11.
I need and want these things, too. I haven't had any compatibility issues.
Quote:
With Windows 10, you could select one of the core apps on the list and pick an alternate and Windows would automatically transfer all the file associations from the former app to the new one. Windows 11 didn't seem to do this. After selecting VLC Player or FasStone Image Viewer,
That is strange?!? Maybe something broken there. Or were you dealing with unusual video or picture file types maybe?
Couldn't get a Snip of the right click menu so found one. Here's what we're talking about if you haven't seen it yet. I like it a low and will be keeping it. The row of icons across the top are your cut, copy, delete...
@DKF... the Apple dock is centered on the bottom?!? Once you get a few apps open on W11 it looks just like that. The only difference being, W11 has a bar across the bottom that contains the icons.
@DKF... the Apple dock is centered on the bottom?!? Once you get a few apps open on W11 it looks just like that. The only difference being, W11 has a bar across the bottom that contains the icons.
Sans the neat animation MacOS has with the Taskbar where when the cursor hovers over an app icon, its gets a bit enlarged and also lifted up.
If you can upgrade/get Windows 11 for free, it might be OK but I wouldn't pay for Windows 11.
Quote:
I need and want these things, too. I haven't had any compatibility issues.
Same here but then again, I am not an exotic user. I don't have must-have apps or hardware that I am using. That said, I do have a feeling if your app/hardware runs on Windows 10 without issues, it is likely to be fine with Windows 11, too. Innerworkings are much similar if not same between these two unlike Windows 7 vs Windows 10.
Quote:
That is strange?!? Maybe something broken there. Or were you dealing with unusual video or picture file types maybe?
No, it really is the case. I will double-check on my laptop but I am pretty sure that is the case.
Apps by Link type was even worse.
If you think about how efficient it was with Windows 7 and earlier where most apps were able to change the file associations automatically on their own should you choose to do so. Having to do this from Windows Settings console is an idiotic enforcement and not sure what benefit this behavior carries?
Quote:
Couldn't get a Snip of the right click menu so found one. Here's what we're talking about if you haven't seen it yet. I like it a low and will be keeping it. The row of icons across the top are your cut, copy, delete...
Friends can call my Vinny.
Those sneaky pop-up menus are tricky to capture so I typically hit the "Print Screen" key on the keyboard.
Then open Paint app and paste to entire screen capture there. Save it, then using FastStone, I crop the juicy part I want.
I still prefer the Win10 style much better. Just like Taskbar alignment, it'd have been great if it let you select which style you want as your default, you know?
I dislike MS forcing the changes onto users without no availability or option of changing this.
I really like Classic Start freebie that gives you bunch of different Windows Start Menu themes based on different versions of Windows. It should have been more like that. The more customizable/flexible an OS is, the more robust, intuitive and appealing it would become to the masses.
This is something Microsoft marketing people doesn't seem to get/fail at, imho.
Almost like saying "Our way or Highway (Linux/Mac/Previous Windows flavor)"
I upgraded an unsupported processor/machine at work to Win11. Actually did a clean install. Needed to test our software products on Win11.
No problems whatsoever. Easy to make Win11 look pretty much like Win10. Two issues I have.. The copy/paste being replaced with icons and no task manager right clicking on taskbar. The first, going to see if I can change, I hate that. The second.. Not so bad, right click on start gets it.
If you're worried about an auto-upgrade.. Turning TPM off in your BIOS should prevent it. That'll make your machine non-compatible.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
