Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements
blogs.windows.com
blogs.windows.com
From being forced to have a Microsoft account to being automatically logged in to Skype -- which I last used over 10 years ago and have no desire ever to use again -- to the horrible rotating tiles UI, the whole thing was creepy.
I chuckled on reading about Windows 11 running Android apps. Android is like Windows 7 to me--the end of the line.
The Raspberry Pi V may soon be enough hardware to run enough OS for most people for most purposes.
I'm relieved to be free of Microsoft's treadmill and keen to get off Google's. Nothing I've read about Windows 11 inclines me in the slightest to consider going back to Windows. Seems I'll be switching more people to Linux Mint (friends and family switched already v happy with it).
>As we release to Windows Insiders and partner with our OEMs, we will test to identify devices running on Intel 7th generation and AMD Zen 1 that may meet our principles.
At least they left the door open to just end up opening it up for those CPUs anyways, because it seems like there was no real reason for that requirement. Probably realized that they still sell hardware that doesn't meet the requirement.
What a communication nightmare.
Edit: You can't make this up. According to multiple comments in a reddit thread [1], including quotes there, this same blog post here included a claim first that 6th gen & AMD pre-zen will never be supported. This was removed.
No idea what Microsoft is doing there.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/o9oqha/update_on...
I don't know if the year of the Linux desktop will ever come, but if I had a gaming rig just out of reach of the required specs, I'd be hoping Valve would bail me out by 2025 - and I seriously think that could be the best first choice if they keep making up ground.
Given Wine and Proton, Linux gaming is pretty much solved at this point, with the exception of online multiplayer and a few janky late 2000s games. I switched to Ubuntu after Windows 7 went EOL and I've only really seen problems when trying to play online games that require kernel anti-cheat and don't allow modded servers. I'm planning to set up a Windows partition for some basic music production, but I'm unlikely to use it as a daily driver again.
It’s deliberate but it’s also short sighted because essentially every existing PC can’t be upgraded, which means everyone is stuck in the old version.
Microsoft’s first moves in the launch of Windows 11 are failed business decisions.
Their logic is sound…. They need to ensure they hardware partners are boosted by Windows 11.
It does not bode well.
However, if that were the sole or primary reason for these decisions the timing seems just stupidly way off: During the pandemic year PC hardware had one of its best sales years that many of the several previous years combined. The only thing that stopped/slowed the rapid pace of new hardware sales (to meet increased work-from-home and safe-at-home demands) was all of those sales have directly contributed to a massive semiconductor shortage that is now affecting every other industry.
You would expect Microsoft would be well familiar with this semiconductor shortage because Xbox Series S|X sales are way below expectations because of supply issue. The only thing avoiding a shareholder revolt on those short-term financials is that Sony is experiencing the exact same supply issues. (As are entirely unrelated industries such as the automotive industry.)
"We want to sell a bunch of new PC hardware for Holiday 2021" doesn't make any obvious sense right now given the semiconductor shortage. It might be that Microsoft and their hardware partners are just that myopic and/or think that we've still got 3 and a half months to sort out supply chains to meet a holiday rush?
Obviously cynicism leads to the conclusion that they may just be that short-sighted. On the other hand the arguments that they were doing it for performance and security don't entirely ring hollow. Windows 10 got a ton of flak for how much it slowed down due to mitigations against Spectre/Meltdown attacks, so there is probably at least some high possibility that Microsoft very much wants to try to push processor generations to jump some of the Spectre/Meltdown performance gaps. There's still the possibility that lots of new hardware sales is still a secondary goal or a "side benefit to make the hardware partners happy", of course.
I'm 100% ready to remove Windows on my main PC but, the main thing that is stopping me is the gaming aspect. I did see like a year or two ago there was some nice things happening (e.g. proton) but, I have games from other places other than steam and AFAIK proton isn't for 100% of games and stuff.
I would set up a Windows VM and run the games through that but, all the tutorials I've seen have like 2 graphics cards (one for Linux and one to pass through to the VM) and my current setup won't allow for that (had the system for 6 years now, maybe it's time for a full upgrade).
This should give you a pretty good idea. For example, Cyberpunk seems to run pretty well which is impressive considering how buggy the game can be even on Windows. Proton has been an excellent experience for me so far... And you can use it for non-steam games. It's just a fork[0] of Wine with DXVK and some other Wine "extensions" baked in.
[0] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton
Also good luck buying a new GPU in the next 4 years :)
And the GPU stuff is just insane, I was looking at buying a 3080 a month or so after they came out and was extremely disappointed that the prices were nothing like the MSRP :(