What’s a one paragraph explanation of why 11 is considered so much worse than 10 for someone who didn’t use Windows since 7?
For example, I have a pretty good gaming PC that plays Grand Theft Auto V at 4K and Elden Ring on low settings.
It no longer gets security updates. Microsoft has made the arbitrary policy that this hardware is too old simply because it doesn't have TPM 2.0 Secure Boot, and a certain generation of Intel or AMD CPU. They have decided it should go to a landfill.
Of course, I am more skilled than the average person, so I easily installed a hack to bypass these hardware requirements and get Windows 11 installed anyway. So I get security updates. But it's a matter of principle that I shouldn't have to use a hack.
Also, a lot of these comments are misunderstanding the question. Recall, Copilot, and ads are not the reason most of these people are opting for Mac instead of Windows 11. It's because they cannot install it legitimately at all. Microsoft said you have to buy new hardware, so they're buying new hardware.
There's stuff I don't like about Windows 11, but this feels kinda overblown. The hardware requirements are satisfied by almost anything from the last 10 years, which is still a decently generous support window. TPM 2.0 is probably worth requiring, not unlike the 64-bit migration back in the day.
As far as I can tell, Windows barely leverages the new features in TPM 2 for consumer versions and the code for TPM 1.2 still seems to be there. The intruction set also didn't meaningfully change, unless we're talking 2010 era chips.
I'm not using Windows on that desktop anymore so I don't feel too bad about it, but I can easily give my PC to a relative if I get a new one and they'd be able to keep using it for five or six years when it comes to performance. The only real obstacle is software support.
Computers older than 10 years includes the vast majority of computers ever built. It's an insane requirement and it's not one that other OS share.
And the solution isn't hard work for Microsoft, the risk is mine to take if I don't want to upgrade for better secure boot.
Anyway, I migrated to linux for my gaming PC, the last Windows PC I had, and it's going really well. Good riddance.
Bad example. Windows 10 computers continue to work just fine. They aren't going to stop turning on
Windows 10 LTSC IoT.
Here's the info I skimmed
"Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC is designed for devices that need to run a single task consistently and securely for many years, with minimal changes. Examples include ATMs, medical devices, point-of-sale terminals, and industrial control systems. This Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) version intentionally omits modern features and frequent updates to ensure a highly stable, unchanging operating system."
"The IoT version is sold exclusively through authorized Microsoft partners and has a different licensing model. It is not for internal use on general-purpose PCs and purchasing it from third-party resellers is likely to involve an illegitimate or stolen key."
"Microsoft does not officially support or recommend a transition from Windows Home or Pro to a Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC version for regular users. "
"Some game anti-cheat software has been known to have issues with LTSC versions of Windows, leading to potential game compatibility or stability problems. Dependency on the Xbox app: Games distributed via the Xbox app or Game Pass would be inaccessible. Many newer games also rely on components from the Xbox app for proper functionality, potentially leaving you locked out of a title even if you owned it on a different platform."
2. Microsoft recommendations serve Microsoft's interests, not necessarily yours. Look surprised when Microsoft "recommends" you dump your perfectly usable computer for Windows 11.
3. Microsoft will be fine no matter what you choose to do on your machine.
4. Look a little deeper into LTSC IoT. It's Windows 10 with security updates and most things work fine. Yes there are trade-offs. For me, who never installs aggressive ring-zero anti cheat software for games, it was a no brainer. I also don't care about Xbox or the Microsoft Store. Having these things stripped from my Windows install is a feature, not a nuisance.
Microsoft is wrong to do this. There is LOT of capable hardware out there which can provide value. The TPM 2 limitation is completely artificial, as you can install Windows 11 anyway with a quick hack and it will work fine.
We have an HTPC with hardware from 2008 (mainly the board and CPU) which runs absolutely great. It still manages to surprise us with how capable it is. We are going to use this thing until it absolutely dies with no hope for recovery.
Apple seems to get a lot of praise for long term software support and the latest iOS doesnt support hardware released before 2019 as far as I can tell.
In fact Linux is probably the only major exception to this, and if you need commercial support for 10+ year old hardware it costs $$$$
iPhone XR/XS that were released in 2018 indeed can't get the latest iOS (26.) The good thing is that security updates for the previous iOS versions (18, 16) usually roll for a year or more. Currently, iOS 15 (from 2021) is the oldest version still receiving updates (15.8.5 was released a month ago) and the oldest devices capable of running that are from 2015.
Not aware of this, and actually, it seems like the contrary. Apple repeatedly deprecates stuff and makes users and developers dance around a rather quick, and very unreliable software deprecation cycle which makes it terrible to do anything long term on Mac.
Plenty of examples for this. Just ask around.
A 2017 MacBook Air can only run MacOS 12 - which was unsupported last year, giving a total of seven years of support. Yes, you can run OpenCore Patcher if you want to stretch the definition of support.
Probably more relevant here is MacOS 26 doesn't support anything before 2019 either. And it's not because they dropped x86 support entirely, it still supports some Intel Macs. Just not many.
The 8700 that replaced it is also from 2017. The 7th gen was extremely short lived for whatever reason
As for myself, I didn't bother with Windows 11. Converted all my daily drivers who were still on Windows to Linux. On one machine I have a dual boot Windows 10 LTSC IoT just in case. This gives me 7 more years.
Example: "You should make a Microsoft account!" -> "You really need to make a Microsoft account." -> "Here's a full-screen Window begging you to make a Microsoft account, with a tiny skip button." -> "Here's a full-screen Window demanding you to make a Microsoft account, and if you want to skip it, you need to reboot and do this without a network connection." -> "You're going to make a Microsoft account if you want to use your computer. Just do it, asshole. (command line workaround)" -> "OK, fuckface, we tried the easy way, now we punish you with the hard way. Make that fucking Microsoft account whether you want it or not. I'm not fucking around anymore. YOU HAVE TO DO IT."
You can see this progression with basically all of their unwanted features.
It's a shame, really. Windows 11 has a whole bunch of nice-to-haves for development and gaming. They have one side making consistent improvements while the other makes the ecosystem as bad as they can.
Win10 came with the computer that I chose for home use because it was a cheap refurb with a touch screen. It's fine. My workplace has switched to Win11 and it seems fine. I'm practically ambivalent about the "platform wars" because I rarely interact with the OS.
I've read about issues such as: Growing amounts of telemetry. Requiring people to have a Microsoft account. Switching to subscription models for software.
But I think a serious issue is that there's a lot of hardware out there, that's not technically obsolete, but won't run Win11 for whatever reason. Being forced to upgrade your hardware opens up your choices, and now this brings Apple into play. I'm in this boat, though for me, Ubuntu may also be in play. If I have to give up my touch screen, my options open up a lot.
At my workplace, we were a Dell-only shop for many years, but now we offer either Dell or Apple. Even if only a percentage of people decide it's time to try Apple, that's still a lot of computers. Maybe something has changed that made it easier for corporate IT (at a F500 multinational) to support both platforms. My cube mate has a MacBook.
Being forced to use 11 at work convinced me to finally move to Linux at home. And for context, I was an early adopter of Vista, and remain a defender of it.
The privacy invasions grew in Window 11 and the advertisement of Microsoft products increased quite a bit. The start menu now works better (opens every time you press the button, which I had issues with on Windows 10). Many people didn't get a choice to upgrade, which also pissed people off.
For the more technical-minded, the mandatory Microsoft account also pissed a lot of people off. Haven't heard any complaints about that from people who can't name a preferred Linux distro, though.
I don't particularly like the UI redesign but that's low on the list of problems. And I haven't been blasted with ads and AI things as other people report but maybe that stuff is all in the Home edition.
Hardware-wise a TPM is now mandatory, which means a lot of systems that could otherwise run it fine are locked out.
The move to TPM 2.0 made a lot of TPM-capable systems incompatible. Arbitrary CPU support also didn't help; there is no clear reason why some CPUs made the cut and others didn't. Seems like a mix between fTPM 2.0 support and SPECTRE hardware mitigations, but MS never really clarified what their actual reasons were.
Without a cloud account, you are stuck on the OOBE setup screen.