Are you happy with Windows 11

I started using PCs in 1991, my point being that I am not young anymore. My PC is just for home use at this point video editing being the most intensive thing I do. My wife just does light work on hers. Frankly, I had been running Windows 7 on this very machine until yesterday when I decided to upgrade only after I accidently formated my data drive (I had a backup.) However, during setup I moved both the Users and App Data Folder to a separate internal HD and having lost those and being unable to recover, forced me to have to reload the OS and hence the decision to go to Windows 10.

For those curious, Windows 7 has been just fine since Windows stopped supporting it. I have not had any security breaches on this machine running it in Legacy Mode. I do run Windows 10 on a new laptop that is capable of running Windows 11. The only reason I might get new hardware for my wife is because she is younger than me and I want her to have a system that will last if I depart this world first. But, I am not sure whether or not the cost and aggravation of building a new PC for her and setting it up is worth it. Our systems are only 9 years old. (If its not broke, don't fix it is kind of my way of doing things...for the most part.) We live to a world, especially the tech one, in which we are pressured to buy new equipment even when the old item is still working. I find this true especially with Smartphones. Ostentatious Consumption lol. Pardon me for the digression.

I would like to know whether or not people like Windows 11. (This might be the wrong place to post this because of confirmation bias lol. Those who like Windows 11 are on this Forum and have chosen to stay here. I still find active members on the Windows 7 Forum so I am certainly not alone as a fan of that OS.)

Also, if you can think of any reasons why I really should get a new PC for my wife, please chime in.

Windows 11 is just fine. i moved back to Windows after 20 years using Ubuntu Linux.
there are ways to install Windows 11 on older systems using Rufus, a ISO burning program.

if you can post or fill in your computer specs then i am sure there are more then a few here that will help, aid and assist in anything that you may have to ask.
best of luck, Steve ..

My issue is not lake of USB 3.0 support which I have on the machine. (Though not my main line of work, I used to do a lot of IT type stuff.) The issue is that btoh motherboards are identical. They do not support TPM 2.0. That is the main problem. The other is that even though the AMD processor is fast enouogh and is 4 core, it is not listed as supported (although that may just be because they did not test it.) But I can't get around the BIOS issue.

I had a dual boot machine with Linux once and we run Zenix, a Unix variation on our billing PC back in the 90s. I am surprised you gave up Linux because I think in many ways it is better than Windows. It's just that these days most people newly getting a PC just fall into the Windows trap lol.

TPM 2 can be bypassed with Rufus while creating a bootable USB ISO of Windows 11.
its the CPU SSE4.2 requirement that cant be bypassed on Win 11 24H2.

if you could inform us of your system spec's then i am sure help, aid and assistance could be better targeted.
best of luck, Steve ..

I'm content with Windows 11.

Why not start a poll? To avoid lots of whinging, make sure to offer as many choices as you can think of, up to the max, which is ten.

I like Windows 11 and prefer it to Linux (Ubuntu, Mint and all the other flavours). I will never buy an Apple compter again because they treat their fanbois with utter contempt and the software available is expensive,

The top selling office software for Apple computers is Microsoft Office because it is better and better value. That must tell you something.

If I won the lottery, I might buy a top-end Apple just for fun, but as I only use a computer for web browsing I doubt if I would find any advantages.

I added my system details. Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4130 Quad-Core Processor3.80
I don't think it has SSE4.2
BTW, I disconnected my optial drive awhile ago. Facinating how quickly it became obsolete! However, I connect it on occasion to look at medical imaging. However, I have run into a number of medical offices these days that don't have optical drives on their computers. Hospitals have not gone to using USBs because of the expense.

kelper said:

The top selling office software for Apple computers is Microsoft Office because it is better and better value. That must tell you something.

Click to expand...

It tells me that the Apple suite is free on Apple devices (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers).

pseymour said:

It tells me that the Apple suite is free on Apple devices (Pages, Keynote, and Numbers).

Click to expand...

So, are you a fanboi?

kelper said:

Why not start a poll? To avoid lots of whinging, make sure to offer as many choices as you can think of, up to the max, which is ten.

I like Windows 11 and prefer it to Linux (Ubuntu, Mint and all the other flavours). I will never buy an Apple compter again because they treat their fanbois with utter contempt and the software available is expensive,

The top selling office software for Apple computers is Microsoft Office because it is better and better value. That must tell you something.

If I won the lottery, I might buy a top-end Apple just for fun, but as I only use a computer for web browsing I doubt if I would find any advantages.

Click to expand...

I thought about starting a poll but I thought that limited me to only questions that I could think of. This way, people are free to comment about anything they ran into that I did not consider.

The funny thing is that even if I purchased or built a new machine for my wife, I would probably just use the backup image of Windows 10 and all her programs and the "redeploy to new hardware" componant of Macrium Reflect that I created. I used to use Acronis True Image 15.0 which I still have. They are both similar but I prever the Macrium at this point.

I do have something I found years ago called Mustang PE which someone created to work in the pre Windows enviornment that I find very useful. It has Acronis on it, A file program, comand prompt all of which allow me to accomplish a lot without having to boot into windows. Initialize disks, use diskpart, and easily look at the file system.

AndrewGernsback said:

I added my system details. Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4130 Quad-Core Processor3.80
I don't think it has SSE4.2
BTW, I disconnected my optial drive awhile ago. Facinating how quickly it became obsolete! However, I connect it on occasion to look at medical imaging. However, I have run into a number of medical offices these days that don't have optical drives on their computers. Hospitals have not gone to using USBs because of the expense.

Click to expand...

It does have SSE4.2. What makes the opticals less useful is the ability to use a larger capacity flash drive via USB. However in some environments IT will disable the USB ports for security reasons.

Not at all but had no choice other than buying used. Thankfully the Win11 laptop is not my daily PC.

AndrewGernsback said:

Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4130 Quad-Core Processor3.80
I don't think it has SSE4.2

Click to expand...

No, you're good to go. It does have SSE4.2

Bree said:

No, you're good to go. It does have SSE4.2

View attachment 121179

AMD FX-4130 Specs

Zambezi, 4 Cores, 4 Threads, 3.8 GHz, 125 W

www.techpowerup.com

Click to expand...

You are the Best! How did you find that so quiclkly. I have Rufus. I assume you make a bootable USB. Where are the instructions for the bypass. (Still not sure if I am going to do the upgrade, especially after spending an entire day setting this PC up again

make a Rufus bootable Windows 11 24H2 USB.

best of luck, Steve ..

AndrewGernsback said:

You are the Best! How did you find that so quiclkly....

Click to expand...

There are plenty of sites like techpowerup that list processor specs. I just Googled your processor and picked one...

AndrewGernsback said:

I have Rufus. I assume you make a bootable USB. Where are the instructions for the bypass.

Click to expand...

Personally I just make the same registry changes that Rufus uses, but if you use Rufus to make an install USB with all the bypass options selected, then you can run Setup from that USB from within Windows to start the in-place upgrade.

AndrewGernsback said:

(Still not sure if I am going to do the upgrade, especially after spending an entire day setting this PC up again

Click to expand...

Always make a full system image before you start any upgrade, that way you can just restore it should you need to. My personal choice is Macrium Reflect, there's a link to get Reflect Free direct from Macrium at the bottom of post #1 here: Latest Macrium Reflect 8 updates

Others find Hasleo Backup Suite a useful alternative, but there are many other imaging options available.

I am more or less content with Windows 11 Pro too.
I don't want AI nor any use for it for me... for now... lol..
I last used Windows 10 on my main rig..
and Windows 7 Ultimate before that.
Windows XP Pro x64 on a PC from the LAN center I volunteered at.. went it sadly went under I was gifted a PC.
and Windows 2000 before that on an old Gateway PC...
Windows 98/95 and the first would have to be Windows 3.1 on my mom's PC.

I like Windows 11, it's fast, stable and does what I need it to do. Ok 24H2 is a bit buggy but so far I've not been affected. Let's hope Microsoft fixes the bugs as soon as possible.

Bree said:

Always make a full system image before you start any upgrade, that way you can just restore it should you need to. My personal choice is Macrium Reflect, there's a link to get Reflect Free direct from Macrium at the bottom of post #1 here: Latest Macrium Reflect 8 updates

Click to expand...

I used to use Acronis True Image 15 and created a pre Windows environment with something called Mustang PE. However, I moved to the paid version of Macrium Home several years ago which I prefer.

I forgot to ask. I have been separating the OS from Data since Windows 7 where I moved both the users and app data to a second drive. With Windows 10, I only moved the users folder. So, there is no reason to back up anything because I am always running separate backups of the Data and occasional of the OS.

To do the same thing with Windows 11, do I create a similar xml answer file or is there a separate method? I have not looked through the tutorials here yet.

I am reasonably happy with Win 11. I go back to a time when it was a novelty to have a hard drive in the computer, and used floppy disks to run a computer on DOS. I have had many versions of Windows. I liked Windows 7. Windows 10 (with Classic Shell) and Windows 11 Pro are my favorites. My current Win 11 Pro computer is able to edit 4K-60fps video in real time, and work with the largest still images, with a fast video card, and lots of memory (which could be doubled). This forum has helped in making it a good experience. There was a slight learning curve, but I didn't need to add a shell to Win 11 to see that the file structure and interface are very similar to Win 7, or the classic look. I have not updated to 24H2, although the OS keeps needling me to do so. Too many people on this forum are dealing with bugs in 24H2. I will wait until this gets cleared up, or until Windows forces the issue. Security is my key issue. Good luck!