Windows 11

[R. C.]

FYI

I decided to let the Win 11 upgrade happen on my new I7 PC.  Initial results are, damn it is fast.  The screen layout and graphics will take adjustment but the speed is very good. Applications open in less than half the time of Win 10. The boot sequence is quicker also.

R.C.

[Lynn]

I put it off. I'm about to publish something and I don't want to do it and then realize it was a mistake.

I'm glad to hear some good news about it, though. I just finally made the change from Windows 7 to 10 with my new laptop a couple of months ago.

[PJ Post]

Keep us updated.

Care to note your system specs?

[R. C.]

Keep us updated.

Care to note your system specs?

Sure: SysSpecs

R.C.

[PJ Post]

Your gear may be skewing the results.   

Graphics card?

[R. C.]

Your gear may be skewing the results.   

Graphics card?

NVIDIA GForce RTX 3060 Ti  w/8Gb VRAM

But, how can my gear skew my impression of applications loading faster and the speedy boot sequence?

R.C.

[PJ Post]

Your apps open even faster than before, which was probably pretty damn fast to begin with.

It's not skewing your perception, it's skewing how much of a resource hog Win 11 may be for other users with mere mortal slower systems. Win 11 requires a pretty robust system as I recall.

eta:   

[R. C.]

Your apps open even faster than before, which was probably pretty damn fast to begin with.

It's not skewing your perception, it's skewing how much of a resource hog Win 11 may be for other users with mere mortal slower systems. Win 11 requires a pretty robust system as I recall.

eta:   

Correct, even faster. I've been building PCs since the late 80s, this little "off the shelf" box screams.  With Win 10, Photoshop opened in about a quarter of the time of my old PC (i5 w/16Gb), and now it opens in three to five seconds!

R.C.

[Eric Thomson]

Well, I can't upgrade my workstation... Don't have TPM2.0
Don't really care. I'll run this one until Windows 10 is no longer supported then have my business buy me a new box with all the latest.

[TimothyEllis]

Don't really care. I'll run this one until Windows 10 is no longer supported then have my business buy me a new box with all the latest.

That's my approach as well.

Leave what works in place until you buy the next computer, then adapt because you have to.

No way am I upgrading until 11 is at least 2 years old, or you can't buy a new computer with 10 anymore, whichever comes first.

I'm not planning on a new computer anytime soon either. The current one is fully upgradable.

[RPatton]

I had to get a new computer and opted for the new Windows Surface Studio, which came with Windows 11. At first I was annoyed, but it was primarily because it's not Windows 10. After a few days, I fell in love it it. As RC said, it's super fast. And it's also a little more intuitive. Although, it does annoy me that Windows seems to think I'm a idiot with certain things, but overall, it's a great OS, a lot better than 10.

I wouldn't upgrade if you have anything big planned, but if you have most everything done and have OneDrive set up, you should be good to upgrade. I've even seen people upgrade old machines and raving about the unexpected performance. Overall, everything works better together. Yeah, there are some bugs, but I haven't encountered any of them.

If you're on the fence, or just trying to find excuses not to upgrade, I would say put them aside and bite the bullet. It's definitely worth it.

[TimothyEllis]

and have OneDrive set up

 

What has Onedrive got to do with it?

[Matthew]

Windows 11 Home requires a Microsoft account which might be annoying for some.

I have plenty of system resources to go around, but I don't plan on upgrading to 11 any time soon. I have an AMD processor so I'm waiting for them to fix the slower CPU performance.

Also one of the big things for me is it looks like the taskbar situation sucks. Someone tell me if it's changed, but it looked like you could no longer have labels for running apps. This would really annoy me since I tend to have 4-5 open Word documents. Having to click the word icon every time then select the window I want I think would drive me insane.

Overall the redesign looks pretty. But especially this early in the operating system's lifecycle there's no compelling reason to upgrade. Windows 10 will get updates until 2025.

[notthatamanda]

You hover over the word icon and you get little boxes that show you all your documents. It's easy to read the document file name. I've found it fine. One thing is when you click on the word icon it doesn't go right to your document, but I got into the habit of clicking on the firefox icon to get out of firefox and that took me right back to the word document I was working on.  I'm not trying to talk you into upgrading, but that's how it is working for me.

[R. C.]

re: OneDrive

For those not familiar, OneDrive is online (cloud) storage that is integrated into Win 10/11 and Office. 

As noted by Amanda, it works well.

Sometime ago, I lost a 300+ page manuscript when the connection broke during a save. The file was corrupt and the local backup was about 220 pages. Yeah, that was my thought also.  OneDrive has a backup feature. Everything is saved, to "shadow" storage. I googled "recover from OneDrive" and the process was cake!  The only loss was last hour of editing.

R.C.

Also, there is no "cloud," there is only someone else's servers and storage.

[Eric Thomson]

Also, there is no "cloud," there is only someone else's servers and storage.

Yep. And that's why I refuse to use OneDrive. He who controls the spice controls the universe. If it ain't on your own storage, you don't own it. Same reason why I don't use Atticus for writing, only for formatting.

[R. C.]

Also, there is no "cloud," there is only someone else's servers and storage.

Yep. And that's why I refuse to use OneDrive. He who controls the spice controls the universe. If it ain't on your own storage, you don't own it. Same reason why I don't use Atticus for writing, only for formatting.

I used to be right there with you, but I have a new acceptance of what is possible.  I "caved" and now take advantage of the ease of use and functionality many "cloud/online" services offer.  However, EVERYTHING is backed up locally.  Therefore, I control the Melange. 

R.C.

I so hope the remake is good...

[notthatamanda]

re: OneDrive

For those not familiar, OneDrive is online (cloud) storage that is integrated into Win 10/11 and Office. 

As noted by Amanda, it works well.

Sometime ago, I lost a 300+ page manuscript when the connection broke during a save. The file was corrupt and the local backup was about 220 pages. Yeah, that was my thought also.  OneDrive has a backup feature. Everything is saved, to "shadow" storage. I googled "recover from OneDrive" and the process was cake!  The only loss was last hour of editing.

R.C.

Also, there is no "cloud," there is only someone else's servers and storage.

Does this mean I am using Onedrive? I don't think I am. I am referring to having multiple word documents open at once. I save the documents on my laptop. I could be wrong, cause all this stuff is way above my knowledge base.

[R. C.]

...
Does this mean I am using Onedrive? I don't think I am. I am referring to having multiple word documents open at once. I save the documents on my laptop. I could be wrong, cause all this stuff is way above my knowledge base.

It is named "OneDrive" and usually requires a login.  Explorer or the OneDrive app will give you access if you have Office365.

R.C.

[idontknowyet]

I like the cloud but i also save to my computer and an external hard drive. then for a sanity check mail it to my editor. I might have issues.

[R. C.]

... I might have issues.

Don't we all?   

R.C.

[Post-Crisis D]

I like the cloud but i also save to my computer and an external hard drive. then for a sanity check mail it to my editor. I might have issues.

That would drive my editor insane since I save every revision. 

[RPatton]

I like the cloud but i also save to my computer and an external hard drive. then for a sanity check mail it to my editor. I might have issues.

I recently had a crash and had gotten super lazy about redundant backups. No longer. I use the cloud, my old 512 ssd drive (you can get a thing to use it as an external drive for $15), another external drive, and OneDrive. Right now I have no less than 5 versions floating around somewhere and all are easily accessible. After almost losing everything, it's not about having issues, it's about peace of mind.

[Lynn]

I have a tiny little .bat file I run every time I leave the computer that uses Windows' Robocopy to copy several directories on my computer to OneDrive. I use the same type of .bat file to make regular copies to two external hard drives, about 5 USB flash drives (I rotate a couple of them in and out of my purse), and a copy of every wip to a folder I sync to Google Drive. I log the output and take a quick look to make sure files actually copied. I also check a recently changed file on OneDrive or my other drives to make sure the files are there.

I am of a mind that you just about can't have too many back ups in too many places--and making sure those files are actually there is just as important as making sure I back up the files. :D I can always spare the couple of minutes to make sure my files are actually backed up when I work on my writing.

The thing about this and OneDrive is that it does mean I can't just open any old file there and expect to be able to work on it away from my main computer. I mean, technically I could, but then I'd have to worry about version control and getting the changed file off OneDrive before I change the master file on my computer, but it's totally not worth the risk.

However, the peace of mind I get knowing I have easily accessible backups of my important files is totally worth chaining myself to my main computer. I don't actually like writing in other locations anyway.

My son keeps going on about switching to Linux on his main computer, but whatever. Windows has its issues, but I like Windows better than the alternatives. I'll be upgrading to 11 when I have some spare time and no pressing deadlines.

[j tanner]

I have a tiny little .bat file I run every time I leave the computer that uses Windows' Robocopy...

NERD ALERT!!! 

Robocopy... good times...

[R. C.]

Linux works but it is too much hassle to keep it and all the apps "current."

I access my OneDrive on my main PC, my laptop, and my phone. 

NERD ALERT - The following is from the depths of geekdom.

I have 4Tb of local storage and a 1Gb internet connection with 1Tb of monthly bandwidth... so... Over and above the OneDrive automatic history, I copy everything to a couple of locations.

R.C.

[Lynn]

I have a tiny little .bat file I run every time I leave the computer that uses Windows' Robocopy...

NERD ALERT!!! 

Robocopy... good times...

It's because I can't remember how to use the command line to run things half the time. So, half-nerd here. :D Mostly I just decide I want to do something a certain way, then learn just enough to do it. :-)

[jaxonreed]

OneDrive does auto-syncing pretty good these days. It will convert your Documents, Desktop and Pictures folders to OneDrive folders so anything saved there automatically gets backed up to identical directories in OneDrive.

Windows 11 has versioning turned on in hard drive folders by default, from what I understand. You can do that in 10, too, but it's not the default setting. On rare occasion if you need to go back to an older version of a file, you can. I've not done it on a local drive, but I have had to on a SharePoint file several people had access to (and subsequently messed it up). Made me a fan of versioning.

Fun stuff.

[Lynn]

Anyone have experience with older software and the upgrade to Windows 11?

I've got some time and I'm thinking of updating to 11 now. But I run some older software on my computer, so of course that's a concern I want to look into before I get ahead of myself.

[RPatton]

Anyone have experience with older software and the upgrade to Windows 11?

I've got some time and I'm thinking of updating to 11 now. But I run some older software on my computer, so of course that's a concern I want to look into before I get ahead of myself.

I have one or two programs that I'd consider older software and haven't experienced any problems yet, but I also haven't used them too much. It was more about playing around and seeing if anything was glaringly broken. My guess is that most should be okay, except for the super old. (For what it's worth, one of the older software is Captivate, which is from 2019. It hasn't been updated and probably won't be from what I can tell. It's only 3 years old, but it did not play nice with Windows 10's latest updated and plays much nicer with Windows 11. The other program doesn't play nicer, but it doesn't poorly either. At most it's a touch bit slower, like it's trying to decide if it wants to play with Windows 11 or not.)

[TimothyEllis]

Anyone have experience with older software and the upgrade to Windows 11?

I'm guessing, but if it runs under 10, it should under 11.

But if you're asking about upgrading from say 8.1 to 11, then you could have problems. I found a lot of what I was running on 7 and 8 had to be updated to run on 10. That included Photoshop, but not Word.

[Lynn]

I regularly use software that was made for win vista LOL. When I said old, I meant old. :D

I have several tools I use that aren't being updated any longer (don't even have websites anymore in one case) and although I will give it up when I have to, I keep hanging on because it does what I want, the way I want it.

It doesn't mean I won't update, I just would like to be aware of issues with things that worked in 10 that aren't working in 11.

[RPatton]

I regularly use software that was made for win vista LOL. When I said old, I meant old. :D

I have several tools I use that aren't being updated any longer (don't even have websites anymore in one case) and although I will give it up when I have to, I keep hanging on because it does what I want, the way I want it.

It doesn't mean I won't update, I just would like to be aware of issues with things that worked in 10 that aren't working in 11.

I haven't found anything yet, but I don't have anything from Vista I do have a super old version of Dragon and that's the program that has been playing nice, but I am waiting for it to give up the fight.

[Lynn]

I've made the upgrade. The big test for me will be battery longevity. That's about all I care about now that I've seen the set up. It's like Windows 10 married to the rounded curves of Vista, LOL. It's plain and dull and gray gray gray. Sigh.

[Hopscotch]

I was happy w/Win7Pro until Win10 was forced on me and screwed up all my formatting apps and complicated everything else.  Every s/w upgrade is a disaster whose fixes take longer than I care to suffer.  I'll upgrade to Win11 when all the kinks have been worked out which is likely just before Win12 issues.

[Lynn]

That was me with Windows 7. But I have a new laptop, and if I'm going to have to suffer through Windows 10, I might as well suffer through Windows 11 and skip 10 all together.

[Lynn]

So far, so good. There have been a few little features in 11 that have surprised me in a good way.

I particularly like how you can compare images now when you open several at once. Just select them and it puts them up side by side for you. I immediately tried it out on some cover ideas.

I also like the multiple desktops feature, but that might have been in Windows 10 and I just didn't notice. Not sure. Still, I'll admit I like it for separating my writing docs from other things so I can alternate working on each without having to close out distractions between sessions.

Battery life seems okay so far.  My 7 day battery life chart doesn't show much difference. The troughs before Windows 11 look the same to me as the troughs after 11.

No strange shut downs, or bugs, or freezes. Gimp crashed on me once today, but I have a feeling that was me. Also, Gimp crashed on me often enough previously that I wouldn't blame it on Windows 11 without a lot of further testing.

The one thing I don't like is that I can't make the taskbar icons smaller as I could in Windows 10 without turning off scaling and then *everything* is too small.

Overall though, if I have to use either Windows 10 or 11, 11 is my preference at this point.