Is Windows 11 really bad?

[Airbrushkid]

I am getting ready to build a new pc. I'm on Windows 7 still with no problems. Well I've heard that Windows 11 likes to spam you with AD's. Is there anyway to stop that crap. And you have to be online to install unless you get 11 Pro. Any help please.

 

[THUMPer]

No it's good. Use your windows 7 pro key to activate it even.

 

[pendragon1]

yeah its fine once you get used to it. you can turn off ad stuff, i dont get any. yeah home "needs" to be online but there are work around, posted around here somewhere... and yeah^^^, your 7 key will work fine.

 

[Airbrushkid]

I plan on buying Pro. FK them online crap. I might try 10. Thank you.

 

[THUMPer]

I wouldn't pay full price for win11. plenty of deals out there.

 

[Airbrushkid]

I have a good friend that use to sell keys here. But I heard he got Banned from here. I got a hold of him. He still sell keys but here. If I do get 11 Pro I can get it from him. I'm not paying $200.00 for it. And I will not using Home edition.

 

[grim4593]

Its fine.

 

[Executioner]

I'm running 11 on my Dell G5505 gaming laptop and it works fine. I did replace the desktop with Stardock. I could not get use to the new desktop and I found it confusing most of the time. On my Win10 machines, I'm running Open Shell. I'm tempted to buy a Pro key because this laptop is home version. All my other machines on 10 are pro only.

 

[Axman]

I plan on buying Pro. FK them online crap. I might try 10. Thank you.

You don't have to online it, at least, last time I did it. I just used an old-ass key on a local install and it worked fine.

Did that change?

10 is better until gaming makes 11 necessary. Get Open-Shell immediately.

 

[deaedius]

You don't have to online it, at least, last time I did it. I just used an old-ass key on a local install and it worked fine.

Did that change?

10 is better until gaming makes 11 necessary. Get Open-Shell immediately.

Correct you can bypass the online stuff. I use local account just fine. There are new things about Win11 that drive me a little bonkers like the right click copy and paste is not as simple as it was.

 

[ZodaEX]

Just stick with Windows 7. 11 has too much forced annoying stuff in it like being forced to group your apps in the taskbar.
99% of PC games and apps still work perfectly on it too, even if they don't list them as being compatible with 7. They usually run with better performance too.

 

[bigdogchris]

I actually have less changes to make to my Windows 11 installs than I do 10.

The only thing about 11 that I don't like is that they don't allow you to automatically show all notification tray icons.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

Just ordered a 12700k about to dive into win 11 64 bit can i get an iso image from microsoft and just use my key from 10 or 8 or 7 all the same? Or do i need to buy a new key?

 

[GotNoRice]

Just ordered a 12700k about to dive into win 11 64 bit can i get an iso image from microsoft and just use my key from 10 or 8 or 7 all the same? Or do i need to buy a new key?

If it's a retail key then yes, keys from Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 are basically interchangeable. If it was an OEM key, then it's attached to whatever hardware it was first installed on.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

If it's a retail key then yes, keys from Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 are basically interchangeable. If it was an OEM key, then it's attached to whatever hardware it was first installed on.

By any chance have the link the official latest version of free win 11 64bit iso image?

 

[vegeta535]

By any chance have the link the official latest version of free win 11 64bit iso image?

Just a Google search for Windows 11 media creation tool. It will download the latest image and make a bootable USB.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

Just a Google search for Windows 11 media creation tool. It will download the latest image and make a bootable USB.

awesome thanks should be fun

 

[gvx64]

I bought Win 11 Pro for my new build and it seems OK. Made more sense to go with win 11 over 10 since I figure that MS will cease supporting 10 sooner. That said, my big concern was the online account. I ended up following the instructions provided by GotNoRice below to avoid having to setup an online account which worked really well for my pro copy:

https://hardforum.com/threads/micro...to-microsoft-account.2017854/#post-1045285166

I am very grateful to [H] for this information, Microsoft has made it extremely difficult to avoid the creation of an online account which is my biggest issue with win 11. It's a used-car-salesman type of deception that I really don't care for. It makes me wonder what else they are doing that I don't know about but wouldn't approve of (eg. with my personal information and such).

 

[rhkcommander959]

I wish MS would stop making UI changes. Did they not learn from 8?

11 is fine after you add control panel, this pc, etc to the desktop, and get a tool to swap the Taskbar. I used one that let me swap to windows 7 style start menu, Taskbar etc. I hated the mac-center icons bar myself. I swap between 7 and 10 for work, 10 for gaming. I tried 11 for alderlake... after mods it's basically 10 again.

 

[Airbrushkid]

I bought Win 11 Pro for my new build and it seems OK. Made more sense to go with win 11 over 10 since I figure that MS will cease supporting 10 sooner. That said, my big concern was the online account. I ended up following the instructions provided by GotNoRice below to avoid having to setup an online account which worked really well for my pro copy:

https://hardforum.com/threads/micro...to-microsoft-account.2017854/#post-1045285166

I am very grateful to [H] for this information, Microsoft has made it extremely difficult to avoid the creation of an online account which is my biggest issue with win 11. It's a used-car-salesman type of deception that I really don't care for. It makes me wonder what else they are doing that I don't know about but wouldn't approve of (eg. with my personal information and such).

Thank you

 

[Airbrushkid]

I wish MS would stop making UI changes. Did they not learn from 8?

11 is fine after you add control panel, this pc, etc to the desktop, and get a tool to swap the Taskbar. I used one that let me swap to windows 7 style start menu, Taskbar etc. I hated the mac-center icons bar myself. I swap between 7 and 10 for work, 10 for gaming. I tried 11 for alderlake... after mods it's basically 10 again.

Thank you

 

[Domingo]

Like with most everything related to UI/UX, it's going to come down to personal preference. It's 95% the same as Windows 10, the changes are mostly to things like the start menu and details like rounded corners. They're also continuing to take things from the Control Panel and move (or duplicate) them to Settings. At this point, I almost never have to go to the Control Panel, which is like 12 years in the making.
Personally, I like the new look and layout to things, too.

 

[Airbrushkid]

Like with most everything related to UI/UX, it's going to come down to personal preference. It's 95% the same as Windows 10, the changes are mostly to things like the start menu and details like rounded corners. They're also continuing to take things from the Control Panel and move (or duplicate) them to Settings. At this point, I almost never have to go to the Control Panel, which is like 12 years in the making.
Personally, I like the new look and layout to things, too.

I'm still running Windows 7. I have 10 on a old laptop that stakes a coins. And on a Surface Pro 3. But I have them set to look and act like Windows 7. I hate the look of 10 and 11. Microsoft doesn't care. They think by changing the look it will more customers. Microsoft doesn't make a lot of money from their operating system anymore. They are making their money off their customers personal info. And buying habits.

 

[cjcox]

To me, the good news, is that Microsoft has been addressing many of the regressions in 11 vs 10. That is, things you can do in 10 that couldn't be done in 11. Apart from the TPM requirement and Microsoft's attempt at making you "have to have an account", that was probably the biggest issue initially with 11. It just wasn't fully baked. It's closer now.

At the end of the day (that is, eventually), you will be running 11+ or else you will be "available for use" by folks you don't know. SOP

 

[Domingo]

I think Windows 11 was rushed out for whatever reason, but the most recent updates have fixed my complaints. I still wish Android support wasn't worthlessly limited to that wack Amazon store, but that's not that big of a deal. The idea of going back to the Windows 7 interface sounds awful to me. Sure it works, but then again, so did Windows XP and even Windows NT. I'd like things to look like someone with some sense of design aesthetic at least looked at the OS before signing off on it.

 

[Algrim]

I was never a fan of the Windows 10 UI but after years of using it, it's not bad. Once you get to the applications you need to use, the OS UI disappears for the most part in the background so it's not usually an issue for me.

In regard to the online account, when we bought this laptop I tried to set up an online account and, for whatever reason, would never activate an online account so I have a standard offline account on this Windows 10 Home system.

 

[Airbrushkid]

Well I remember using Windows 1, ME, Vista. I remember them all from 1 and up. I don't use Windows for nothing but games now a days. And I video edit on MAC Studio.

 

[pendragon1]

In regard to the online account, when we bought this laptop I tried to set up an online account and, for whatever reason, would never activate an online account so I have a standard offline account on this Windows 10 Home system.

the online only for home thing was introduced last fall, iirc.

 

[ZodaEX]

I think Windows 11 was rushed out for whatever reason, but the most recent updates have fixed my complaints. I still wish Android support wasn't worthlessly limited to that wack Amazon store, but that's not that big of a deal. The idea of going back to the Windows 7 interface sounds awful to me. Sure it works, but then again, so did Windows XP and even Windows NT. I'd like things to look like someone with some sense of design aesthetic at least looked at the OS before signing off on it.

Nothing wrong with sticking to Windows XP if it does the job and is supported by your hardware. In my case my motherboard has full WinXP driver support, but my GTX 1650 card doesn't so I was forced to move to Win7 in order to use my new graphics card. It's a shame though, XP wasted a lot less space on my SSD. I can't even use my 30GB SSDs anymore for my Windows install which sucks.

 

[rhkcommander959]

To me, the good news, is that Microsoft has been addressing many of the regressions in 11 vs 10. That is, things you can do in 10 that couldn't be done in 11. Apart from the TPM requirement and Microsoft's attempt at making you "have to have an account", that was probably the biggest issue initially with 11. It just wasn't fully baked. It's closer now.

At the end of the day (that is, eventually), you will be running 11+ or else you will be "available for use" by folks you don't know. SOP

A good firewall helps keep old systems safer than not. Win11 doesn't play well with legacy games unless they've finally fixed that?

 

[cjcox]

A good firewall helps keep old systems safer than not. Win11 doesn't play well with legacy games unless they've finally fixed that?

My point is that it doesn't matter. Windows 11 will be supported. The rest won't. Running unpatched Windows is not a recommendation.

 

[Algrim]

the online only for home thing was introduced last fall, iirc.

While this is true, when I get the request to set up the online account every week it still won't let me. Considering it's my only Windows system I don't think I'm missing much.

 

[somebrains]

I like it primarily for wsl2 performance.

 

[MrGuvernment]

Just stick with Windows 7. 11 has too much forced annoying stuff in it like being forced to group your apps in the taskbar.
99% of PC games and apps still work perfectly on it too, even if they don't list them as being compatible with 7. They usually run with better performance too.

Do not stick with an old and insecure OS that is no longer patched...we get it, "less space an OS uses, the better! more important to have more free space than a secure, patched OS" as per your other thread.

I'm still running Windows 7. I have 10 on a old laptop that stakes a coins. And on a Surface Pro 3. But I have them set to look and act like Windows 7. I hate the look of 10 and 11. Microsoft doesn't care. They think by changing the look it will more customers. Microsoft doesn't make a lot of money from their operating system anymore. They are making their money off their customers personal info. And buying habits.

MS makes their money from enterprise and Azure, the catch is they get everyone using their desktop OS, their development tools and such, to get people sucked into the eco system, and thus, they continue to use their products cause they are used to them.

A good firewall helps keep old systems safer than not. Win11 doesn't play well with legacy games unless they've finally fixed that?

A good firewall does not stop a legit websites ad's from being compromised from the ad serve provider allowing a compromise through an unpatched exploit in Windows, because the OS is EoL and no longer patched. Or a user clicking links they should not have cause they got sloppy and were not paying attention. (There is no such thing as "i browse safe sites only!" any more.

If people are so against Windows 10/11, go to Linux, but please for gods sakes STOP using insecure exploited to heck and back OS's, you are literally part of the problem and why bot nets keep getting bigger and bigger.

 

[rhkcommander959]

A good firewall does not stop a legit websites ad's from being compromised from the ad serve provider allowing a compromise through an unpatched exploit in Windows, because the OS is EoL and no longer patched. Or a user clicking links they should not have cause they got sloppy and were not paying attention. (There is no such thing as "i browse safe sites only!" any more.

If people are so against Windows 10/11, go to Linux, but please for gods sakes STOP using insecure exploited to heck and back OS's, you are literally part of the problem and why bot nets keep getting bigger and bigger.

True I suppose, but I still use 7 for some work just fine. Adblocking is a thing too, I haven't seen ads in a long time but that is a whole nother' story.

An average user would be more at risk than a "power" user for sure.

 

[Axman]

You can make Win 10 run like Win 7 with Open-Shell, so why not?

The keys work fine.

 

[yourgrandma]

Only reason to use windows 11 is if you got a HDR screen then autohdr is a nice option but literally everything else is worse in the 8 months I've used it.
First my apps broke permissions on folders so when I did a system restore it destroyed my entire install.
Almost every update I have to reinstall my graphics drivers because of some reason I get glitches and the current issue now is all games stutter like hell and you have to disable some obscure holographicshell service every reboot.
The supposed scheduler improvements with alderlake are overstated and there is all sorts of odd issues with ecores i still run into with them taking priority instead of p cores on any obscure software or games makes me wish I never invested in processor/platform at all.

 

[Domingo]

Some things that used to constantly break for me in Windows 10 are no longer issues in 11. For instance, UWP apps like calendar/weather/etc. would randomly try to update themselves and just sit there with a gray bar below the icon forever. That happened to at least one app every major mid-year update without fail. Uninstalling them wouldn't work and they wouldn't run since Windows thought the system was updating them. I'd have to Powershell them away and the Powershell them back into existence every few months. Within my Start Menu folders, I'd consolidate a lot of icons into folders like "games" "multimedia" etc. instead of having a folder for every single program. Windows does not like that with certain apps. I'd have to SFC /scannow every month or two or otherwise Windows wouldn't install any system updates because it thought those apps were missing because the shortcuts were in another folder. As much as I wanted to like Windows 10, I found myself constantly troubleshooting and trying to get things to work the way I wanted.

None of those things are issues in 11. I have everything stashed in the folders I want, my UWP apps have been bulletproof, and I have yet to get a Windows update error of any sort. In general, it has been trouble free overall for my setup. Obviously YMMV with various configurations and hardware, though. One of the neater things about using Windows 11 (or 10 or whatever) is that you can still make them look like older OS's if you want. You can straight up make Windows 11 look like 7, XP, or even 98 if you want. You get new features, security, etc. too. Try doing that in reverse with an older OS. It's not so easy, and you're stuck dealing with security issues and newer hardware that won't work.

 

[Meeho]

If people are so against Windows 10/11, go to Linux, but please for gods sakes STOP using insecure exploited to heck and back OS's, you are literally part of the problem and why bot nets keep getting bigger and bigger.

No. If my Win 7 installs ever get compromised, I'll come here and personally apologize. Till then, from my cold, dead hands...

 

[MrGuvernment]

No. If my Win 7 installs ever get compromised, I'll come here and personally apologize. Till then, from my cold, dead hands...

What is funny is so many people said the same thing with Windows XP, Win 7 sucks, it is crap, I will never switch! You never hear of anyone running XP anymore.....

But, glad if you do, hopefully you stay safe and never get compromised in some way (I would not wish that on anyone!)
Can I ask, what is it you do on Win 7 you couldnt do on Linux? (gaming or just apps you own use?) If not gaming, you could run linux, and then just toss Win 7 into a VM and run it for what you need when you need it vs being your daily driver.