Okay, so this blog post is just my completely unbiased thoughts of Windows 11 so far. I wasn't paid by Microsoft to write this, and I wasn't kidnapped or held for ransom to write this, or even had the same happen to any one of my family members where the ransom is I must give the honest answer about what I think about Microsoft Windows 11 so far, and whether or not this version of Windows is better than any of the "nostalgic" versions of Windows that I have used in the past, when they were the "current" versions of Windows, such as 3.11, 95, 98, NT 3.x-5.0, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, or even 10 for that matter.
Part 1. The Logo
Well, what can I say about the logo design? It's very flat for one thing. I guess it can no longer be said that it looks like a flag anymore, unlike the versions of Microsoft's OS which preceded it, which can/cannot be a good thing? I know that it seems like I probably didn't really say anything nice about the logo, but unfortunately I can't say anything bad about it, either. Because do you have something to say about it? Because I sure don't.
Part 2. The General UI Experience
Unless you bought your shiny new Windows 11 rig from an OEM, such as Acer, DELL or another fine computer manufacturer provided you didn't buy a Microsoft Surface, this Desktop configuration will likely greet you at your first boot. [Totally Not Illegal Method of Software Installation Redacted].
However, unlike the version of Microsoft Windows which immediately preceded it, Windows 11 obviously has gone back to the "One device to rule them all", approach again, which means Microsoft is trying to get as many people to use touch-screen devices as possible, and leave their fat fingers off the dang keyboard. Of course, not everyone will buy a touch-screen laptop since not everyone wants to. I mean, sure, some will get touch-screen devices, but that's just it. Touch screens aren't ideal for everyone and their dog. Some people feel that in order to be able to use their existing monitors with their new rig, the tower computer desktop has to have not gone into the pages of the history books.
And, of course, for me personally, I haven't yet been tempted to install a new UI which overwrites the default Windows 11 "New" Environment, so, I'm going to say, once you figure out how to move the Start button to the bottom-left of the desktop screen like it had been ever since back in 95, Windows 11's environment hasn't been all that much of a learning curve versus Windows 10.
Of course, the Start menu design looks somewhat better than 10's. I mean, it's not like many of the annoying things that existed in 10's ever really went away - but, I can't say that the Start Menu design for Windows 11 is a one-night stand result between a Linux desktop distribution's environment and the Windows 8 screen. It's actually more like a constant steady relationship between the Linux desktop environment and Windows XP's desktop environment. Also, I believe that the atomsmasher Error Generator is permanently gone, so no more creating fake Windows Errors of the most over-rated Windows version in all existence, Windows XP. Windows XP's final nail in the coffin has been made, so to Windows XP I say, "Rest in Piss, Forever Miss." and probably only make sure that it only lives on in either virtualization or machines built specifically for the purpose of running one game only and the title in question is --- Monopoly Tycoon. I mean, I tried running it on 10, and it pretty much ran the same as it did on Vista - 8.1, so I don't think I'll bother wasting my time running that old strategy game from the '90s on my shiny new laptop.
Another thing which I'm happy about with Windows 11. No more Internet Explorer. To be absolutely clear - Internet Explorer was a relic of a browser from a much more caveman, and primitive, and simpler time. Internet Explorer, despite it being a browser for most of the 90's and 00's, ended up being the butt of many memes, so much so, that when Microsoft noticed that not very many people had history lists longer than a page and it was just for use of downloading another browser, which for years before Microsoft Edge even entered the scene would have been either Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Opera, that Microsoft had to make a new browser just to kill off Internet Explorer. Of course, not everyone will have been using Edge as their one & only Internet Browser, so Microsoft having done this development of a browser in 10 to carry over to 11 as the only default - Really changed nothing. So, I am going to say, "good job on accomplishing nothing."
It almost makes me want to say that if they really thought they could get me to dump Firefox from being my browser of choice - (And some people's other preferred browsers from their choices) they failed that task.
Like, remember when I said in my opinion Windows 10 was the OS of the year of 2020? Well, Windows 11 doesn't get that distinction, which is actually a good thing once you think about it. It actually is probably going to be the OS of the year until the next big thing from Microsoft comes, or subscription-based Windows ever becomes a thing and subscription-based Windows will have a harder time trying to become an "OS" of the year any year.
So, in other words... tl;dr about the Windows 11 user experience:
- Greatly improved overall all-around experience vs. Windows 10.
- Internet Explorer, Rest in piss forever miss.
- This OS has a startup sound?
- I have absolutely nothing to say about the Windows 11 logo. Mainly because it looks like a window more than older versions of Windows.
Of course, nothing is perfect because nobody's perfect...
Part 3. Oh, come on! No version of Windows before has required these Security Measures.
Prior to the release of Windows 11, no version of Windows before required both the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 + Secure Boot. However, this likely is a new feature in Windows 11 (& not a bug unfortunately) and will likely be here to stay for Windows versions in the future if and when Micro$oft actually do make newer versions of Micro$oft Windows past 11 like there is now.
This basically means older hardware which has none of those features shouldn't theoretically be able to run Windows 11, but then again - it probably is not going to matter since most of these older devices will either be running Linux of some fork if the person that bought the older device is savvy enough, or probably at some e-waste center to be condemned to die since every microchip and other part on it has operationally failed anyway.
Or, certain other machines that had been made with older pre-10 OS in mind would be better utilized powering an Arcade system instead of doing productive things, and not be running an OS except an arcade fork ever again. I mean, before you say, a PC is overkill for an arcade cabinet, then if you ever look at the underside of an arcade cabinet, chances are you will find some things that desktop computers and home computers are powered by. Just like how stock cars (for the time being) have the same Internal Combustion Engine, that a lot of passenger cars had from the dawn of the technology of the automobile until Electronic Fuel Injection became a common standard for most automotive engines.
Of course, it's often been said that the future will only have electric cars, due to the concerns with the environment, so, the last of the ICE cars are going to be like the Tyrannosaurus Rex at the end of the dinosaur age -- doomed, but going to fight until the very end.
Do I think less of Windows 11 for requiring TPM + Secure Boot? YES! Does that mean I won't use it? ...
(The above GIF is your answer to that question. Now stop bothering me already.)
Before I proceed much further on today's blog post, I must first spend some time talking about "Secure Boot." first of all. What is "Secure Boot?"
The UEFI 2.3.1 Errata C specification (or higher) defines a protocol known as Secure Boot, which can secure the boot process by preventing the loading of UEFI drivers or OS boot loaders that are not signed with an acceptable digital signature. The mechanical details of how precisely these drivers are to be signed are not specified.[61] When Secure Boot is enabled, it is initially placed in "setup" mode, which allows a public key known as the "platform key" (PK) to be written to the firmware. Once the key is written, Secure Boot enters "User" mode, where only UEFI drivers and OS boot loaders signed with the platform key can be loaded by the firmware. Additional "key exchange keys" (KEK) can be added to a database stored in memory to allow other certificates to be used, but they must still have a connection to the private portion of the platform key.[62] Secure Boot can also be placed in "Custom" mode, where additional public keys can be added to the system that do not match the private key.[63]
Secure Boot is supported by Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022, and Windows 11, VMware vSphere 6.5[64] and a number of Linux distributions including Fedora (since version 18), openSUSE (since version 12.3), RHEL (since version 7), CentOS (since version 7[65]), Debian (since version 10),[66] and Ubuntu (since version 12.04.2).[67] As of January 2017, FreeBSD support is in a planning stage.[68]
(Definition from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface#Secure_Boot)
Did you get all that? Basically it's a part of the UEFI that stops digitally unsigned alternative operating systems from even being allowed to execute. Although Windows 8 - 10 would work just fine on a system with "Secure Boot" switched off and kept off, Windows 11 on the other hand, absolutely needs secure boot, however as a consequence of Secure Boot, a shorter list of OS can only be run on Secure Boot. So, don't decide you're going to spend $1,000+ on your shiny new DELL and hope to be able to put a version of Linux which primarily isn't Fedora, (version 18 or later), OpenSuse (since version 12.3), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (since version 7.0), CentOS (since Version 7.0), or Debian (since version 10.0), or Ubuntu (12.04.2 or later), which is not digitally signed.
Which I guess if you wanted to run Windows 11, that would be just fine. But, say if you wanted to run a different fork of Linux which doesn't have the required digital signature to allow you in, then tough luck since Secure Boot will not allow you to do it, and you might as well just say if it was an OS-based emulator front-end, download the software for Windows to use instead.
Part 4. Productivity.
Although some people will be using Windows 11 for productivity quite seriously in the real world, I personally doubt it will be very useful for me personally. Why? Well, for starters - Windows 11 is 64-bit only, which if all the productivity hardware that I needed to run ran on 64-bit hardware just fine; then I would have no reason to require 32-bit OS to run the programs that would have no modern 64-bit versions available.
However, thanks to the existence of a program on my personal network which actually does require "32-bit hardware..." then keeping it somewhat maintained & working may prove to be a herculean task now, considering that working parts aren't easy items to come by which may be remotely compatible with 32-bit hardware, which means I'll probably need to try to find a way to find the 32-bit compatible components, which might make the task while I still have the means to find 32-bit hardware to run my 32-bit software and what not for the time being a Herculean task. If I must run 64-bit software to be secure trying to function with sign shop equipment, I might as well just cut my losses, sell off all the equipment at a loss before the equipment seizers come to permanently remove it off my hands for free, and that would only be if finding 32-bit hardware capable software would be a Sisyphsusian task to get working.
And then there's the question of my eventual career change from merely a museum volunteer to something else that might not require so much commuting time - I do not wish to be employed by a Disability Day Program which doesn't do desk work.
I think it's time I leave the walled cloud garden of Windows behind once and for all, and start learning to live without certain digital functionality. (e.g., the ability to run tablet apps natively using the Microsoft Store. I mean, it's probably possible to virtualize it if I absolutely need such things in my life.)
(And I don't care if you think me saying "Penguin" all the time means I'm a fan of a Batman villain. I'm not necessarily a DC Comics reader. I do use my phone/tablet to read comics, but I use the free comic app called WebToon. It's a great useful little program for times I have to go to the doctor's office so I can have something to read since I can't exactly go to the Doctor's Office anymore to read the old magazines since there haven't been any there since the COVID Pandemic of '20.)
I'm also not going to be editing any slideshows using a Microsoft XBOX system. Don't even bother asking me to do so, since I'm not going to. If you want my vacation photos from this year so damn much, I'll probably just save them on a memory stick for you to see them all and probably not use Clipchamp which is a video editor which costs money. I'm probably going to want to use OpenStep which, like Clipchamp is a video editor, but it's free. As in you can pay donations for it if you want, but I don't get annoying ads or stupid messages in the inbox saying how excited they are to have me on the mailing list to use.
Part 5. Finale - Overall
Overall, Windows 11 isn't that bad. Well, why would I say it isn't bad? In fact, since I've used it, on this computer it has run absolutely smooth as peanut butter as absolutely possible. And even if Windows 11 was disappointing or bad in any way, shape or form, I believe that it's actually so bad that it's good in a way. How is that even possible?
Well, I believe that Windows 11 has a type of "balance" that the other versions of Windows prior to 11 failed to have. How so? Well, Windows 11 had all the features that versions such as XP and Vista have had since forever, and maybe a better version of Windows 8's activation, which has carried over from Windows 10. Although the days of using the Windows Classic Themes are probably long gone, I personally don't mind seeing the rounded design again, and I believe it is probably a nod to one of the most meme-lord edgeboi overrated Operating Systems of Micro$oft's history, Windows XP.
However, unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 will probably be the "LAST" version of Windows I will be using. I know I've probably said this about 10, but Windows 11 will likely be considered the last version of Microsoft Windows that I ever find useful. It's unclear if & when Microsoft will ever devise a Windows 12, but my hope is that I will have long since moved on from Redmond's Operating System environments to one that isn't going to threaten to perhaps send people to my house to come break my legs if I do dare try an alternative operating system (Disclaimer: That bit about breaking legs may be a joke.)
Or, rather, if the memes are how the lawyers are accurately depicted - an OS that if I'm caught having pirated it and resold it to someone, that the IP company will be having their legal team sue me for everything out of my life savings, and then sue my children and my children's children for the entirety of their incomes, and seeing as I have no human children claimed now - probably make some sort of arrangements that I get to have the children to sue the income out of me in the first place. (Disclaimer: This bit is also a joke, even though it might have incorporated a little bit of dark humor.)
OK, I think I've carried this long enough. So, all I have to say now is: The next post after this one will be an updated Windows Tier Ranking.
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