A New Version of Windows is Coming

Well yeah, Microsoft records everything you type, every link you click, and every site you visit when you use Edge. They want that sweet personalized advertising data, and they also want people to use Bing. Microsoft doesn't so much as "listen and learn" in terms of what you need, they listen and learn in terms of how to get you attached to their ecosystem as much as possible. That's how they've always been, but it's so much easier to get away with it now than it was back in the days of the browser wars.

They keep trying force Bing on everyone. I just started using DuckDuckGo as my search engine. So far, so good. We'll have to see if they try to figure out someway to stop us from doing that.

I dual boot Windows and Linux, so if push comes to shove, I can shove right back. I keep Windows because I have some hardware that doesn't quite work on Linux yet, though even that's starting to change.

Microsoft won’t stop you installing Windows 11 on older PCs

Source: https://www.theverge.com/22644194/m...inimum-system-requirements-processors-changes

TL;DR - You can now install Windows 11 on your PC as long as it meets specs that let it run, even without TPM 2.0 and such (TPM 1.2 will still be required, but that has been around since 2011). You'll pretty much be on your own, though, and Microsoft won't guarantee bad things won't happen as a result. That's for the final release. So if, when Windows 11 is released, you want to install it on non-TMP 2.0 secured PCs, you can do so.

Yeah, I don't think so.

As in "you're wrong," or as in "like hell if I'm going to install something even Microsoft developers won't officially touch with a ten foot pole."

The latter.

Ah, in that case, yeah, I agree. I mean, the likelihood is minimal that anything bad would happen because of hardware, but it's clear that Microsoft is making it kind of like a used car. "Yeah, we'll let you drive it off the lot as is, but if something happens, good luck."
At least, that's the message I get from the article itself.

Update to that original article, by the way: apparently, not only are you on your own, but you're completely up Microsoft creek without a Microsoft paddle to help. Microsoft says it will likely not allow for updates, including security updates, for computers that fail to meet Microsoft's hardware standard. How's that for a kick in the ass?

Have any of you considered the wonderful world of Linux?

Consider the world of windows 10.
It's supported for 4 more years.

Yes, Windows 10 has 4 more years of support, but it pays to think ahead, and if you don't think Microsoft will be pushing you to upgrade one way or the other, every step of the way, maybe "accidentally" upgrading you, which I expect to happen to a number of people, perhaps making things Windows 11 exclusive only, you know, and then just offering very basic end of life support for Windows 10, then you don't know Microsoft, because that's what they'll do.

I don't think you realize what most payment systems run on.

It ain't Linux.

Trying to keep up with this ain't easy. I mean I just figured out how to use a VPN....

The backbone of the internet runs on Linux.
The financial sector runs on Linux.

My primary OS is now Linux. I use Manjaro, a derivative of Arch. In terms of general usability, it's similar to Windows, though you can make it anyway you wish.

Ah, good move, my friend! A VPN is something everyone should use.

I figure it should be a good security blanket in airports and hotels. Now if I could just get my iPhones mobile hotspot to work right...

wall street aren't payments systems. think POSs and ATMs. Gas pumps. Just about anything you stick a credit card in.

https://www.linux.com/training-tutorials/10-open-source-point-sale-systems-linux/
http://www.astpos.com/pos-systems/
https://epos.scot/linuxpos.htm
Walmart's POS system is custom built, but was originally based off of SuSE Linux: https://www.expertmarket.com/pos/walmart-pos-system\

Keep in mind, too, that Android is Linux.
MacOS and iOS are Unix based, BSD I believe, which is also what Linux is based upon.

Yeah, Windows systems are used in a lot of places, but Linux runs most of the internet. You can like Windows and acknowledge this, it's no issue. There are things about Windows I like. Hell, my favorite Windows is still Windows 7, which I think they got just about everything right, which of course meant they had to change the shit out of it.

Starting in 2023, all new laptops will be required to have forward facing cameras for Windows 11.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...ed-a-front-webcam-starting-in-2023/ar-AALskEr

You'll probably also want one of these: https://mic-lock.com

A piece of black electrical tape fixes the camera issue.

Yeah, fixing the camera is simple enough. It's the microphone issue that causes more trouble.

Supposedly, MS is going all out to make sure that you can't run Windows 11 on Macs. I'm guessing that this is a sop to Intel since Apple's ditching their chips.

Tomorrow's the day! Windows 11 will begin rollout on October 5th.

My recommendation: Wait a few months.

Short of Microsoft pulling an all nighter, there are still a bunch of minor annoyances with W11, like much of the UI still looks disjointed, and there are still a metric shit ton of bugs. So if MS offers, choose to wait. I mean if they force it like they did a bunch of people when W10 came out, you can't help it either way, but if you can wait, I recommend it, just for a while.

It doesn't place nice with AMD, it seems.

More of a DRM problem than Windows problem but it impacts users of Win10 and Win11 differently. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/in...pus-arent-playing-nice-with-drm-in-some-games

DRM is generally bullshit. The only thing it ever hurts is paying customers.

I went to Windows 11 on my Dell laptop, which is my secondary unit. So far, fine. However, I haven’t tried any heavy software.

Software is made of ones and zeroes. It doesn't have any weight.

I wish my WMR headset would work in Linux. I now boot into Windows once a week for updates. It's the only thing I need Windows for these days.

It's hard for me to believe that there is a Windows release that I am not excited about, or at least interested in at this point. W11 just feels like W10 but with a fresh coat of paint. That it removes workflow features is annoying too. Even if the rest of the OS is an improvement, I feel the UI/UX has taken ten steps back.

I want to say that Win11 is basically Win10.5 but Microsquish wanted the new designation for marketing purposes.

Yep. Hardware manufacturers needed a reason to sell new hardware, so Microsoft had to come up with something, I guess. There are some good things in W11, but as I said, that UI/UX is just shit. I have a better UX in Mint Cinnamon. Hell, most of Windows 11's more popular features are actually just Linux components made available as a subsystem.