There is nothing about windows 11 that's better than on windows 10. Why would anyone switch voluntarily?
Windows 10 at least had better automatic driver installation, touchscreen and multi-monitor support compared to 7, but came with a shitload of ads built right into it. Windows 11 has even more ads, but what does it give you?
Windows 10 replaced 7 for most people because 8 was a piece of junk. Windows 7 was old by the time 10 came out so there was pent up demand and 10 was a pretty solid showing.
There’s not much that’s compelling about 11 and they’ve introduced unwanted things. It shouldn’t be surprising that people prefer to stay on 10, which is one of the better operating systems Microsoft has ever released. Combine that with the dominance of Linux in the server space and what seems like increased adoption on the desktop and it’s a recipe for poor numbers. For a lot of developers, it’s easier being on a Linux desktop when Linux is the deployment target.
Windows 11 finally pushed me over to Linux. I'm not advocating everyone jump ship, because it's different and takes getting used to. I work in IT so it was a bit more natural for me. I would encourage people maybe trying it on old hardware or just off of a USB to experience it though. Mainly, I wanted to be proficient with Linux before Microsoft made Windows a subscription.
Honestly I feel like people would pay more for a simple windowsOS, no spyware, no ads, just fucking works as an OS. I already switched to Linux but some people haven't or can't at the moment.
"Windows 11 is simply OK. There's nothing particularly wrong with it except for its hardware requirements."
Wtf? It's just ok? It's a resource hog, excelling at one thing: spyware implementation.
Have you seen the new Taskbar? It has the functionality of a wooden stick. They even had to make a damn patch to put the "Start Task Manager" option back in the context menu!
They fucked up the menus and now everything is just "several hundred clicks away".
And their constant push for subscription based shit is just annoying like hell.
Windows 11 isn't a particularly bad version of Windows by any stretch of the imagination. Some elements of the user interface might grate a little, and there will always be users for whom one design choice or another will be loudly rejected – there were those, after all, who raged at the imposition of the Start Menu over the Program Manager of old. But the operating system itself is... fine.
The enshitification of Windows has been going on a long time.
If microsoft would just put out a modernized version of windows 95 it would probably be seen as "visionary" and be perfect for like what eighty percent of people and businesses, I just want a modern windows that unnoticeable and secure
I went through all the trouble of enabling the UEFI/BIOS stuff I needed for the upgrade. Then I found out what they did to the taskbar and decided not to get it.
I have nothing to complain about. Lateral move in terms of functionality. In terms of general freedom and feeling like I actually own the PC I purchased,... 100% improvement.
Windows 11 was mostly released to take advantage of Intel's split of CPU cores into efficiency and performance cores (E and P cores). If you don't care about these E-cores or don't have them, Windows 11 looks like just a small UI change at first glance.
Just downgraded back to Windows 10, such a relief. 11 is absolute trash. Constantly hangs, on a completely stock install with literally ONE app, a single app that I even still use Windows for that is not the cause the hang. The UI on 10 is so much simpler, and functional 11 just feels like Windows ME/Vista all over again.
Obviously as much of the installed base can’t upgrade. This was done on purpose. As 10 goes eol, businesses and consumers will have to upgrade their hardware. Pushing new hardware has been msft strategy since forever.
I was forced to switch at work and the UI ergonomics itself is a major step back compared to Win 10. It's such a chore to work with. The start menu, which is one of the major features of Windows, is a disorganized mess. It looks like an iPhone app menu and you really have to focus to find the app you're looking for. Or else create folders which require an extra click. Compared to the Win10 menu where you could have big ass tiles and organize them in groups made it really easy to locate and click and you just got used to the location. I could use my Win10 start menu blindfolded.
And let's talk about the rounded corners and gaps. Win10 has no gaps. No blank spaces. Every piece of pixel real estate is used. And you know exactly what you click on. I can't say the same about win11.
And going into the settings... Well the settings button is gone from the start menu for one. You gave to right click on start and select it from the context menu. The settings have become harder to find, especially advanced settings.
And finally, my parents installed it on their home PCs. Everything is linked to their Microsoft account and it just collects heaps of data on your usage. Plus the ads. Like, what the fuck Microsoft???? I care about my privacy. I already have a god damn corporate big brother watching and listening to everything in my pocket thanks to my smart phone and every website tracking my every move on the internet. Can I at least have some privacy on my home computer and a break from ads??? Goddamn!
I made a promise that I will never switch to win11 and would rather go Linux full time when Win10 reaches end of life. I've been a long time Linux user and already started to easily enjoy gaming in Linux thanks to Steam and proton so there is very little holding me back now.
I still think 10 is a waste of space and would be using only linux or 7 if not for gamepass (old distant friends have xboxes only). I still run 7 on my living room PC and its honestly a better experience then 10. If not for end of life (that lets face it are mostly arbitrary at this point) there is little reason to upgrade, even the few things not in things 7 or 10 (like auto HDR support or new Direct X) are simply withheld for no reason and often people have worked out how make it work anyway.
I am old enough to remember how each new windows addressed a flaw in the last (even if that flaw was made up). Here is off the top of my head some examples (leaving out the better NT line) :
Windows 95: Upgrade from 3.1 in most ways, first time dos was really secondary.
Windows 98: Much better USB support and more "plug and play"
Windows ME: Fixed the issue of people having hard drive space.
Windows XP: Massive upgrade in supported hardware, usability etc.
Windows Vista: People thought this sucked (it did) but the main reason was that it (and x64 XP) supported more then 4 gigs of ram.
Windows 7: Was not Vista and much more efficient.
Windows 8: Fixed the perceived flaw that your PC should really be a phone for some reason?
Windows 9: DAMN IT MICROSOFT LEARN TO COUNT!
Windows 10: Was not a Phone OS. Things like gamepass are supported. Told this was the last windows.
Windows 11 won't even run on most of the computers I have and those computers have still got many years of life in them. If they drop support for Windows 10 I guess I'll go all in on Linux (I just use it for my work machine at the moment).
It's almost like artificially limiting adoption to all computers made in ~2018 or later would do that.
Software TPM 2 has been present in systems since Haswell (~2014) yet even people with Zen 1 Threadrippers got dicked out of "official" upgrade support due to their computer's age.
I would very much like to switch (back) to Linux. I used it (and FreeBSD!) 20+ years ago as my daily driver.
Unfortunately, there are a few things that keep me stuck in windows...
-Music production. I know Reaper exists (I use it and script for it daily), but my Maschine hardware that I paid good money for won't run with Linux. And beyond that there's still a subset of plugins (again, that I've paid for) that I'm just not likely to be able to use, and most of that which I can use will be unsupported.
-Adobe. Lightroom in particular. Eventually I will wean off this, but as of now, it's simply the best tool I have to unify all my photography (old and new) across all devices with very, very little friction.
I can find a suitable counterpart for just about everything else I use.
Also, FWIW - I recently revitalized an old laptop with Ubuntu and that's become a springboard for seeing if I can map out a path to Linux for my other needs.
(Apologies for rant - it's front of mind for me lately!)
My only interactions with Windows are on company equipment and I eagerly await Win11. By the gods I need tabs in the file explorer. I know there are Win10 solutions but the system is locked down because it is company equipment. And I ain't got time nor energy for chats with IT/HR.
I both can’t upgrade most of my devices, and have switched to linux on my home pc (in a dualboot with windows still) but use linux mainly. Been pretty nice so far.
I live in fear that one day IT will tell me my work computer needs to move to 11. Its bad enough I need to spend 1/3rd of my day using Windows, I don't need it to be Windows+Ads
So I'm using a Mac but my gaming rig is still running (cracked) Win7 and steam is about to stop working on it in few months and I was wondering to which OS I should move to? I'd be interested in trying Ubuntu but I'm not sure how gaming is on Linux. What's the least shitty OS I should go to? I'm basically using it to play DayZ, Cities skylines and AoE2 few times a month.