Friday, December 3rd 2021
Windows 11 a Flop, Survey Claims Less Than 1% Upgraded, Microsoft Improves Start Menu
Microsoft Windows 11, now nearing its third month since release, is for all intents and purposes, a flop. Market research by Lansweeper, which surveyed over 10 million PCs across the commercial and personal market segments, reports that less than 0.21% of the users it surveyed, had upgraded from Windows 10 to the newer operating system. The upgrade is free of charge. There may be several factors contributing to this lukewarm market response, but one of them is certain to he the steep hardware requirements. Windows 11 requires a trusted platform module (TPM 2.0), which disqualifies PCs older than 2018 for upgrades, unless the user is willing to try out workarounds to the limitation. Another factor could be the clunky user interface (UI), a less functional Start menu than Windows 10, and several UI-related bugs.
According to Lansweeper's data, there could be more people running outdated Windows XP, Vista, Windows 8, etc., than Windows 11, and this poses a great security risk, as these operating systems are no longer supported by Microsoft for regular security updates. Windows 10, on the other hand, is eligible for them until mid-2025—plenty of time for people to upgrade hardware to meet Windows 11 system requirements, or to simply make up their mind on switching over to the new operating system. In related news, Microsoft could give the Windows 11 Start menu a functional update. Test build 22509 introduces the ability to add more pins to the menu, or make room for more recommendations. The UI could see many such minor updates.
Sources:
Tech Radar PRO, HotHardware
According to Lansweeper's data, there could be more people running outdated Windows XP, Vista, Windows 8, etc., than Windows 11, and this poses a great security risk, as these operating systems are no longer supported by Microsoft for regular security updates. Windows 10, on the other hand, is eligible for them until mid-2025—plenty of time for people to upgrade hardware to meet Windows 11 system requirements, or to simply make up their mind on switching over to the new operating system. In related news, Microsoft could give the Windows 11 Start menu a functional update. Test build 22509 introduces the ability to add more pins to the menu, or make room for more recommendations. The UI could see many such minor updates.
393 Comments on Windows 11 a Flop, Survey Claims Less Than 1% Upgraded, Microsoft Improves Start Menu
Ideally would be two different UI, one for desktop, and one for touch.
I brought this up with a retired developer, and he told me about an old OS he worked on in the 1990s who did this and said all the developers hated it, it been a nightmare to have two different code bases.
Thinking about the history of the internet, the same has happened as well, when mobiles were first a thing, there was two different versions of websites, and based on user agent it would display a certain one. Now days many websites are designed for mobile devices and desktop users just have to deal with it, again because developers don't want to do the same work twice. Also rapid updates is to favour developers as they don't like maintaining what they see as old stale code bases.
Telemetry has also contributed a lot to this, if you are one of only a few users using a feature, then expect it to go bye bye when developer looks at telemetry to see its not worth maintaining.
Some say Vista was the pinnacle of windows UI design, 3d Aero was introduced, window positions were still remembered when closing apps, high customisation, win32 UI design.
However, I'm treating it as Windows 10 consumer edition. It might be okay for those with limited needs but the quite severe nerfing of the menu and task manager are the reasons I'll be avoiding it when they get around to releasing a version for my desktop setup.
I never liked the tiles on Windows 10 but the ability to group applications (and documents) is very useful and I have used that feature extensively on my Windows 10 machines.
Also a big deal breaker for me is the fact you can no longer have the taskbar on a secondary display. I have three monitors. One is high quality but 60Hz display, another is a 144Hz G-Sync display. G-Sync requires it to be the primary display for it to work properly but I want my task bar on my high quality screen.
I have no issues with the control panel disappearing but if they are going to replace it, then the replacement needs to include the advanced settings and not just the basic ones.
And please Microsoft. Sort out your login mess. I work with very small businesses. They buy off the shelf laptops but want to use them for work. Having to set up a Windows 11 (or 10) Home laptop with a Microsoft 365 login ought to be easier than it is. It doesn't need to be full Azure AD, just let them use the work m365 business creds when setting up a user for a device so they don't need two MS accounts to use their budget laptop for work.
github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases
I have to admit that I am shocked ... close to 1% actually upgraded?
www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-AX370-Gaming-K3-rev-10/support#support-dl-bios
bios update........interesting
"Change default status of AMD PSP fTPM to Enabled for addressing basic Windows 11 requirements" Doesn't Start 11 do the same basically? Also, very nicely configured start menu/desktop. Now I want that lol
www.stardock.com/products/start11/
Now let's think for a moment.
$6 per year for a Start Menu replacement that is closed source and reports your usage activity to the dev
VS
$0 for a Start Menu replacement that is open source and does NOT spy on you...
I don't know, that's a tough choice...
/s One catch is that you need change the Start Button for it to show up on Windows 11. This is a result of a code change. But once you change the Start Button, it works perfectly fine. The Open Shell devs are working on a fix.
You guys rightfully so complain but there is also politics in the technology. Which means that they try whatever they can to make the thing slower. Because if they make the perfect OS, that will be the true final version ever. Because there will be nothing to cry about and no fixes needed.
Microsoft is stupid and evil..