I've downloaded W 11!!! (and lived to tell the tale)

[Occams Barber]

OK - I've dunnit!

Windows 11 arrived on 5 Nov* - I bit the bullet and installed it a couple of days ago. So far no problems. Blood loss was minimal and I still have all my fingers.

The whole process took less than an hour. Since I have a newish desktop (a couple of years old) with a solid state memory and a reasonably fast internet connection, I'm probably at low risk of problems. The hardest bit was making the coffee while I was waiting.

To see if you can download Windows 11, open the 'Windows Update' app in your PC/laptop. It should have analysed your machine and will tell you if you're good to go (or not). I have an older, coal-powered laptop which has been through conversion from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in the past. I doubt that I'll bother to update it.

So far I don't see any significant differences, apart from the Start Menu, but I'm sure there a few goodies buried somewhere in the bowels of Windows 11.

Time will tell.

OB

Edit: * the release date was actually 5 October

 

[chevyontheriver]

OK - I've dunnit!

Windows 11 arrived on 5 Nov - I bit the bullet and installed it a couple of days ago. So far no problems. Blood loss was minimal and I still have all my fingers.

The whole process took less than an hour. Since I have a newish desktop (a couple of years old) with a solid state memory and a reasonably fast internet connection, I'm probably at low risk of problems. The hardest bit was making the coffee while I was waiting.

To see if you can download Windows 11, open the 'Windows Update app in your PC/laptop. It should have analysed your machine and will tell you if you're good to go (or not). I have an older, coal powered laptop which has been through conversion from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in the past. I doubt that I'll bother to update it.

So far I don't see any significant differences, apart from the Start Menu, but I'm sure there a few goodies buried somewhere in the bowels of Windows 11.

Time will tell.

OB

Brave man!

 

[jacks]

Best of Luck!
How is a computer like an air conditioner?
They both stop working when you open windows.

 

[Wookiee]

I have an older, coal-powered laptop which has been through conversion from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in the past. I doubt that I'll bother to update it.

If it runs Windows 10 without issue, it will likely run Windows 11 fine, but probably won't directly update without tweaking (or a fresh install).

 

[Occams Barber]

Best of Luck!
How is a computer like an air conditioner?
They both stop working when you open windows.

To be fair to Windows - I've been playing with PCs for over 30 years - well before the internet. My first machine was a Commodore 128 bought in the mid 1980s. My second and subsequent machines (mostly desktops) were all Windows based with a Windows browser, apart from a couple of Android tablets and smartphones.

Apart from Windows 8, which I totally avoided, I've never had any real cause for complaint.

OB

 

[Occams Barber]

If it runs Windows 10 without issue, it will likely run Windows 11 fine, but probably won't directly update without tweaking (or a fresh install).

Thanks. The laptop is an old HP Pavilion. I used it when my job required me to travel a lot. These days I'm retired, so it sits in a cupboard gathering dust. I occasionally pull it out, plug it in, and leave it for few hours to catch up on updates.

Given that it's a venerable old machine, which has served me well in the past, I'm inclined to allow it it's twilight years without the indignity of, yet another, Windows Update, before passing on peacefully to Computer Heaven.

OB

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

Too bad. I liked Windows 11 but once I bought my MAC mini, I had no need for Windows.

 

[Aldebaran]

OK - I've dunnit!

Windows 11 arrived on 5 Nov - I bit the bullet and installed it a couple of days ago. So far no problems. Blood loss was minimal and I still have all my fingers.

The whole process took less than an hour. Since I have a newish desktop (a couple of years old) with a solid state memory and a reasonably fast internet connection, I'm probably at low risk of problems. The hardest bit was making the coffee while I was waiting.

To see if you can download Windows 11, open the 'Windows Update' app in your PC/laptop. It should have analysed your machine and will tell you if you're good to go (or not). I have an older, coal-powered laptop which has been through conversion from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in the past. I doubt that I'll bother to update it.

So far I don't see any significant differences, apart from the Start Menu, but I'm sure there a few goodies buried somewhere in the bowels of Windows 11.

Time will tell.

OB

I have a laptop that is 5 1/2 years old and started out with Win10, and the update screen says, "This PC currently does not meet the system requirements for Windows 11".
I've read that it's not all that different from 10, but the bad news is that 10 will probably be losing support some time from now. When a new version comes out, the support for the old one is on borrowed time.

BTW, there's a new support site (a forum) for those with Windows 11: Windows 11 Forum

 

[Occams Barber]

I have a laptop that is 5 1/2 years old and started out with Win10, and the update screen says, "This PC currently does not meet the system requirements for Windows 11".
I've read that it's not all that different from 10, but the bad news is that 10 will probably be losing support some time from now. When a new version comes out, the support for the old one is on borrowed time.

BTW, there's a new support site (a forum) for those with Windows 11: Windows 11 Forum

Based on past practices you probably have a few years to go before Windows 10 is retired. It isn't that long ago that support for Vista, and later Windows 7, was fully withdrawn.

OB

 

[Aldebaran]

Based on past practices you probably have a few years to go before Windows 10 is retired. It isn't that long ago that support for Vista, and later Windows 7, was fully withdrawn.

OB

I wouldn't mind getting Win11, but it sounds like it's not a software limitation that stops it from being compatible with a given computer, but a hardware one.

Since this version is so new, I hope you still have a backup of your Win10. It might be necessary to revert back. Probably many issues exist with it that will need looking into as they arise.

 

[Occams Barber]

Too bad. I liked Windows 11 but once I bought my MAC mini, I had no need for Windows.

After I retired as a Social Security Manager I took on a part time job selling tech stuff (PCs, laptops, printers, programs, routers etc.) to Mr and Mrs Average.

Back then Mac users fell into two distinct groups:

• Power users, typically running graphical applications
• Arrogant snobs, with too much money, who were looking for a status symbol

I used to refer to the second group as The Oppressed Elite. Elite because they inevitably saw themselves as better than the poor, ordinary folk who used Windows based machines. Oppressed because they would constantly complain about the problem of finding programs and peripherals which were Mac compatible.

Things have changed but, in the early days, Mac users were generally insufferable snobs.

OB

 

[jacks]

Apart from Windows 8, which I totally avoided, I've never had any real cause for complaint.

I agree for the must part, but surly you must be forgetting Windows Me...

 

[Occams Barber]

I agree for the must part, but surly you must be forgetting Windows Me...

I'd forgotten about Me. I don't recall if I ever ran it. XP happened so quickly after the Me fiasco I probably didn't get a chance to download it.

OB

 

[jacks]

I'd forgotten about Me. I don't recall if I ever ran it. XP happened so quickly after the Me fiasco I probably didn't get a chance to download it.

OB

Sometimes procrastination can be a blessing!

 

[Wookiee]

Based on past practices you probably have a few years to go before Windows 10 is retired. It isn't that long ago that support for Vista, and later Windows 7, was fully withdrawn.

OB

It's being supported until 2025. They're about to release 21H2 for Windows 10, which will also be the basis for the last Long Term Servicing Channel build (stripped down version of 10 for Enterprise use).

I have a laptop that is 5 1/2 years old and started out with Win10, and the update screen says, "This PC currently does not meet the system requirements for Windows 11".
I've read that it's not all that different from 10, but the bad news is that 10 will probably be losing support some time from now. When a new version comes out, the support for the old one is on borrowed time.

I wouldn't mind getting Win11, but it sounds like it's not a software limitation that stops it from being compatible with a given computer, but a hardware one.

Since this version is so new, I hope you still have a backup of your Win10. It might be necessary to revert back. Probably many issues exist with it that will need looking into as they arise.

As I mentioned before, that's more of a technicality if you do want to use it on "unsupported" hardware. There's a few different methods you can do that will make it work; if you fresh format with Windows 11 it ignores most of the requirements and does it anyway.
Installing Windows 11 on Unsupported Hardware: How to Remove Appraiserres.dll to Bypass Requirements When Using Setup (nerdschalk.com)

I've just pushed it out for testing on a ~5 year old i3 (which Microsoft decided was unsupported) to see if it will be acceptable to push to other computers that we use for its purpose, especially since we want to move to an Android app that we may be able to just run directly on W11.

 

[Aldebaran]

It's being supported until 2025. They're about to release 21H2 for Windows 10, which will also be the basis for the last Long Term Servicing Channel build (stripped down version of 10 for Enterprise use).





As I mentioned before, that's more of a technicality if you do want to use it on "unsupported" hardware. There's a few different methods you can do that will make it work; if you fresh format with Windows 11 it ignores most of the requirements and does it anyway.
Installing Windows 11 on Unsupported Hardware: How to Remove Appraiserres.dll to Bypass Requirements When Using Setup (nerdschalk.com)

I've just pushed it out for testing on a ~5 year old i3 (which Microsoft decided was unsupported) to see if it will be acceptable to push to other computers that we use for its purpose, especially since we want to move to an Android app that we may be able to just run directly on W11.

Very interesting!
Two questions:
1. Since one of the original requirements for Win11 was to have an SSD, would it still be safe to run it on an HDD? That's what I have. I assume they have the requirements they do because of what is needed to make Win11 actually work.

2. When you say "Fresh Format", would my original files and settings still be intact, or would this be considered a fresh install of an OS?

 

[Wookiee]

Very interesting!
Two questions:
1. Since one of the original requirements for Win11 was to have an SSD, would it still be safe to run it on an HDD? That's what I have. I assume they have the requirements they do because of what is needed to make Win11 actually work.

It will work, it will just be slow; probably around as slow as W10 runs for you now. As far as a computer is concerned there's no practical difference between an SSD and a HDD - they're both storage devices, and both can use the same connector (SATA). It's just an SSD is way faster (even a cheap one is noticeably faster than a faster spinning HDD).

2. When you say "Fresh Format", would my original files and settings still be intact, or would this be considered a fresh install of an OS?

When the term "format" is used, it means to wipe everything off the drive. So yeah, it would get rid of every piece of data that is currently on the hard drive that Windows is installing to.

 

[Aldebaran]

It will work, it will just be slow; probably around as slow as W10 runs for you now. As far as a computer is concerned there's no practical difference between an SSD and a HDD - they're both storage devices, and both can use the same connector (SATA). It's just an SSD is way faster (even a cheap one is noticeably faster than a faster spinning HDD).

Mine used to run slow (and hot), but I helped it out by disabling much of the unnecessary "bling" that uses so much memory. There are guides available on what can be safely turned off in Win10. There may be such guides on how to do the same for 11, but I haven't looked yet.

When the term "format" is used, it means to wipe everything off the drive. So yeah, it would get rid of every piece of data that is currently on the hard drive that Windows is installing to.

I think I'll hold off then. I do have a full image backup of my computer now, but using that would just put Win10 back on the drive.
I think I'll wait to get 11 as long as 10 still works fine. Probably some glitches that need working out since it's so new anyway. Most software seems to have that issue at first.

 

[JesseRaymondBassett]

For the record, I bought a mac mini not because of the name brand. I bought it because of the many qualities and features it posseses. I like my Mac OSX Catalina system.

 

[Wookiee]

For the record, I bought a mac mini not because of the name brand. I bought it because of the many qualities and features it posseses. I like my Mac OSX Catalina system.

That's great for you, but completely irrelevant to discussing Windows 11 in this thread.