Windows 11

[TheColtr]

Does Windows 11 feel more “alive” than macOS does?

Ive started playing with Windows 11 and all the complaints Ive had about windows 8-10 are gone. And with the changes made in Big Sur Windows 11 feels more user friendly and playful than macOS, something I never thought I’d say. The materials, the sounds, the colors, the animations all feel so bright. Buttons look like buttons, things are where you expect them to be. Ive been living on Ventura for a few months and it just feels so flat and dull. Does anyone else have this experience?

 

[1BadManVan]

Does Windows 11 feel more “alive” than macOS does?

Ive started playing with Windows 11 and all the complaints Ive had about windows 8-10 are gone. And with the changes made in Big Sur Windows 11 feels more user friendly and playful than macOS, something I never thought I’d say. The materials, the sounds, the colors, the animations all feel so bright. Buttons look like buttons, things are where you expect them to be. Ive been living on Ventura for a few months and it just feels so flat and dull. Does anyone else have this experience?

I convinced my wife to move over to windows 11 and couple months back for her laptop and I honestly quite like it.

 

[ponzicoinbro]

Does Windows 11 feel more “alive” than macOS does?

Ive started playing with Windows 11 and all the complaints Ive had about windows 8-10 are gone.

Beyond the superficial skinning of the desktop, File Explorer, Task Bar and Settings, most of it is still Windows 10. Even Windows XP and Vista. Right click on the Start button and choose any of the Admin tools and you see that most of the OS is using the same interface, graphics icons and panels from the last 20 years.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Beyond the superficial skinning of the desktop, File Explorer, Task Bar and Settings, most of it is still Windows 10. Even Windows XP and Vista. Right click on the Start button and choose any of the Admin tools and you see that most of the OS is using the same interface, graphics icons and panels from the last 20 years.

Agreed. Still waiting for a total re-write, a la Classic Mac OS 9 -> OS X.

 

[grmlin]

Does Windows 11 feel more “alive” than macOS does?

Ive started playing with Windows 11 and all the complaints Ive had about windows 8-10 are gone. And with the changes made in Big Sur Windows 11 feels more user friendly and playful than macOS, something I never thought I’d say. The materials, the sounds, the colors, the animations all feel so bright. Buttons look like buttons, things are where you expect them to be. Ive been living on Ventura for a few months and it just feels so flat and dull. Does anyone else have this experience?

I don’t get it. Every time I read comments like this I wonder if I use the wrong version if Windows 11. It’s Windows 10.1 at best. Rounded corners, a broken taskbar and messy new Start Menu that can’t find sh**and performs like crap doesn’t make it a significantly better Windows. Oh, sure, they also restyled the settings UI. But don’t worry, the ancient one is still there.

 

[grmlin]

Agreed. Still waiting for a total re-write, a la Classic Mac OS 9 -> OS X.

That’s what they should have done instead. Cut off all the ancient crap and give us a fresh and new OS. No idea why they axed their new Windows in favor of this

 

[diamond.g]

That’s what they should have done instead. Cut off all the ancient crap and give us a fresh and new OS. No idea why they axed their new Windows in favor of this

Mac users have wanted MS to do this for ages, but it seems like actual Windows users do not seem to hold the same position.

 

[grmlin]

Mac users have wanted MS to do this for ages, but it seems like actual Windows users do not seem to hold the same position.

Im a Windows User at work for two years or something now (and at home for gaming and private stuff since 95) and I’m definitely not one of them hahaha

 

[diamond.g]

Im a Windows User at work for two years or something now (and at home for gaming and private stuff since 95) and I’m definitely not one of them hahaha

But you are also a Mac user, which still makes my point valid. I don't know any windows only users at work that would agree that Microsoft should cut all the old stuff out. Remember they changed the driver model with Windows Vista and "everybody" pitched a fit (notice how sound cards are no longer really a thing cause of the driver model change?).

 

[ponzicoinbro]

That’s what they should have done instead. Cut off all the ancient crap and give us a fresh and new OS. No idea why they axed their new Windows in favor of this

Too many big companies use very old legacy apps and they are happy to stay with those apps even when IT says they are ready to upgrade the OS.

They have a mentality ‘If the app isn’t broken don’t need to fix/upgrade it’.

Sometimes that is right because the costs for big companies can be high.

Apple is a minority player in the desktop space so they can push all developers and users forward and forget about supporting legacy apps.

So I don’t think we will see a full Windows re-write until 2030.

Maybe if they did that it would become a Linux based OS and have a Win64 emulation layer.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I'm still enjoying Windows 11. Granted I left-aligned the icons on the taskbar, and removed all the 'modern' stuff and replaced it with 2010 stuff from oldversion.com, but it actually goes better with the 2010 stuff than Windows 10 ever did. A lot of the skeuo elements of 11 fit better with that software. It ends up looking like modern Windows 7 the way I got it configured.

Yeah a ton of companies rely on old software. There ain't nothing wrong with keeping what works best. However, it's really odd that all the 'new' looking ATMs around here still run on Windows XP. I caught one rebooting itself once and it most definitely had XP on it. These are quite modern ATMs too with NFC and the like.

The gas stations around here have Windows 7 from the look of the PoS desktop, with their sales portal running on Internet Explorer (I hope it's offline at least!). These are the tiny stations like Kangaroo Express and older Marathons that make the sonic ring sound effects when you scan items.

 

[diamond.g]

I'm still enjoying Windows 11. Granted I left-aligned the icons on the taskbar, and removed all the 'modern' stuff and replaced it with 2010 stuff from oldversion.com, but it actually goes better with the 2010 stuff than Windows 10 ever did. A lot of the skeuo elements of 11 fit better with that software. It ends up looking like modern Windows 7 the way I got it configured.

Yeah a ton of companies rely on old software. There ain't nothing wrong with keeping what works best. However, it's really odd that all the 'new' looking ATMs around here still run on Windows XP. I caught one rebooting itself once and it most definitely had XP on it. These are quite modern ATMs too with NFC and the like.

The gas stations around here have Windows 7 from the look of the PoS desktop, with their sales portal running on Internet Explorer (I hope it's offline at least!). These are the tiny stations like Kangaroo Express and older Marathons that make the sonic ring sound effects when you scan items.

Yeah Embedded OSs stick around for a looong time.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Heck until about 2000 we still had the monochrome text-only terminal ATMs that ran on a variant of CP/M or DOS.

Our last Kmart closed in 2018, and they still were using 80s PoS terminals with text terminals (albeit on a LCD monitor). The last two years they were open they had notices saying they couldn't take card purchases because their systems still relied on dial-up verification which was long dead at the time.

That Kmart had not changed at all since 1982. Still had the old logo too, not the 'Big K' like the others.

 

[grmlin]

Too many big companies use very old legacy apps and they are happy to stay with those apps even when IT says they are ready to upgrade the OS.

They have a mentality ‘If the app isn’t broken don’t need to fix/upgrade it’.

Sometimes that is right because the costs for big companies can be high.

Apple is a minority player in the desktop space so they can push all developers and users forward and forget about supporting legacy apps.

So I don’t think we will see a full Windows re-write until 2030.

Maybe if they did that it would become a Linux based OS and have a Win64 emulation layer.

Funny enough that WSL (the Linux subsystem) is the best feature MS came up with in many years. A proper Linux district made by them with some sort of compatibility layer for windows applications would be amazing.


Also, I’m not saying that 11 is bad. It’s clearly the best version of windows 10 ms ever created, but it’s just 10 with some bugs fixed, a small UI overhaul in some places and a worse task bar.

 

[nickdalzell1]

It's not even close to Windows 10. I DESPISED 10. 11 is more like a modern Windows 7 with the rounded corners, skeuomorphism slowly creeping back, and the animation whimsy when you launch or point at icons in the taskbar. Even the sounds are easier on the ears over 10's horrible, 'dystopian' sounds. I will NEVER miss the notification sound or the device connect sound from 10 one bit.

Set it to left-align and it's almost a dead ringer short of not having the start 'orb'. I don't miss 10's mess of live tiles at all. Not sure why anyone liked that. Just made Start a total mess.

 

[ackmondual]

Yeah a ton of companies rely on old software. There ain't nothing wrong with keeping what works best. However, it's really odd that all the 'new' looking ATMs around here still run on Windows XP. I caught one rebooting itself once and it most definitely had XP on it. These are quite modern ATMs too with NFC and the like.

Fun fact... Microsoft can support their old OSes! The announcement of "we're going to stop supporting 'windows current' " only refers to free support. If you really need an updated old OS (like Win XP), you can contact M$ and they'll work out a contract to do just that (standard prices will set you back millions of $'s though).

Set it to left-align and it's almost a dead ringer short of not having the start 'orb'. I don't miss 10's mess of live tiles at all. Not sure why anyone liked that. Just made Start a total mess.

[shrug] It gets the job done. I'm not sure if your issue is in terms of functionality, form, or both?

 

[sracer]

Fun fact... Microsoft can support their old OSes! The announcement of "we're going to stop supporting 'windows current' " only refers to free support. If you really need an updated old OS (like Win XP), you can contact M$ and they'll work out a contract to do just that (standard prices will set you back millions of $'s though).


[shrug] It gets the job done. I'm not sure if your issue is in terms of functionality, form, or both?

With tools like StartisBack and OpenShell and ability to adjust settings, there is no reason for anyone to be dissatisfied with the start menu on Windows unless they enjoy being dissatisfied.

 

[ackmondual]

With tools like StartisBack and OpenShell and ability to adjust settings, there is no reason for anyone to be dissatisfied with the start menu on Windows unless they enjoy being dissatisfied.

Oh, so that's the "classic start menu". I'm used to the tiles, but good to hear that's still an option!

 

[sracer]

Oh, so that's the "classic start menu". I'm used to the tiles, but good to hear that's still an option!

👍
Natively, Windows has some options for configuring the start menu (Win 10 has more options than Win 11 at the moment). In addition, StartisBack and OpenShell provide alternatives that not only emulate the start menu from older versions of Windows, but they have a ton of options that you can completely create your own start menu that looks completely different from any version of Windows.

There is no good reason why anyone needs to "suffer" with the start menu (of windows 10 or 11) if they're not satisfied with it.

 

[DrCC]

Windows 11 might look better and more "alive" than older versions of Windows, but on laptops, any Windows machine is handicapped by the Intel and AMD chips. Yes, they run fast plugged in with the fans blowing, but on battery, the benchmarks drop significantly compared to Apple Silicon chips; no Intel or AMD laptop comes even close to Apple when a machine is used on battery power alone. I was a Windows user on a higher end laptop and the Windows <> MAC difference on a laptop is night and day when used on battery.

Plus, for any Windows machine a user has to put up with the extensive data collection from Microsoft ... unless the user is a power user and knows how to remove all the Micro$oft telemetry ... this is far from ideal for the regular person.

I still use Windows 11 with Parallels on my Air M1 and it works great when I need to use a Windows app, but I would not make Windows 11 my daily driver OS.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I wish Stardock would get their act together and release Windowblinds for 11. I'd love to be able to theme the window controls and title bars to 7/Vista's UX. You could do that with Windowblinds for 10. Given the increased skeuo of 11, it would work even better.

You can actually still get modern web browsers and antivirus apps for Windows XP. I doubt highly our banks/gas stations use MyPal or Panda Antivirus though. I certainly hope they're firewalled, at least. I'm just surprised a modern looking ATM with NFC and other 'modern' tech is running XP, embedded or not. One would expect a modern system to at least be preinstalled with a less archaic OS.

One of the latest Louis Rossman YouTube videos had him showcasing a BSoD from XP at a TSA checkpoint.

 

[1BadManVan]

Windows 11 might look better and more "alive" than older versions of Windows, but on laptops, any Windows machine is handicapped by the Intel and AMD chips. Yes, they run fast plugged in with the fans blowing, but on battery, the benchmarks drop significantly compared to Apple Silicon chips; no Intel or AMD laptop comes even close to Apple when a machine is used on battery power alone. I was a Windows user on a higher end laptop and the Windows <> MAC difference on a laptop is night and day when used on battery.

Plus, for any Windows machine a user has to put up with the extensive data collection from Microsoft ... unless the user is a power user and knows how to remove all the Micro$oft telemetry ... this is far from ideal for the regular person.

I still use Windows 11 with Parallels on my Air M1 and it works great when I need to use a Windows app, but I would not make Windows 11 my daily driver OS.

The amd 6000 series have come a long way with efficiency and power on battery. Still not in line with the M series chips but they lose very little power while on battery

 

[dontpokebearz]

I've been debating switching to a PC for my next computer purchase. My Mac Pro (2009) is still holding strong, but the days of easy 'hacked' installs of macOS seem to be over. Apple is dropping support for legacy instruction sets each release.

So I've been trying out Windows 11. Gotta say, I'm digging it. It might be surface level paint but it's doing a lot for me. The animations, icons and Fluent UI designs are great. There's a professional and clean feel to it that macOS doesn't have anymore. Also, it looks wonderful at 1440P whereas macOS no longer does. Buying a new Mac pretty much means buying a new 4k/5k monitor to go with it, so that it's scaled properly. Other tools make the transition lovely - roundedTB for a better 'dock', PowerToys, QuickLook and Winget. They make it a really nice experience.

It's not all smooth sailing though - while I haven't had any crashes that concern me the lack of fluidity in the UI is a bit annoying. Two examples - resizing any browser window with a webpage loaded has to constantly redraw the site. In Safari it smoothly reformats the site for the window size. Second, dragging a window across the screen feels laggy. Even on 120Hz displays. It's just the UI animation. And then I'm missing out on all the 'ecosoystem'. iPhotos, iCloud, iMessage, etc.

I have a feeling that I will just get a MacBook - Apple Silicon is too great to pass up. However it's going to hurt as I want a 15" or larger screen. $2000+ for a 16" MacBook Pro is brutal. All in all though I'm excited to see what Microsoft does next.

 

[1BadManVan]

I've been debating switching to a PC for my next computer purchase. My Mac Pro (2009) is still holding strong, but the days of easy 'hacked' installs of macOS seem to be over. Apple is dropping support for legacy instruction sets each release.

So I've been trying out Windows 11. Gotta say, I'm digging it. It might be surface level paint but it's doing a lot for me. The animations, icons and Fluent UI designs are great. There's a professional and clean feel to it that macOS doesn't have anymore. Also, it looks wonderful at 1440P whereas macOS no longer does. Buying a new Mac pretty much means buying a new 4k/5k monitor to go with it, so that it's scaled properly. Other tools make the transition lovely - roundedTB for a better 'dock', PowerToys, QuickLook and Winget. They make it a really nice experience.

It's not all smooth sailing though - while I haven't had any crashes that concern me the lack of fluidity in the UI is a bit annoying. Two examples - resizing any browser window with a webpage loaded has to constantly redraw the site. In Safari it smoothly reformats the site for the window size. Second, dragging a window across the screen feels laggy. Even on 120Hz displays. It's just the UI animation. And then I'm missing out on all the 'ecosoystem'. iPhotos, iCloud, iMessage, etc.

I have a feeling that I will just get a MacBook - Apple Silicon is too great to pass up. However it's going to hurt as I want a 15" or larger screen. $2000+ for a 16" MacBook Pro is brutal. All in all though I'm excited to see what Microsoft does next.

I had higher hopes for windows 11, but just a few days ago I had to reinstall the whole damn thing because a windows update completely broke my sons laptop lol. Regular windows 11 update install, goes to reboot and black screen with the curser.

My options where to start taking apart the laptop and check for anything loose or reinstall windows. Sure enough, reinstall fixed it.

 

[martin2345uk]

I wish they would allow us to ungroup the taskbar icons like previous versions but other than that I'm also enjoying Windows 11!