Consider carefully before you take the leap
Published on December 28, 2021 By Daiwa In Personal Computing

This was the subject of a reply of mine to Tatiora's October post on Windows 11 Updates that I think merits a separate thread.

I've been advised by my tech support company to not install Windows 11 under any circumstances.  A major reason for that is that I (and my office network) deal with protected health information and Windows 11 is not only not HIPAA compliant but opens your computer to all kinds of background third party access.  MS has decided to go the way of Facebook and make you the product which they will sell as the primary method of sustaining their business.  The 'upgrade' may be free but orders of magnitude more intrusive, mostly silently of course (the fine print applies when you click Agree).

Windows 11, per my tech, also is a major step toward forcing all your application purchases and subscriptions into the Microsoft Store, a la Apple.  They are steadily making it harder & harder to install anything from outside their controlled ecosystem.  They actually trialed this approach with a version of Windows 10 called Windows 10S.  I learned of this when we purchased a Surface which turned out to have that OS for a dedicated purpose servicing a biometric device early this year.  Initially I thought the "S" meant a version specific to the Surface but it turns out the "S" means Store, as in Microsoft Store.  Our tech had to force an install of a regular version of Windows 10 before the software for the biometric device could be installed (it obviously wasn't available on the Microsoft Store).  There were also incompatible drivers for things like our network printers & Bluetooth devices.  The latter issues are probably cleaned up a bit in Windows 11, but beware.

A good example of where this will likely lead is the recent behavior of Adobe regarding Adobe Acrobat Reader DC which is the subject of another post here.  They already have the ability to reach into your computer uninvited and steal paid-for software from you.

Enjoy the brave new world of computing and Happy New Year!


Comments (Page 14)
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on Feb 20, 2022

Forgot...for many years I was a Technet subscriber...so had access to any MS OS that took my fancy.

Currently 'installed' on this system are 5 VMs and 3 VBs ...tho I haven't been running them of late...

on Feb 21, 2022

PhoenixRising1

I have tried uxthemepatcher and I really did want to like it. However, it seems to have a strict policy that requires the use of startallback to work. If I was able to get uxthemepatcher to work with explorerpatcher I would probably view it more favorably. My position is that start 11 is a way better start menu program over startallback and I feel like I am sliding backwards if I am forced to use startallback.

Using Windows 11, I actually do not really have a desire to use the windows 7 themed start menu anymore. I prefer the newer windows 10 / 11 themes. Even when I use windowblinds 10 on Windows 11 I still find myself still preferring the newer themes even though they are not skinnable. This is why I really hope windowblinds 11 skins these newer start menu themes. They better suite Windows 11 imo.

I am not saying uxthemepatcher is all bad. It is probably a nice distraction because it is what is available now. But, I think skinning can be a lot better once windowblinds 11 comes out and will feel more natural to windows 11

The policy of needing StartallBack for Win 11 and StartisBack for Win 10 to work with Themes and UX and Ultra UX Theme Patcher is no different than needing Start 10 or 11 to work with Windowblinds, they both need a kind of co dependency to skin how they need. I like them Both equally as each has it good points and to me it is like a Toolbox, i use Start11 with WB10 (but seldom use win10 anymore except to update it) and StartallBack and StartisBack for Win11 and Win 10 SSDs that allow me to use and take advantage of other ways to custimize things.

on Feb 21, 2022



Quoting naroon1,

Like i said, i have not done this in a while and maybe the issue was with me and a much older machine. Expand my horizons please.



I got into VMWare and VirtualBox as ways of keeping in touch with some older systems so I could still get all historical with early skinning...ie Litestep, etc.

When I did I had probably at the time the most powerful non-server class PC money could buy....[though it cost a lot of money - Over 10K AUD].  It was back when a GTX 980 ruled the roost...and M.2 drives had just been released...along with DDR4.  This was at a time when the system [Win 7] had to be coerced into booting into a M.2 as both that and DDR4 wasn't yet recognized by MS's current OS.

So when the average machine thought they were good with 8 GIG of DDR3 I was running 32 GIG of 4 in 2 slots in a MoBo that could handle 4.

All that said, I often had several VMs running at the same time, apportioning as much ram as I liked.  The only downside [mostly] was with VM graphics acceleration....though that has improved over the years.

I did this machine about the same time Frogboy did something virtually identical...but since then he's had a few more systems...and I'm still on the same one....only difference is the GPU is updated now on mine.

Bottom line is....other than gaming, a modern VM on a good system is actually superior to what was available when you used to run that OS on contemporary hardware. [who needs a Pentium anyway]...

I also have an emulator somewhere for the Csirac Computer [the only complete first generation computer in existence] tho it doesn't do a lot...

Thanks for the info Jafo, it was an AMD Engineering Sample Chip used as my cpu back then, think it may have been a AMD 1100 but can not remember fully as it was a lifetime ago.

on Feb 21, 2022

So , I got really bored with Win10, and with the information I acquired from reading this post , I hopped on over to GitHub and got the modified Win11 Media Tool and installed Win11 on my machine from a USB stick. It installed perfectly without a hitch , it's updating with no problem. So yeah , my "uncompatible" machine is now running Win11 like a charm , and to be honest , so far I'm really happy with it.  I've also got to admit , it's got pretty attractive graphics. The only thing that would make me happier now is an " IconPackager 11 "   

P.S. - Thanks to all the community members for the invaluable information shared here. This would not have been possible for me at this time if it were not for all the info shared in this post.     

-- Ace --

on Feb 22, 2022

Acematrix,

I am glad that our discussion here has helped others. I know the discussions have taught me some things as well, there are a lot of like minded people. I always appreciate hearing about other people's findings so I know what is working and what isn't.

on Feb 22, 2022

Acematrix.

Good for you for giving it a go, hope you enjoy Win11, if it was not for this Topic too, i would never have given it a go either, it set me off down a path i did not think i would go, now i am a Beta Tester for themes in Win10 and Win11 whilst i wait for WB11.

on Feb 22, 2022

Well, I broke down and bought an Asus laptop (Intel i3 11th Gen), that's Win11 compatible, it came with Win10 S Mode, but I quickly disabled that, then updated to Win11,  really enjoying Win11, like I've said, I enjoy it (Win11) just like it is, but I too will be glad when WB11 will be released, so as to continue my skinning, my current desktop (Intel i5 8th Gen) does except Win11, but it's the one I do my skinning on, so I have to stay with Win10 (for the time being), but that'll change when WB11 comes out, that's about it... y'all have a great day!   

on Feb 22, 2022

Glad to hear that you're enjoying Win 11 as well , Don.  Congrats on the new laptop , I'm hoping to get a new one as well hopefully in the spring.

-- Ace --

on Feb 23, 2022

don5318

Well, I broke down and bought an Asus laptop (Intel i3 11th Gen), that's Win11 compatible, it came with Win10 S Mode, but I quickly disabled that, then updated to Win11,  really enjoying Win11, like I've said, I enjoy it (Win11) just like it is, but I too will be glad when WB11 will be released, so as to continue my skinning, my current desktop (Intel i5 8th Gen) does except Win11, but it's the one I do my skinning on, so I have to stay with Win10 (for the time being), but that'll change when WB11 comes out, that's about it... y'all have a great day!   

Happy for you don5318, it's always nice to get new toys. I have only bought 1 masterskin since we have been in WB limbo, also looking forward to some movement on the WB11 front.

on Feb 23, 2022

naroon1

I have only bought 1 masterskin since we have been in WB limbo
Ahaa, that's why I can't feed my Babies this quarter

on Feb 23, 2022

neone6


Quoting naroon1,

I have only bought 1 masterskin since we have been in WB limbo

Ahaa, that's why I can't feed my Babies this quarter

Oh neone6, you know i love your stuff, nothing has changed my end, just waiting for WB11, as soon as that happens, i am sure plenty of my Pound Notes will be making there way to your food table.    

on Feb 23, 2022

naroon1

I have only bought 1 masterskin since we have been in WB limbo, also looking forward to some movement on the WB11 front.

I wouldn't be surprised if things started to move along pretty fast from here on out.

In many ways it does seem that start 11's taskbar has been under development for a very long time. But there are indications that it may be making its way to Beta very soon. Particularly because start 11's taskbar can be seen here https://twitter.com/bdsams

This would give Windowblinds 11 a completed tool to run on Windows 11 and would allow development to finally begin.

on Feb 23, 2022

don5318

Well, I broke down and bought an Asus laptop (Intel i3 11th Gen)

I have an Asus laptop myself. It is older, a zenbook flip with an 8th gen i7 but it was able to get Windows 11 on it no problem. The Zen Books always felt a bit ahead of their time but now it feels perfect with Windows 11 on it.

Everyone always talks about Dell or HP, but Asus also makes really good laptops as well. A good choice imo.

on Feb 23, 2022

PhoenixRising1

Everyone always talks about Dell or HP, but Asus also makes really good laptops as well. A good choice imo.

I wouldn't have an HP or a Dell if you gave it to me.  Only Lappy I've ever bought [new] was an ASUS. ...

 

on Feb 24, 2022

Never had any problems with my different HP ZBooks over time.

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