# Windows 11



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

It's less than 4 weeks away from the start of the Windows 11 rollout, but most of us aren't going to be able to take advantage of the new product. At least not right away. Chief among the system requirements is an eighth generation Intel processor. Similar requirements exist for AMD processors (Ryzen 3 or better). In simple terms, that means that if your computer was manufactured before 2019, your computer isn't supported for Windows 11. 

The rollout will begin October 5 by making the upgrade available along with Windows updates, but only for machines that meet minimum system requirements. If you have a machine that's more than 2 years old you won't be seeing Windows 11 in your updates.

While Windows 11 won't be available with Windows updates, users with older machines "may" be able to install Windows 11 by downloading and installing an .iso file, although some Windows 11 features might not work. But even if you can install the upgrade and are willing to put up with some features not working, Microsoft won't be supporting Windows 11 on older machines.

I don't know which features might not work on various older machines, or what the likelihood that the .iso installation will even work. We'll have to wait for more information about that.

I was feeling pretty good about running a fifth generation i7 laptop, but I'm left 3 generations short of having a Windows 11 supported machine. Go figure...

I guess most of us will be running Windows 10 for a while. *The good news is that Windows 10 will be supported until sometime in 2025. That gives us 4 years* to think about replacing our outdated machines.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I have been using Windows 11 for several weeks on three different computers. So far I have had no problems.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

painterswife said:


> I have been using Windows 11 for several weeks on three different computers. So far I have had no problems.


I don't know if preview releases of Windows 11 have the same system requirements as the final product, but it's interesting that you have had a good experience so far. Which processors are you using it on?

Here are the supported Intel products.









Windows processor requirements Windows 11 supported Intel processors


This specification details the Intel processors that can be used with Windows 11 customer systems that include Windows products, including custom images.



docs.microsoft.com





Supported AMD products.









Windows processor requirements Windows 11 supported AMD processors


This specification details the AMD processors that can be used with Windows 11 customer systems that include Windows products, including custom images.



docs.microsoft.com


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Nevada said:


> I don't know if preview releases of Windows 11 have the same system requirements as the final product, but it's interesting that you have had a good experience so far. Which processors are you using it on?
> 
> Here are the supported Intel products.
> 
> ...



You do need to have certain things working TPM module or a processor that has it built in. You also need to have it set up for secure booting as well.

I have it on a Intel Celeron N4020 a Ryzen 7 4700 and a Ryzen 5 5600g. I don't have it working on my security camera computer ( an intel I3 -4100 )because I have no TPM module on there. I am told I can install the ISO copy and get it to work but have not tried yet.


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

What ae some of the advantages of Windows 11?
They just almost have Windows 10 working


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Cornhusker said:


> What ae some of the advantages of Windows 11?
> They just almost have Windows 10 working


Some cosmetic, some improved features. The start menu button is moved to the middle of the taskbar instead of the far left. They say that the dictation engine is now perfected, so it not only types the words but also adds punctuation and capitalization. But I don't use that feature.

Each user can now create multiple desktops, and tile the desktops to their liking. So if you have a collection of apps you use for photo editing, they can be on your photo editing desktop.

There are a number of significant changes.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

painterswife said:


> You do need to have certain things working TPM module or a processor that has it built in. You also need to have it set up for secure booting as well.
> 
> I have it on a Intel Celeron N4020 a Ryzen 7 4700 and a Ryzen 5 5600g. I don't have it working on my security camera computer ( an intel I3 -4100 )because I have no TPM module on there. I am told I can install the ISO copy and get it to work but have not tried yet.


Yes, I ran a utility that scans your system for Windows 11 requirements. It's small (2MB) and is a standalone app (it doesn't install into Windows). Here's a link (it's on my server and scanned for viruses, so it's safe).



http://entomy.com/WhyNotWin11.exe



Just save it to your desktop and double-click on it. Here's my result. I didn't see the point in addressing any other problems since I failed the CPU Compatibility miserably.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

Oh boy, I can’t wait 

I just wish they were a bit more honest in their naming: 
MS Planned Obsolescence 11


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

painterswife said:


> I have it on a Intel Celeron N4020 a Ryzen 7 4700 and a Ryzen 5 5600g.


All 3 of those processors are supported by Windows 11. The I3 -4100 processor is only 4th generation, so not supported.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Nevada said:


> All 3 of those processors are supported by Windows 11.


I know.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Keep in mind that for most people if you dont have a high end PC, your not going to be able to run windows 11. Yes it might run but support will not be available. no patches, fixes making it pretty useless very quickly.

Now those win10 boxes that run window 10 fine are good candidates for chrome OS or Linux if you dont have windows only software.


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## Rodeo's Bud (Apr 10, 2020)

I don't know anyone who uses a laptop or desktop much anymore, unless it is for paperwork.

I get on mine, maybe once a month unless I have paperwork to do. Wife on hers, maybe once every three or four months. Mine is 11 years old, still trucking.

Seems pretty stupid to suddenly obsolete millions of computers when it is hard enough to get folks to buy them.

Now my kid has a high end gaming rig. I am a bit jealous. So I may upgrade, but only for gaming and photo/video editing. But not really that interested in computers anymore.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

Rodeo's Bud said:


> I don't know anyone who uses a laptop or desktop much anymore, unless it is for paperwork.
> 
> I get on mine, maybe once a month unless I have paperwork to do. Wife on hers, maybe once every three or four months. Mine is 11 years old, still trucking.
> 
> ...


I use multiple laptops a day (Both work and personal). I prefer a laptop to my phone screen or tablet screen.

With that said - on my personal systems I run processors that are "older" (5th generation I5's). I do have TPM on my main laptop (it is a "business model" laptop), but I joke with my kids that microsoft is finally pushing me to the point of using linux exclusively (I have some laptops with linux already so the switch wouldn't be hard to do).


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

sniper69 said:


> With that said - on my personal systems I run processors that are "older" (5th generation I5's). I do have TPM on my main laptop (it is a "business model" laptop), but I joke with my kids that microsoft is finally pushing me to the point of using linux exclusively (I have some laptops with linux already so the switch wouldn't be hard to do).


I'd like to see an alternative operating system catch-on, but it hasn't happened yet. Business consumers don't want to take a chance on anything but Windows. They don't want to risk taking a hit on productivity and they're heavily invested in Microsoft products.


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## Big_Al (Dec 21, 2011)

I guess I don't have to worry about it.
Not on a 2012 HP Pavilion.😂


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

Nevada said:


> I'd like to see an alternative operating system catch-on, but it hasn't happened yet. Business consumers don't want to take a chance on anything but Windows. They don't want to risk taking a hit on productivity and they're heavily invested in Microsoft products.


It would be nice for an alternative to catch on - but we know how that goes. 

With my work (job) they will stay on windows, unless I ask for one of the special computers with centos or Redhat enterprise. but then I would be limited on parts of my job - because like you said "they've heavily invested in Microsoft products".

For my personal systems, I'm not as constrained, so it would be easier to move things on my personal computers to Linux. If I need to, I could always set up a couple of VM's on my server as well.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

sniper69 said:


> With my work (job) they will stay on windows, unless I ask for one of the special computers with centos or Redhat enterprise.


I'm not sure what the point of using CentOS or RHEL as a workstation operating system might be, but I don't know a lot about Linux as a workstation. It could be that some of the Linux desktop operating systems might be better suited as a workstation. I know that CentOS & RHEL ship with both KDE and Gnome graphical interfaces, so it could be done. I've always used Red Hat products as server environments, and for the sake of stability I never install KDE or Gnome.

But CentOS is changing. Since Red Hat was purchased by IBM, CentOS will no longer be a RHEL clone. Instead, CentOS (under the new name "CentOS Stream") will serve as an intermediate step in the development of RHEL. It will be more stable than Fedora, but not yet ready for enterprise service. This has created an enormous upheaval in the Linux community. CentOS 7 will continue to end-of-life as intended (June 2024), but CentOS 8 end-of-life will be in a few months (December 2021).

In reaction to this change most of the CentOS development community has jumped ship and gone to the Rocky LInux development team. Rocky Linux 8 is a RHEL 8 clone, and will reach end-of-life on May 31, 2029. A stable version of Rocky Linux 8 has been developed (based on RHEL 8.4) and has been available for free download since June 21. I expect Rocky Linux to become the new standard for free enterprise server environments, as CentOS used to be. Check it out.






Rocky Linux


Rocky Linux is an open enterprise Operating System designed to be 100% bug-for-bug compatible with Enterprise Linux.




rockylinux.org


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Jeesh, I thought win10 was supposed to be the last version of windows as it just automagically updated itself. Meaning the current version has not that much in common with original. You had to block all updates with firewall to keep it from updating.

Greed rules out. Honestly most home users be fine to keep using win10 as long as it works. The real death knell for home user is when you can no longer get an up to date browser for it. What happened with XP and probably win7 in not too distant future. 

People are just irrationally afraid of linux assuming its still like it was in the 1990s with only commandline interface. Its not. The more polished mainstream flavors can be used without ever opening a terminal window though frankly that gives up lot options IMHO. 

I am still fan of Puppy Linux, though have for couple years been using Buster Dog. Its an unofficial version Debian 10 (Buster) that has been made to look and act like Puppy. I like it cause it allows me to use apt-get package manager. Puppy has its own more clunky package manager. 

Now honestly if somebody needed a really polished workstation linux, go look at MX linux. This is really nice and its polished. It just works and super stable. The downside I found was it was slower booting than most. Once booted its great. If you have faster computer sure it will boot faster.

By way you can download full blown Debian with your choice of desktops. The fastest will be LXDE or XFCE. But you can get Cinnamon, Gnome, KDE, LXQT, and MATE. Probably more unofficial options if you look around. Index of /debian-cd/current-live/amd64/bt-hybrid Also Debian is fast becoming last linux distribution offering 32bit version. Course single core processors are becoming very ancient at this point so maybe doesnt matter that much. Now downside of official full blown Debian, you will have to add most of software and maybe firmware you need. So not for the newbie faint of heart. Though it will have apt-get so that makes it easy if bit time consuming, especially if you are not that familiar with linux software. Strongly suggest a debian based distribution like Ubuntu or MX linux. Or Puppy. Seriously I will always be a fan of Puppy.

I am not a fan of Ubuntu, but it does work and its stupid simple for newbies. Has a windows Big Brother like philosophy of life. Though they force their ideas of correct way to use operating system on you. Of the Ubuntu flavors, I personally like Lubuntu, it uses LXQt (used to use LXDE) desktop and lightweight. Least officious and controlling of the Ubuntu clan. Actually quite nice though I finally had to give user "root powers" to keep from entering password to do anything. It wont let me run as root, wants me to do sudo this and sudo that.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> Jeesh, I thought win10 was supposed to be the last version of windows as it just automagically updated itself.


Yes, that was the promise.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Just as an update, there are a number of workarounds that hobbyists have created for installing Windows 11 on an older machine. I'll be experimenting with some of these methods, but I won't post any here until I've actually tried them and found them to be acceptable. From what I'm hearing, anyone using Windows 10 64-bit who wants Windows 11 will be able to get it, regardless of the age of the computer.

Of course without compatible hardware some Windows 11 features won't be available, but that's to be expected.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

Nevada said:


> Just as an update, there are a number of workarounds that hobbyists have created for installing Windows 11 on an older machine.
> 
> Of course without compatible hardware some Windows 11 features won't be available, but that's to be expected.


Installing it yes, but the word is with all the requirements you will not get any future updates. SO its really a dead product on old pc's.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I agree. I would not rush updating machines that way.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Gary in ohio said:


> Installing it yes, but the word is with all the requirements you will not get any future updates. SO its really a dead product on old pc's.


I don't know what the deal is going to be with security updates using the standard update utility. It might or might not work. We'll have to wait and see,

But major updates will still be released similar to Windows 10, but not as often. Windows 10 major updates come twice a year, while Microsoft's plan for Windows 11 is once a year. Doing a hacked install for future Windows 11 major updates might work. Again, we don't know yet. But I suspect the black hat community will come up with something.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

The normal user that has a machine without TPM is not going to seach out those ways of updating. They are better off waiting and buying a new computer down the line. It is not worth the time an effort for the majority of users.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Well I finally been playing with tax software. Again this year, wont work properly in WINE. Oh it installs and runs, even fonts look good, but wont let me enter activation code nor install updates. Some guy in his blog said he had no problem with same software run in Codeweavers Crossover version WINE. JUst that its not free. I assume they tweak their version bit to be more cooperative with commercial windows software. Otherwise it mostly a frontend for WINE. Cant really complain, they contribute a lot to development of open source free version WINE.

Tax software of course works fine on my old HP DC5100 with non-activated win10. But win10 is deprecated in 2025. I certainly not buying some new computer officially supporting win11 just for taxes. I was pissed back when it would no longer run on XP that came with this computer, thats why it got win10 put on it. Back then I was surprised it could handle win10... That would be a big tax penalty in itself. So looked around....

Found some n-lited/hacked version win11. It had been on a diet from size of official version, an iso only 1.6GB. Burned it to a dvd. Booted the dvd on the old P4 computer. Ok, installer is in Portuguese. But gives option to actually install an "Ingles" version. So away we go. It installs, since this is a hacked version it doesnt test for newer supported hardware. And doesnt insist on an internet connection and Microsoft account, to finish installation. And booting to desktop, got the dark hackers wallpaper, which it lets me change to the light theme win11 default wallpaper. But ITS STILL ALL IN PORTUGUESE. Meh. I look around. Yea its just a reconfigured win10 by looks of it. Think about differences of win95/win98/winME, not that much. They needed to force an upgrade to fill the corporate coffers. Its really annoying not being able to read anything and just make guesses though close enough to win10 its not super difficult. But no the hacker had apparently removed any language packs except Portuguese. I installed the tax software, worked fine, same as win10. I didnt try to get it online. Sure Easy Tether be easiest way to make it work. Yes running software written in English is in English its just windows that is in Portuguese. Seems quite happy with the old P4 processor. No sound, but then win10 doesnt have sound driver for this computer either. It didnt even officially support win10. This is an old winXP computer, they may even sold some with win2000. So yea for anybody curious with workarounds win11 can run on a nearly 20 year old computer.

Anyway my adventures with win11. Since I will only use it when tax software no longer will work in win10, dont think I will put more effort into trying to convert it to English. If its like win10 the version that MS wants you to run probably whole lot more obnoxious trying to serve two masters and the user isnt first in line. The locked down hacked/stripped versions tend to be lot more pleasant.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Oh worked some more on my Portuguese win11 today. Had to track down some new tools to get it locked down where it isnt trying to do its own thing sucking on my cell data trying to recreate itself. The tools I had used in win10 hadnt been updated.

Installed Firefox 97. It seemed a bit pokey, but apparently thats cause it was downloading v98. And insisted on installing it. Nobody wants to ask computer owner about installing anything or updating, just wham bam thank you mam. Very rude.

Once all that was ok and ad blocker and cookie auto delete installed, Firefox was actually fairly snappy. Most of sluggishness on win10 tends to be cause its designed to serve two masters and owner of computer isnt first in line. Also as I mentioned this is an n-lited version, the iso was only 1.6GB, lot had been pruned away compared to full version. So that also can help in it running faster on old hardware.

The worst thing about windows you are never certain you have all the holes and backdoors plugged. In fact be amazing if you did. Best one can do is plug it enough that its mostly only doing your bidding.


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