[PDL]

I also received a notification earlier this week regarding this "upcoming" Win 11 and, to be frank, I am rather annoyed with having to "upgrade" again !
For me, it is a BIG (bad) deal because of my lack of computer-related intricacies.

Win 10 is working just fine so I am now afraid that "upgrading" to Win 11 will mess up my computers (one laptop and one PC), both running Windows.
For me, the essential programs (software) are:

Photoshop CS5 (PC)
RAW Therapy (laptop)
Banking (laptop and PC)
Fiscal elements such as yearly tax returns (PC)

I haven't downloaded/installed/previewed anything relating to Win 11 .... yet.

Hopefully, this unwanted Win 11 will not cause a catastrophe!!

Go buy a USB hard drive and copy all of your DATA off of the laptop and PC - don't take the chance of losing your DATA.
The use of old out of support software is going to come back and bite you at some point. That's the way it is. Upgrading every 6 years is not all that unreasonable. (Windows 10 was release in 2015)
Get a full backup (Windows 10 does this in Settings -> Backup -> Backup and Restore (Windows 7)) or Control Panel "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)". Maybe buy two USB drives - one for DATA and one for system images.

[BigMackCam]

I also received a notification earlier this week regarding this "upcoming" Win 11 and, to be frank, I am rather annoyed with having to "upgrade" again !
For me, it is a BIG (bad) deal because of my lack of computer-related intricacies.

Win 10 is working just fine so I am now afraid that "upgrading" to Win 11 will mess up my computers (one laptop and one PC), both running Windows.
For me, the essential programs (software) are:

Photoshop CS5 (PC)
RAW Therapy (laptop)
Banking (laptop and PC)
Fiscal elements such as yearly tax returns (PC)

I haven't downloaded/installed/previewed anything relating to Win 11 .... yet.

Hopefully, this unwanted Win 11 will not cause a catastrophe!!

You have some time to figure out what you want to do. Microsoft is supporting Windows 10 until October 14th 2025. Whether it'll continue to offer free "upgrades" from 10 to 11 throughout that period, I don't know, but if I had to guess I'd say it probably will. You can still upgrade Windows 7 to 10 today, even though that offer officially ended some time ago...

[BigMackCam]

Upgrading every 6 years is not all that unreasonable. (Windows 10 was release in 2015)

Sadly, there are still brand new Windows 10 PCs being sold today that - based on early announcements and current information - won't meet Windows 11 minimum system requirements. So, in just four years, buyers of those PCs will either be stuck with an unsupported OS, facing the prospect of switching to one of the Linux distros, or having to buy another new PC.

If it weren't for the global semiconductor shortage, I'd have thought low-end hardware would be dropping in price quite significantly right now due to Win 11 compatibility issues...

[PDL]

I remember when MS stopped supporting 80286 processors with the introduction of WIndows 95 and specifically WIndows NT (I was on the beta teams for both). Specs change and yes things will stop working on older hardware. Apple has had 4 processor families over its lifetime and is currently undergoing the latest. I know of no major vendors who are selling "new" systems that do not have the TPM v2.0 required by Windows 11. If the customer is not aware, then, forgive my bluntness - too bad. Of all the Windows machines I have, only two will be able to be upgraded to Windows 11, the other 5 will stay on their current versions (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows RT and the others are Windows 10).

At some point I will buy a new desktop that will support Windows 11. My current desktop (Windows 10 Pro) has run Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. I have a old 2008 laptop that started out with Windows Vista and progressed through Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Not a bad run for a device, I expect to keep it around until Windows 10 dies. My current laptop is three years old and has the TPM 2.0 chip - no one should be selling devices without that chip.

[slartibartfast01]

I remember when MS stopped supporting 80286 processors with the introduction of WIndows 95 and specifically WIndows NT (I was on the beta teams for both). Specs change and yes things will stop working on older hardware. Apple has had 4 processor families over its lifetime and is currently undergoing the latest. I know of no major vendors who are selling "new" systems that do not have the TPM v2.0 required by Windows 11. If the customer is not aware, then, forgive my bluntness - too bad. Of all the Windows machines I have, only two will be able to be upgraded to Windows 11, the other 5 will stay on their current versions (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows RT and the others are Windows 10).

At some point I will buy a new desktop that will support Windows 11. My current desktop (Windows 10 Pro) has run Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. I have a old 2008 laptop that started out with Windows Vista and progressed through Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Not a bad run for a device, I expect to keep it around until Windows 10 dies. My current laptop is three years old and has the TPM 2.0 chip - no one should be selling devices without that chip.

My two year old laptop has a 7th generation processor. If Microsoft don't change their requirements I'll be stuck on Windows 10.

[i_trax]

I also received a notification earlier this week regarding this "upcoming" Win 11 and, to be frank, I am rather annoyed with having to "upgrade" again !
For me, it is a BIG (bad) deal because of my lack of computer-related intricacies.

Hopefully, this unwanted Win 11 will not cause a catastrophe!!

you will never need to worry about Windows.....

[jpzk]

you will never need to worry about Windows.....

"JUST" get a MAC ! Seriously??
As if it were THAT simple, right?

[i_trax]

"JUST" get a MAC ! Seriously??
As if it were THAT simple, right?

very simple,
I use both but Mac is by far much more enjoyable,
Just retired , gradually phasing out all WIN activities, Mac can do the lot except ( still!) Sony firmware update.

[Lord Lucan]

I also received a notification earlier this week regarding this "upcoming" Win 11 and, to be frank, I am rather annoyed with having to "upgrade" again !

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread but I have just looked in and saw this. Are you saying the "upgrade" will be forced on us? Is there no option to decline the upgrade? And will Win 11 be a free upggrade or a paid one?

I'm not clear how Microsoft make money from Windows these days. Maybe it just royalty payments from PC makers, so the strategy is to keep users buying new PCs by periodically upping the hardware requirements, even though the functionality has not really moved on from Windows 7 (or even XP). For me, the difference between Win 7 and Win 10 is that the latter has only added nuisances, not functionality. Yes, I know they play the "security" card, and software writers are encouraged to use new APIs and other low-level OS features so that newer apps will not work on the older OS. Otherwise what will be the real improvements of Win11 over Win10? Maybe these facts are not yet known.

Just like camera makers, software writers generally are casting around desperately looking for "improvements" to persuade people to pay for "upgrades", despite the fact that the technology has since some years back almost levelled out - as far as what users really need.

[BigMackCam]

Sorry, I haven't been following this thread but I have just looked in and saw this. Are you saying the "upgrade" will be forced on us? Is there no option to decline the upgrade? And will Win 11 be a free upggrade or a paid one?

I'm not clear how Microsoft make money from Windows these days. Maybe it just royalty payments from PC makers, so the strategy is to keep users buying new PCs by periodically upping the hardware requirements, even though the functionality has not really moved on from Windows 7 (or even XP). For me, the difference between Win 7 and Win 10 is that the latter has only added nuisances, not functionality. Yes, I know they play the "security" card, and software writers are encouraged to use new APIs and other low-level OS features so that newer apps will not work on the older OS. Otherwise what will be the real improvements of Win11 over Win10? Maybe these facts are not yet known.

Just like camera makers, software writers generally are casting around desperately looking for "improvements" to persuade people to pay for "upgrades", despite the fact that the technology has since some years back almost levelled out - as far as what users really need.

So far as I'm aware, Windows 11 is a free upgrade, and it's not being forced on anyone... though in October 2025, when Win 10 reaches end-of-life with no further support and updates, I guess folks will be "forced" to either upgrade or switch to another OS in order to maintain good security.

Windows 10 Pro is the first Microsoft OS in some years that I actually rather enjoy. I didn't like 8, and wasn't mad keen on 7. I prefer linux, but so far as Windows is concerned I'm generally impressed with Win 10 Pro in terms of performance, stability and functionality, both at the typical user and deeper admin levels. I'll hold off on upgrading my main laptop for a few months until the early issues are worked out, but after that I'll happily upgrade to 11. In any case, my laptop is set up for dual boot with Windows and Ubuntu MATE 20.04 LTS, and my other PCs are running Ubuntu MATE. Windows, for all its good points, is something I now only use when needed... Ubuntu is mature, stable, secure, feature-rich and fast on pretty much anything with a 64-bit CPU and 4GB+ RAM

[i_trax]

All WIN11 upgrade / updates are free , that is via Parallels ( as WM ) on Mac's

[slartibartfast01]

Apparently Microsoft will allow Windows 11 to be manually installed on older PCs
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/youll-be-able-to-run-windows-11-on-o...ly/?comments=1

[BigMackCam]

Apparently Microsoft will allow Windows 11 to be manually installed on older PCs
You?ll be able to run Windows 11 on older PCs?if you install the update manually | Ars Technica

Interesting! Thanks for posting this

It's a pity Microsoft doesn't offer a Live USB option like many linux distros. I'd love to be able to try Win 11 on several machines in my home without actually installing it... just to see what performance, stability and functionality is like. My Dad's PC definitely doesn't meet minimum system requirements due to the CPU, but it has 16GB RAM and a fairly fast SATA III SSD boot drive. it runs Windows 10 well, and I'd like to see if it would work OK on 11. If not, I can't see Dad being keen on switching to linux, as some of the software he relies on is only available for Windows. If his system won't run Win 11, I guess that means he'd have to buy a new PC in 2025...

[slartibartfast01]

Interesting! Thanks for posting this



It's a pity Microsoft doesn't offer a Live USB option like many linux distros. I'd love to be able to try Win 11 on several machines in my home without actually installing it... just to see what performance, stability and functionality is like. My Dad's PC definitely doesn't meet minimum system requirements due to the CPU, but it has 16GB RAM and a fairly fast SATA III SSD boot drive. it runs Windows 10 well, and I'd like to see if it would work OK on 11. If not, I can't see Dad being keen on switching to linux, as some of the software he relies on is only available for Windows. If his system won't run Win 11, I guess that means he'd have to buy a new PC in 2025...

I also found this
https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/28/22646035/microsoft-windows-11-iso-workaro...date-guarantee
I think we will have to wait to see what happens when Windows 11 is finally released.