I…didn’t think windows 12 was actually a thing but here we are?
Lol. Remember when W10 was to be the “final” one?
Actually XP was supposed to be the last one. Service Packs were supposed to be the future of OS updates/upgrades.
The “10 year OS” that was 2015. Guess profits got in the way.
Oh and 10 didn’t track you enough or put enough ads in the OS.
This is just my own take, but I feel like at least part of the reason they went back to releasing new versions is because of the recent resurgence of macOS. Not only do Macs have the excitement of Apple Silicon, but they have annual “new” OS releases; even if not much has changed, it creates excitement with their fanbase. I think Microsoft realized that it’s not very exciting to just be on Windows 10 forever. So we got Windows 11.
I think that Windows 11 is just a name and even if they hadn’t named it that we would have gotten the same features as an update in Windows 10. Windows 11 is nothing more than an update. And Windows 12 probably won’t be much different. Increasing the number version of Windows looks much better to the average user.
Makes you wonder if they’re going to just start implementing the version number on every update, sorta like Chrome does these days. Will we see another Windows 95 eventually?
It wasn’t the profits or ads that got in the way.
It was the security that got in the way. (remember the whole TPM module thing?)
Iterating the version number was just a convenient excuse to throw more ads, and tracking in.
Apparently the source of that wasn’t an official statement by Microsoft. It was some offhand comment in a dev conference that kind of got out of control.
I’ve tried almost a dozen distros in the last couple of days. Only a couple of them see my second monitor, and none of them pick up my WiFi card. Guess what does every time? Windows 11. It’s been rock solid, fast and smooth.
Now I could put in a usb adapter for WiFi and fiddle around to get the other monitor to liven up, but I shouldn’t have to. I did this for Manjaro, and I was hopeful. On the second day it crapped out.
I didn’t want to like Windows. I used to be a die hard Mac boy, my first computer was a Mac portable. Apple polo shirt, tie and lapel pins, wallet, watch with Apple logo. I even printed my own t-shirts. ‘The box said Windows 95 or better, so I bought a Mac’ etc.
Gave up a few years ago when they became more fashion items than tools.
I’ve tinkered with Linux since Hardy Heron and Mandriva, and Chromebooks since they first came out. It always needed tinkering, nothing just worked for too long. Mac did. Mind you, Windows was crappy back then though.
Perhaps it’s because I’m on the Windows Insider programme but I really have no problem with 11. OK it has some guff that I don’t need but I’ve removed that. And sure it’s not as customisable as Linux distros, then again neither is Mac.
For me 11 just works. It syncs to my phone as soon as it’s in range. KDE Connect never did. I can run Android apps now (yes I know Chromebooks can) so Samsung Notes is my go to Notes app ever since Evernote went down the pan. OneNote is a pile of old fish parts.
I’ll keep trying distros though, I have to as my old HP laptop which dual boots MX Linux (that’s been flawless on the laptop) and Peppermint, won’t run Windows 11. I have a ‘new’ older laptop coming soon and that probably won’t run 12 ;-)
But for now the daily driver is Windows 11.
Blimus, that was longer than I expected 😮
They are necessitating 8GB of RAM. for what?! Like, it would be a struggle to find a machine with less than 8GB still being sold new, sure, but why does the OS need that RAM?
Microsoft: “Gotta keep all of the telemetries and AI running 24/7 of course!”
Every day I’m closer to trying Linux again.
Please do? What is stopping you anyway?
How is Linux with flight sticks? With Steam now available in Linux, lots of game compatibility is taken care of, but I would love my peripherals to work as well.
As someone who has moved from Windows to Linux and has been using it as primary OS for everything and gaming; it’s not ready.
I love Linux. But it’s not there. It’s for tech savvy people. It’s simply not user friendly enough for the “normies”. I hope it’ll happen one day.
I’m no “normie” but Linux is so damned ass backwards my brain just can’t cope, some of the times I was unsure if I was asking the OS to change directory or summon Moloch to bring a thousand years of darkness to the world.
Linux always had the problem of highly technical people building wonderful things with a GUI that looks like it was designed by a third grader. Mainly because the majority of Linux contributors think the GUI is some fad that will blow over soon. I’m exaggerating of course, the last 10 years has seen some massive improvements. But the GUI being an afterthought still has a bit of truth to it.
You exaggerate but only slightly.
I get how you feel. A lot of your existing Windows knowledge is not applicable to Linux so you feel like an old fart that doesn’t understand computers when you first start using it.
That being said. Now that I’m over that hump, I get why all the linux nerds are so militant about it. It is an objectively better experience if you compare it to Windows from a power user level. It’s a lot like gaming on a PC. Yes, you have to build it. Yes, you have to tinker with games to get them to run “just right”. But it is a better experience once you get there.
To be honest, I think 8 GB is a more realistic requirement for light tasks nowadays, but not because of Windows - even Windows 10 would struggle with Chrome, Word, Excel, etc on just 4 GB, and I can’t imagine that W11 is any better. Increasing the requirements would ensure that OEMs won’t put Windows 12 on shitbox PCs with 4 GB and call them usable, just because they meet the bare-minimum standards.
Yeah, I guess. It seems wasteful to need 8GB just to run an OS and browser especially after Microsoft was pushing server core specifically to go the opposite route with resource utilization on servers.
It’s not that the OS needs that amount of RAM, it’s that it’s lifting the floor for what a modern PC will have, which is a good thing. I can’t wait for the day windows requires an SSD.
I mean, Windows 10+ should only be used on an SSD for the OS install, even if it’s not explicitly required.
So long as it doesn’t outright block us from doing what we choose to on our PC’s, there should be a recommended settings minimum that differs from the minimum.
Maybe because most programs you’d use (browser, word processor, spreadsgeets, etc) requires 8+ gb, and the non-windows side of MS wanted the requirements so edge, word, excel, etc are guaranteed to actually work on every computer that ships with those programs?
KDE developers: okay so we’re gonna switch to a floating taskbar so we look less like a Windows clone
Windows developers: hey guys I have a crazy idea
So 2025 is the year I finally move my desktop to Linux and run windows in a VM I guess. I still have a few apps that just do not play nicely in Wine that would make transitioning fully more difficult, but I’ve been full Linux on my laptop for years. Maybe I can finally make the jump on PC.
My last one left is PCVR with the Quest 2. I wonder whether that works through a VM.
When you’re using a Facebook VR headset and accompanying software, Windows is probably not your biggest concern
Which apps are those? Just curious - I know there are others in this situation and I’m always interested in hearing what apps are the blocking ones for a transition from Windows.
Photoshop for me. Yeah I can get it running under Linux, but it keeps crashing, or is buggy.
And no, Gimp is not a good replacement if anyone goes there.And no, Gimp is not a good replacement if anyone goes there.
This always makes me laugh when people suggest it. Like, CMYK support didn’t get introduced to Gimp until 2022 ffs, and it’s not even full support.
Remember when Windows 10 was “the last operating system”?
Here’s a good article about that: https://www.pcworld.com/article/394724/why-is-there-a-windows-11-if-windows-10-is-the-last-windows.html
Apparently that wasn’t really ever Microsoft’s official stance.
Yeah, it was supposed to be a subscription model that they would continuously update. They have not lived up to that promise…
Too late. I switched to MacOS.
I got sick of edge hijacking my chrome tabs, and then opening on bootup (despite being set not to).
Selling my Xbox Series X too and swapped to PS5… (Remote Play on PS5 actually works on my computer)
Likewise, I had a “high end” business laptop, that didn’t have many alternatives in the windows ecosystem, and replaced it with a 14” base m1 mbp.
The battery lasts 3x longer on the Mac than on the old laptop, and I can generally get significantly better performance in photoshop and Lightroom without dealing with the dual gpu problems that windows laptops have. Additionally, my heavy compilation workloads in Go are almost 2x as fast on battery, and around 1.3x when plugged in.
Top that with a screen and speakers that are so much better there just isn’t a comparison. Windows laptops are a joke unless they live plugged in
Are they going to let us move the damn taskbar this time?
Maybe in 3 years. They only just brought ungrouping taskbar icons back in the beta lol
chromeOS meets early KDE4. Weird. I don’t like Windows 11 either so but I managed to get rid of most of the crap. Should’ve gone for Windows 10 on my gaming machine but since I use Ubuntu 99% of the time, it’s not worth the effort. At least I figured out how to install and use Windows 11 without a Microsoft account. I’d rather depend on Steam on Linux than use a computer with a Microsoft account hooked in.
I’m seriously wondering if we’ve hit rock button in terms of UI flatness.
Key features include subscription fees, only-online capacity, baked in popup ads in every folder and directory, is slower than windows 7, and also streams your webcam to anyone who pays them enough.
/hj
Oh boy, it’ll only run on brand new hardware! Gotta make sure it can run integrated, unswitch-offable OpenClippy GPT or whatever.
it’ll only run on brand new hardware!
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/16811
Unless I missed something that $75 raspberry pi meets the minimum specs for Windows 12
You’re right!
Sorry I was just reading about how there was talk of higher minimum requirements (8gb ram, with 16gb recommended) but that was before official release info.
“the highly anticipated Windows 12” riiiiight…
Already??? Windows 11 just came out
2-3 years is actually a reasonable time for Windows releases, going by historical dates. I think we’re all used to the long gap between Windows 10 and Windows 11
2 years ago? That’s seems like a normal cadence for OS releases.
Well, we had Windows 10 for over 5 years before Windows 11. 10 was supposedly the last version they were doing, so it’s a little surprising they’re back to regular major releases now.
Too many people turned off telemetry data. They couldn’t get enough of it to just upgrade under the 10 banner. They’re forcing more and more online bits and slowly not letting you turn the other stuff off.
Windows 11 still feels like a beta… Have they completely given up on quality?
Huh, and I’ve never even used Windows 11…
I didn’t even know it had released yet. And at my job they’re still using 10.
In fairness I’ve been a Mac user since 2007, but even with my occasional flirtations with Windows, I’ve not used anything higher than 10.
My wife’s machine is running 10. I heard her trying to install 11 via a VM the other day to see how she got on with it, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone swear at a computer quite so much in quite so short a period of time.
Her machine is still running 10.
11 is almost just a reskin of 10
Except with a lot of features removed.
At my job there are many computers with Windows 7 still. I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as the software we need keeps working.
Are those computers connected to the internet? Security updates for windows 7 were stopped in 2020.
Neither of my old Windows boxes will run 11, so they won’t run 12 either. And I’m oh so broken up about it.
Looks like your boxes will soon need to meet a new antarctic friend.
Most of my machines, including my daily driver, run Linux. I’ve got one old windows laptop that I use (via NoMachine) to run Fusion360 on. And we have a 5+ year old Surface Pro that my wife uses for Dice Maker (a windows only program).
