10/30/2021
Windows 11
After a few days of trying out Windows 11, I have come to the conclusion that it is almost completely unnecessary at this time.
The only reason I can see for implementing this new version of Windows is to force the hand of people to purchase new computers before they need or want to.
When it comes to computers, hardware does not age well. As software becomes faster, processors, hard drives, and other hardware need to be upgraded for better performance. This creates a natural cycle of upgrading your computer every so many years just so it will perform better.
The average consumer will keep a computer as long as they can, as long as it functions adequately for their needs. I have seen some clients who have had their computers for almost 10 years, and simply starting fresh with a new hard drive and maybe upgrading the RAM gives even more life to an otherwise “old” computer.
Microsoft promised that Windows 10 would be the last Windows. There would not be a Windows 11. Windows 10 would simply have indefinite support and continue to get updates every year. With the launch of Windows 11, this to me is a breach of trust, or an outright lie to their customers.
And what does Windows 11 really offer? To be honest, nothing really new. The implementation of Microsoft Teams as a competitor for Zoom or any other video conference software brings to mind the term “a day late and a dollar short,“ or “too little too late,” and it’s nothing that could not have been implemented in Windows 10, as Microsoft Teams is part of their Office programs.
Microsoft has been playing catch-up since the implementation of smart phones and tablet computers. Remember that Windows 8 was the giant misstep that was trying to bring Windows into the tablet market.
One thing I find off putting about software companies or any kind of electronic devices is the way the consumer is not considered when doing upgrades. The consumer gets into the habit of using certain things on the computer, and when a new operating system or program version comes out, sometimes that functionality is changed so that the consumer, a creature of habit, has to learn how to do something all over again. That will keep people like me in business, but it certainly isn’t a help to the person who is comfortable using his system the way he wants to.
Windows 11 is no exception to this rule. The functionality of Windows 10 is still there, almost in its entirety. So once again this begs the question, why make a new version of the operating system to simply change the appearance of it? I’m sure that there are technical marvels and features in the system that the average consumer has absolutely no idea how to use or would even bother using. If these new features had come out with Windows 7, then it might have been cutting edge. But with the widespread use of smart phones and tablets, people are using their home computers less. Microsoft did attempt to make a Windows Phone years ago, but they were not prepared for the market. There were insufficient apps for that phone, and they wanted to charge for the apps that iPhone and Android didn’t charge for. A simple mathematical and economic situation that people decided to avoid.
If your motivation to purchase a new computer is to get Windows 11, my suggestion is to hold off. Many of the computers that are available for purchase right now might be incompatible with Windows 11 even though they are new, because they were manufactured with Windows 10 in mind, not Windows 11 and all of its new requirements. So the ideal situation is to wait until next year when all new computers will meet the new requirements of Windows 11. But the consumer must know the manufacturing date of their new computer, just to be safe.
I hate to see perfectly good machines rendered obsolete artificially like this. It used to be that any computer that ran Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 could also run Windows 10. How is launching an operating system that won’t work on most perfectly good older machines not forcing obsolescence to make you buy another computer?
