Windows 11: Not quite ready for prime time

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LANGALIST By Fred Langa These early days of Win11 are looking a bit rough. Driver issues remain the leading cause of serious upgrade problems, and som
[See the full post at: Windows 11: Not quite ready for prime time]

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scoobydoo, lmacri, abbodi86, AlexEiffel, oldfry, bmeacham, rc primak, MHCLV941

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I really, really hope someone a Microsoft with some authority reads your articles on Windows 11 and takes your comments to heart. Because they are your words but they speak for an awful lot of people.

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Past experience and the current release speak to a different, darker future. I wish otherwise, but I know not to expect Microsoft to change its attitude toward consumer customers just because of widespread business, media and consumer outrage.

-- rc primak

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Hello Fred,
I’ve read your columns for a long time now and I have great respect for you and what you do for us readers. But this series on Windows 11 upgrades has me going “Huh?”. It seems from reading this that you had an upgrade that went fine on one of your machines, but not so well on another. And to make a point, you flogged that bad upgrade machine to death to get a smooth upgrade. I get it, curiosity being something that I’m given to too.

What concerns me is that this article seems to portray the upgrade process as being perilous to all systems out here. I have my desktop which is a home build with ASUS Motherboard, AMD CPU, older Nvidia graphics card, a Synology NAS connected, older NEC monitors etc and it upgraded so smoothly as to be a non-event. My Maingear Element laptop purchased in January 2020 had the same experience in its upgrade.

My concern over your article is does it portray the general experience when upgrading for the average user, or is it one that would be the exception for most users.
Bob

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Did your system have Bitlocker enabled? Most Home Users of Windows 10 have that on, since it’s the OEM default.

Did you upgrade your system from Windows 10 Home OEM to Windows 10 Pro and then try to get it to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro? That is fairly standard among Power Users, and not too uncommon among business users. Home users will usually not upgrade to Pro, but more and more are doing so these days.

Was your computer a standard, off the shelf OEM laptop? That’s what most Home users have. And that’s what Fred tested.

My point is, Fred’s case demonstrated a recent, standard, NOT home-built laptop with an OEM installed version of Windows 10 Home, upgraded to Pro. That’s where most home users and a lot of business users will be starting out (maybe minus the Home to Pro upgrade).

I think your experience is a very narrow snapshot, and I congratulate you on your smooth and successful upgrade experience. But I think Fred’s experience is not unusual, and it does not bode well for the vast majority of home and small business users.  Many tech press articles back up Fred’s and my opinions about this.

So again, congratulations on a smooth and successful upgrade experience. Here’s hoping yours is not such an unusual experience. But I’m going to wait for the first Feature Release (Fall 2022) before even considering upgrading my Intel NUC Panther Canyon (Intel 11th Gen) kit PC to Windows 11. Even then I’ll be closely watching the third party tweaking tools for updates and new tools to fix whatever Microsoft decides to break next.

-- rc primak

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rc primak wrote:

Did your system have Bitlocker enabled? Most Home Users of Windows 10 have that on, since it’s the OEM default.

Did you upgrade your system from Windows 10 Home OEM to Windows 10 Pro and then try to get it to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro? That is fairly standard among Power Users, and not too uncommon among business users. Home users will usually not upgrade to Pro, but more and more are doing so these days.

Was your computer a standard, off the shelf OEM laptop? That’s what most Home users have. And that’s what Fred tested.

My point is, Fred’s case demonstrated a recent, standard, NOT home-built laptop with an OEM installed version of Windows 10 Home, upgraded to Pro. That’s where most home users and a lot of business users will be starting out (maybe minus the Home to Pro upgrade).

I think your experience is a very narrow snapshot, and I congratulate you on your smooth and successful upgrade experience. But I think Fred’s experience is not unusual, and it does not bode well for the vast majority of home and small business users.  Many tech press articles back up Fred’s and my opinions about this.

So again, congratulations on a smooth and successful upgrade experience. Here’s hoping yours is not such an unusual experience. But I’m going to wait for the first Feature Release (Fall 2022) before even considering upgrading my Intel NUC Panther Canyon (Intel 11th Gen) kit PC to Windows 11. Even then I’ll be closely watching the third party tweaking tools for updates and new tools to fix whatever Microsoft decides to break next.

Hello,

No I don’t have Bitlocker enabled.  I haven’t reached that level of concern for data privacy yet.  But, my laptop is an OEM machine with no modifications that was shipped to me with Windows 10 home that I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro.

The rest of your response is like mine, pretty much opinion and we seem to be on opposite sides of this thought.  I believe that my experience is not unusual, and I feel that Fred’s experience might represent a less than majority of machine upgrades.

What has provoked me to write are the three headlines:

1.  Wait for Windows 11.1
2. Win11 Home never completely lets go
3. Windows 11: Not quite ready for prime time

All eye catchers to provoke one to read the article.   The third headline is what provoked me to write my opinion.  I’m concerned that people see that and without reading any of the articles be convinced that Windows 11 is evil and not to be considered.  Perhaps you fall into that group?

Regards and with all respect,

Bob

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No, it’s not evil. Change is inevitable. Someday I will upgrade.

It’s just that like any “dot-zero” software offering, Windows 11 is undergoing many upgrade “growing pains”. I believe this is all Fred is trying to convey. And it certainly is what motivates me to hold off — not to avoid altogether and forever — the Windows 11 upgrade.

The Windows User Experience is going to change. No doubt about that. And either we embrace that change, or we seek ways to modify the changes (hence the wait until third party utilities catch up with Windows 11), or we seek alternatives to Windows entirely. (I use Linux as my daily workhorse OS.)

So no, I am not saying Fred’s one experience invalidates Windows 11 for all users for all time. And Fred is not saying that either. But I am not ready to dismiss Fred’s experience as unique or even unusual. I await further reports before deciding on that matter.

Again, congratulations on a smooth upgrade experience.

-- rc primak

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I too had a smooth upgrade. But then I found Win 11 to be so full of annoyances that I restored my Win 10 image. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2025, when MS says support for Win 10 will stop. In the mean time I have no plans to buy a new machine!  See the thread I started at https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/win-11-whats-the-point/.

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rc primak

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Actually, I’ve installed W11 on both my desktop and my laptop.  It is working well on both of my PC’s , w/o any major complaints, other than printing can be a little sluggish on my Canon TS 3500 (not a big deal); everything works with as advertised.  Overall W11 Home is OK for me.

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New drivers from your printer manufacturer will probably address those printing issues. Congrats on your upgrade experience.

-- rc primak

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Yes, Windows 11 is not quite ready for prime time when it comes to compatibility with apps.

There are known compatibility issues when it comes to installing TurboTax 2021 under Windows 11.

And, Corel represents that WordPerfect Office 2021 supports Windows 10 version 20H2 and later versions which may be released during the lifecycle of WordPerfect Office 2021. But, unlike several of its other Corel products, it is silent when it comes to WordPerfect Office 2021’s compatibility with Windows 11.

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AlexEiffel, rc primak

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An update.

Corel has agreed to refund the purchase price of WordPerfect Office 2021 due to the Windows 11 compatibility issue.

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AlexEiffel

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Windows 10 ver 1507 and 1511 were not prime time either
first one is usually beta

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I will say that Win11 wasn’t quite ready for prime time when it was first released back in early October 2021 – kinda felt rushed.

though MS recently & silently posted revised Windows 11 ISO downloads from their Win11 download page that contain build 22000.318 and no longer the older 22000.194 build. even the Win11 MCT & update assistant tool should be downloading at least the 22000.318 build which is a little more stable than the somewhat buggy 22000.194 version.

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With regard to “Win11 upgrade ignores a valid Pro license”
It is my understanding that the Windows Installer will default to installing the Home version if it finds a valid Windows Home licence key in the firmware BIOS – which will be the case if the computer was originally supplied with Windows Home preinstalled. If no licence is found there and internet access is available it can also check the Microsoft Activation server for a matching Digital Licence for the hardware. I’m not sure what happens if the Activation server has both Home and Pro Digital licences saved for the same hardware.

I encountered this issue with Win10 – where it didn’t ask to select which version to install – and defaulted to Home even after I wiped the disk clean. There is a fix for this which worked for Win10 and reports are it also works for Win11.

http://www.elevenforum.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-bypass-embedded-key.1794/

Standard downloaded media (ISO or USB) no longer includes an “ei.cfg” file in the sources folder – but you can create one yourself to trigger either a menu driven selection or force a specified Windows Version during install.

The simple version is to add a plain text file named “ei.cfg” to the Sources folder on the install media. This should trigger a selection menu at the start of the install allowing you to choose “Pro”

ei.cfg file – to be added to \sources folder
============================================
[Channel]
Retail

The more complex version is to force a Pro install without a selection menu appearing. For this you need to add two files to the “install disk” – in the Sources folder. Both are plain text config files that force the installed version and key
You can use the generic Win10 Pro (SLP) key to complete the installation – you will then need to enter a Valid Pro Key (or Digital Licence) to trigger the Activation.

ei.cfg file – to be added to \sources folder
============================================
[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail

pid.txt file – to be added to \sources folder
=============================================
[PID]
Value=VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T

Reports from the http://www.elevenform.com indicate the simpler menu driven option is working – I assume the other (two file) version most likely also still works for Win11. The Win11 Pro Generic key should also work (ZK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T)

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I upgraded one side of my dual boot daily driver to Windows 11 Pro October 4th. There were a couple of minor hiccups that were easily remedied. Since the installation is for evaluation purposes, I boot back and forth daily. At the moment I’m on the 11 Pro side. I have installed StartAllBack and Windows 11 looks and acts pretty much like Windows 7SP1.

I’d like to point out something that I feel is often overlooked or just forgotten. My own example is that I have not paid for a complete OS since 2010 when I bought Windows 7 Ultimate. I paid for a Pro upgrade from Windows Home Premium on my Dell Inspiron in December, 2014. Every version of Windows 10 to which I have upgraded over the past six years has been free. The upgrade to Windows 11 is free to anyone running Windows 10.

So you don’t like the UI? Change it. With Windows 8, I bought StartIsBack for $2.99; made all the difference in the world. I’m using StartIsBack++ (free upgrade with my lifetime license) in Windows 10. There are a couple of alternatives for Windows 11 that cost $5 for a lifetime license, and a couple that are free. If you don’t like the UI, change it. StartAllBack also provides for customization of the right-click context menu and the File Explorer interface.

My Windows 11 Pro continues to get updates regularly. I’m now on Windows 11 Pro Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.318). The more I use it, the more it feels like a very minor update for Windows 10.  But “Not ready for prime time”, I can’t agree.  My printer is HP Officejet Pro 8600 All-in-One that I’ve had a few years, now, and it prints just fine.  Scan to PC works just fine.

OEM’s are paying for Windows 11 (steeply discounted) but Windows 10 users are not, we’re offered a free upgrade.  I’m running it on unsupported hardware, but at this point, it seems to me to be highly unlikely that Microsoft will actually cut off updates, even though they have hinted toward that stance.

Oh, and as for Bitlocker, I have yet to find a compelling reason for me to use it.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We were all once "Average Users". We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems, we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

Computer Specs

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Windows 11 will never be ready for me until Microsoft fixes 2 features :

Thumbnails for folders

Fix changing default apps.

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Cybertooth

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Yet another annoyance with Windows 11 that I have not seen mentioned before: jump lists in the Start Menu – they are not there anymore.

In Windows 10, most apps in the Start Menu have their own jump lists. Right-click on the icon and see the most recently opened files by that app. If there was a file you used a lot, you could pin it to the jump list. Click the file of interest and it opened in the app.

As with so many other things, this is no longer the case in Windows 11. Those Start Menu jump lists have gone away, replaced by the hodgepodge of “recommended files”, which seems to be a list of every file of every type that has been opened on the machine. Not in the least bit helpful.

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If you go to “All Apps” and right-click on an icon there is a jump list as there is on the Taskbar icons.

--Joe

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joep517 wrote:

If you go to “All Apps” and right-click on an icon there is a jump list as there is on the Taskbar icons.

Going into “All Apps” is a huge waste of time and effort. I do not use the taskbar for pinned apps. Microsoft provided this feature and, like just about everything else about the start menu and taskbar that it removed from Windows 11, should be put back ASAP.

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