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Windows 11 minimum specs! Thoughts?

You all should try Linux Mint! Free open source! (please note: Linux Mint isn't suitable for gaming)
 
You all should try Linux Mint! Free open source! (please note: Linux Mint isn't suitable for gaming)
When will you get the idea that we would use Linux if we could, but some of us have programs that are designed for Windows and windows only like Adobe product and the Microsoft apps (the full ones before you say use the web apps 🙄)
 
It is now out on the Beta channel and so I upgraded to it again today. To put the start button back where it belongs is a doddle, and it is running perfectly, unlike when I tried it from the Dev channel. I won't be going back to 10 this time, everything just works and there is no more load on the CPU or RAM than there was in 10. So apart from TPM there seems no hardware limits above 10 that are obvious.
 
It is now out on the Beta channel and so I upgraded to it again today. To put the start button back where it belongs is a doddle, and it is running perfectly, unlike when I tried it from the Dev channel. I won't be going back to 10 this time, everything just works and there is no more load on the CPU or RAM than there was in 10. So apart from TPM there seems no hardware limits above 10 that are obvious.
All the requirements like TPM just seem forced to me (at least in a home setting) and for what's really a cosmetic upgrade with little additional functionality (if any) I just can't see the point of windows 11.
 
All the requirements like TPM just seem forced to me (at least in a home setting) and for what's really a cosmetic upgrade with little additional functionality (if any) I just can't see the point of windows 11.
Have to say I disagree with this. There's a face-lift, for sure, but there's so many under the hood changes and improvements that are great. Better continuity when docking and undocking, Android app support etc.
 
You all should try Linux Mint! Free open source! (please note: Linux Mint isn't suitable for gaming)
I have used a load of different Linux distros and while I do like using Linux, it does have its problems. Once set up it is ok, depending on the machine it is used, but sometimes adding hardware can be a pain in the neck.
I have not found one that plays well with 4K, while the distro may be okish, the software normally is not and will not upscale, so menus look tiny. Then there is software, while I know a few people who use Linux for music production, video editing and photo editing and 3D stuff, they are people who have been using Linux for years, and they are used to the software not being polished or having their strange quirks. One of them don't even use a desktop, they do everything via the terminal.
I did think about that a while back, but to be honest, I had to do that on my Amiga and life is too short to bother with typed commands.

The software I use is not available on Linux, well there is software like it, but not what I want it to do.
I have been meaning to fix the other computer up and use that as a Linux only machine and maybe using that for online stuff, but it is the hassle and lack of space.

I would love Linux to become a better OS for the masses, but sadly it is not,
 
Have to say I disagree with this. There's a face-lift, for sure, but there's so many under the hood changes and improvements that are great. Better continuity when docking and undocking, Android app support etc.
I used Windows 11 from the leaked version and used updates until a couple of weeks ago after it was finally launched and then back to Windows 10.

My views on Windows 11 is that really, and truly it is not ready for prime time, but then nor was Windows 10 when that was launched. My machine is a Ryzen R7 1700 based machine, so not one of MS recommended system for Windows 11, but I got it installed and running.
I kind of like the UI, I like the start menu look, I always hated the tiles on Windows 10, which is why I use start is back on Windows 10, the icons being in the centre on the taskbar, I also liked, I thought the OS itself ran a bit smoother than Windows 10, but it made no noticeable difference to how software ran to be honest.
I liked the rounded corners as well and while the new windows snapping function is nice, it is not that useful.

The things I did not like about Windows 11, more junk in the start menu, while some are not installed until you click on them, it is still more stuff that some people may not want, so time required to get rid of it, the same with Teams and the silly widgets, should have a choice to install them on installation of Windows.
Not being able to drag stuff onto the taskbar or even have software using the taskbar, I have a bit of software called meter X, which shows me the CPU, hard drive and memory status, it puts itself on the taskbar, Windows 11 will not allow that. The recommended feature on the start menu, turn it off, but then there is a large empty space that could be used to pin icons on, the search bar on the start menu, I never used it, like I never use the one in Windows 10, but on Windows 11, there is no way to get rid of it. Start menu is limited in that you can't put folders on it.

Another thing is the way Ms is making it a pain in the neck to change from the default browser, so much stuff to change and now they are making it impossible for software to redirect searches to another browser.

The one problem I did have which is one of the reason I went back to Windows 10 is file explorer freezes for no reason, certainly when moving large files from the hard drive to the NAS, but I also notice on normal file copying and moving to an external drive as well.
By all accounts, other people have had this issue.

While not on the pro version, but on the home version of Windows 11, the forcing of people to have a MS account is wrong, not even possible to disconnect the machine from the network on set up to bypass the must-have a MS account thing. Sure there are ways past it, but it is a pain and very few people would know how to. This forcing of people to have accounts is not on, sadly MS is not the only one that does it, but that is not the point.

Will I go back to Windows 11? I am not sure, it depends on how they sort out stuff like the start menu, I am thinking of going for a Mac next year, not 100% decided yet, but a nice Mac mini may be the way to go and yes I know the MAc has it own problems, certainly with their trying to get people to have some sort of account, but at least they don't force people into doing it.
I was going to update this machine,, but to make it worth while I would have to go for something like a Ryzen 9, if I am going to spend that amount, then maybe a Mac mini is the better way to go.
 
I am still on Windows 10 due to two main reasons:
- Not all software that is essential is running on Windows 11;
- Not a straightforward upgrade with different paths you may take and different options to receive.

I have some overview of my personal experience on my ‘test computer’:
- Need to get used to interface - OK;
- CPU performance looks better, in the sense of task manager control; Excel opens better with load; since it is Edge, but not Chrome, it is hard to compare apple-to-apple.

If one is careful about understanding stated changes with the transition and ok with them, it is worth upgrading. But also worth to follow new upgrades soon, I guess. Too many transitions might come.
 
I am thinking of going for a Mac next year, not 100% decided yet, but a nice Mac mini may be the way to go
In your position I would probably wait a bit. The whole lineup is going to their silicon. They still have the full fat desktop machines to go, likely a derivation of the M1 Max chips that have just gone into the 14 and 16” laptops. You may find the M1 Mini gets a tweak and refresh in the next 12 to 18 months.
 
In your position I would probably wait a bit. The whole lineup is going to their silicon. They still have the full fat desktop machines to go, likely a derivation of the M1 Max chips that have just gone into the 14 and 16” laptops. You may find the M1 Mini gets a tweak and refresh in the next 12 to 18 months.

Ah, this is the other place you meant.
I was thinking of waiting anyway to see if they come out with a new CPU for the Mac mini, I don't want to go for a Imac, I did think about a Macbook pro and then using it with a dock.
But for the reasons I said in the other place, I will hang on anyway
the other thing is, would i like a Mac? i have used Macs, but not for any great amount of time.

but thanks for the reply.
 
Ah, this is the other place you meant.
I was thinking of waiting anyway to see if they come out with a new CPU for the Mac mini, I don't want to go for a Imac, I did think about a Macbook pro and then using it with a dock.
But for the reasons I said in the other place, I will hang on anyway
the other thing is, would i like a Mac? i have used Macs, but not for any great amount of time.

but thanks for the reply.
The last question is the most subjective and difficult to answer because it’s what you like, don’t like. Can’t advise you there.

I came to Macs properly (I wont count university lab/libraries Macs of the early nineties) in 2007 after using windows for the better part of 15-ish years by then. Also some Linux and proper Unix/Xwindows. Took a long while back then honestly to get out of all my old habits - probably a year or more - I dived in at the deep end - I was a maverick at work packing a MacBook when the other folks were packing Vaio’s and ThinkPads (which is a decent spec - still my fave Windows laptop of all time) and I made it work in a predominantly windows based outfit and profession. Think I wanted to prove something….🤣 not sure what 😂

MacOS though now been my daily driver for the last 14 years, and I prefer it in every way of Windows (still run an x390 Yoga Thinkpad and various other boxes running W10 or server 2019 + Ubuntu etc). As well as running W virtualised under Parallels (since v3 or 4…now v17). I can’t truly escape windows for lots of stuff - but that stuff is the world in which we live.

Good luck with your choices.
 
The last question is the most subjective and difficult to answer because it’s what you like, don’t like. Can’t advise you there.

I came to Macs properly (I wont count university lab/libraries Macs of the early nineties) in 2007 after using windows for the better part of 15-ish years by then. Also some Linux and proper Unix/Xwindows. Took a long while back then honestly to get out of all my old habits - probably a year or more - I dived in at the deep end - I was a maverick at work packing a MacBook when the other folks were packing Vaio’s and ThinkPads (which is a decent spec - still my fave Windows laptop of all time) and I made it work in a predominantly windows based outfit and profession. Think I wanted to prove something….🤣 not sure what 😂

MacOS though now been my daily driver for the last 14 years, and I prefer it in every way of Windows (still run an x390 Yoga Thinkpad and various other boxes running W10 or server 2019 + Ubuntu etc). As well as running W virtualised under Parallels (since v3 or 4…now v17). I can’t truly escape windows for lots of stuff - but that stuff is the world in which we live.

Good luck with your choices.
No doubt I would get used to it, after all I came from the Amiga to Windows all those years ago and it did not take that long to get used to things. I wish my friend still lived close by, I could get some more use of a Mac.
Keyboard is a problem, I would like to use this keyboard, but it is not wireless and it needs two usb connections, I was thinking of a KVM switch, I don't really need the video part as I will connect the mac via the HDMI on this monitor and the PC to the DP, it is really quick to switch between inputs on this monitor. Saying that this keyboard is getting on, but it works fine, need a good clean, it is a corsair K65,
I am not sure if I could cope with one of those keyboards that looks like it belongs on a calculator.

I will just have to look after Christmas, while I have saved up over half of what I need to buy the machine itself if I go for the cheapest mac mini, I will get some extra money after Christmas, council tax will be paid, rent is in advanced, but I could use money from my other account.

i think, I have worked out one of the things that is holding me back, the price for what you get. i look at a PC and think, I get a large box for the money I will spend on that, but with the mini it is a tiny machine, it doesn't look like much.
If i updated this machine, it would be to a ryzen 9, going for anything less would not be worthwhile, the new Ryzen 7s, while they are faster than my old R7 1700, the difference is pretty minimal.
I wonder how well the mac mini compares to the Ryzen 9.

thanks anyway
 
No doubt I would get used to it, after all I came from the Amiga to Windows all those years ago and it did not take that long to get used to things. I wish my friend still lived close by, I could get some more use of a Mac.
Keyboard is a problem, I would like to use this keyboard, but it is not wireless and it needs two usb connections, I was thinking of a KVM switch, I don't really need the video part as I will connect the mac via the HDMI on this monitor and the PC to the DP, it is really quick to switch between inputs on this monitor. Saying that this keyboard is getting on, but it works fine, need a good clean, it is a corsair K65,
I am not sure if I could cope with one of those keyboards that looks like it belongs on a calculator.

I will just have to look after Christmas, while I have saved up over half of what I need to buy the machine itself if I go for the cheapest mac mini, I will get some extra money after Christmas, council tax will be paid, rent is in advanced, but I could use money from my other account.

i think, I have worked out one of the things that is holding me back, the price for what you get. i look at a PC and think, I get a large box for the money I will spend on that, but with the mini it is a tiny machine, it doesn't look like much.
If i updated this machine, it would be to a ryzen 9, going for anything less would not be worthwhile, the new Ryzen 7s, while they are faster than my old R7 1700, the difference is pretty minimal.
I wonder how well the mac mini compares to the Ryzen 9.

thanks anyway
Yep…they build them like their laptops, completely non-expandable, and essentially non-upgradable. I suppose to save in manufacturing, keep build simple, size minimal etc. both SSD and RAM is soldered to the board.

Don’t have any AMD based boxes to compare against. My kids have their M1 13.3” MBPs that are coming up to a year old in January. So far all good, they love them. Performance is great.

Got my new 16” MacBook Pro last week, still got to unbox and set it up. Decided to take their trade offer on my 4 year old MBP rather than chance it on fleabay this time.
 
Yep…they build them like their laptops, completely non-expandable, and essentially non-upgradable. I suppose to save in manufacturing, keep build simple, size minimal etc. both SSD and RAM is soldered to the board.

Don’t have any AMD based boxes to compare against. My kids have their M1 13.3” MBPs that are coming up to a year old in January. So far all good, they love them. Performance is great.

Got my new 16” MacBook Pro last week, still got to unbox and set it up. Decided to take their trade offer on my 4 year old MBP rather than chance it on fleabay this time.
Yeah, the not being able to expand is a bit of an issue to me, certainly in memory, hard drive is not so much, as it is easy enough to stick a external drive on for storage, I have Windows and my main software on a 256GB NvME and i still have 132GB free, but then all my documents and other files are stored on a 2tB spinny drive and also on a NAS.If I got a Mac mini, my idea was to get one of those docks that fit under the machine and connect I presume via the thunderbolt connector, they have space for an internal drive, SD card slots and extra usb ports. I have seen some for around £70.
So having a 256GB internal storage would not be a problem, but memory, no idea if I should go for 8GB or spend an extra £200 for 16, it is a lot of money just for an extra 8Gb of ram.

I have £457 in the account I set up to save for stuff like this, my council tax as I said is the last payment this month, so that that is three months of £130 I could use, plus I am sure I am over a grand in front of my rent, so plenty of money, I can take money from my main savings and then replace it with that money if I feel I want to get the machine early. But no rush to be honest.

The Mac m1 is faster than my r7 1700, but not faster than a R9 and not faster than the latest R7 by the seems of it on benchmarks, but there are people on you Tube who uses their Mac mini to produce 4K video and they do ok. The thing about the mac mini would be silence, my ryzen has four fans on the case, two on the video card and one on the CPU. I also want to find a better place for the NAS as that can be noisy.

Oh we will see, have to see what i feel like after Christmas at work and if I don't flip out and tell them where to shove their job.
 
Here are all of the hardware specs that users require to meet the Windows 11 minimum requirements:

  • A 64-bit processor at 1 GHz with two cores
  • 4 GB of RAM
  • 64 GB of available storage
  • DirectX 12 compatible GPU with a WDDM 2.0 driver
  • UEFI and Secure Boot capable
  • TPM version 2.0
  • 720p HD display on 9″ monitor with 8 bits per color channel
  • Internet connection
Personally think they're a bit OTT.

TPM v2 really kills off a lot of "pretty decent" early Xeon rigs and old work horse core2duo and AMD64 PC's too. It requires at a minimum Intel 8th Gen (Coffee Lake) (2017) / Xeon Skylake (2015) or AMD Ryzen/threadripper 2000 (2017) upwards!

The DirectX 12 compatibility requirement may be a bit of a bad idea with zero availability of anything if you haven't got a supporting GPU at Windows 11 launch!

Thats nvidia Kepler / Radeon HD 8570 or R7 240 or better!

(amazingly my god awful GT640 I still haven't replaced does DX12, so think i'll wait a few more months for crypto to die off!)
It's pretty easy to bypass the TPM check though. I honestly doubt Microsoft are going to stop supporting older hardware when Windows 10 support ends because otherwise, it would force a lot of people who cant upgrade to switch to Linux.
 
I usually pass my old office computers down to family members as clean builds. The one I just built last year is fast, can run modern games pretty well on its GPU, and is a solid computer overall. But its CPU and Mobo pre-date 2017 and can't do TMP v2. Talk about a good way to potentially generate a mass of unnecessary eWaste once W10 support ends in 2025 (I think they'll have to extend it or the fallout will be.. ouch).

So naturally I know that at some point next year I'll probably have to find a credible TPM v2 module for that PC, see if it can be added to the motherboard/will work or do one of those hacks to avoid W11 checking for TMP v2 - on the risk of losing access to future updates. Microsoft.. oh boy.
 
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