Windows 11

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I use 11 and I like it very much, I haven't had any issue's other than some slowness from too much security

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

My Windows 10 laptop only serves as a home theater PC. I expect I'll install Ubuntu on it when Win10 “dies."

Most of what I currently do with my laptop (Windows 10) could be done with WiFi disabled. The other activities require a web browser.

For me, in the 2021 - 2025(?) time frame, the interesting things in computer related technology are either tiny SOC devices or ARM/GPU systems.

 

[sibelman]

SOC devices or ARM/GPU systems.

... and maybe you can run Win 11 on ARM

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

SOC devices or ARM/GPU systems

... and maybe you can run Win 11 on ARM

There are a handful of non-Intel hardware architectures that Windows used to run on.

Windows 10/11 on ARM may have "staying power" - perhaps because ARM appears to have "staying power" with or without Windows 10/11/next.

But for me, the idea of Windows on ARM probably will not be on my "let's take a look at it" list over the next 2-4 years.

 

[shoengine]

It has been a few months now and I still hate the new taskbar. I keep clicking on the weather/news app to open the search bar.

Man I wish Litestep was still a thing.

 

[sibelman]

Windows on ARM probably will not be on my "let's take a look at it" list

For fun, I looked at Dell and learned I could buy a Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Win11 Inspiron 14 (fanless, 3.18 lbs., 1920x1080, 8MB) for $300 today. I don't want it, though it could make a fine machine if Ubuntu runs on it

 

[Kent88]

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2344411/windows-11-recall-ai-feature-privacy-nightmare.html

 

[balrog]

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2344411/windows-11-recall-ai-feature-privacy-nightmare.html

Great Googly Moogly. Now they'll be able to track how much Whaler's Rise I've been trying to clone!

 

[sibelman]

Great Googly Moogly

What would Frank Zappa (or Nanook of the North) have to say about MS "spyware"? I think you've nailed it, @balrog .

One presumes that, as with web browsing history, there will be a "clear" function. (this operation cannot be reversed). After all, they say, "You are in control with Recall."

 

[balrog]

No, I think they are saying “All your base is belong to us”

 

[estricklin]

My desktop is what I use mostly, for work and for play, and it's still on Windows 10, though I have been meaning to upgrade it for some time now. Windows 11 isn't a huge change from 10, and I have no problem with it. I bought an Acer Nitro 7 gaming laptop to use for work, we have a BYOD program, and it came with 11 home, I reinstalled 10 pro on it, and it will be upgraded soon as well.

My main issue with Windows 11, is the TPM requirements. Any modern motherboard will have them, but I have a Dell R710 server that I use for all my VMs for programming, print server, DHCP, game servers, file server etc etc, and I have to do a ton of registry edits to get 11 to install since the R710 does not support virtual TPMs. I am not willing to pay for Windows Server licenses. I guess I could replace the ole girl but it just keeps going.........and going. Here is a pic of my humble server rack, it's not the prettiest but it gets the job done. It has several Win 11 VMs on it, along with Mint, Ubuntu, 10, Open BSD and CentOS.

 

[day_trippr]

The way MS has binded "Recall" to Qualcomm's SnapdragonX SOCs for their NPUs is curious considering there are GPUs that sport an order of magnitude higher TOPs. Perhaps they just picked the easiest to implement for the initial release, because - for example - the NVIDIA RTX 4090 that companies are still spending stupid money on for AI and was banned for sale to the PRC has at least 10x more hardware available to inference engines in the form of Tensor cores...

Cheers!

 

[balrog]

Good lord that’s a mouthful of acronymic grape nuts to chew through, @day_trippr !

 

[estricklin]

The way MS has binded "Recall" to Qualcomm's SnapdragonX SOCs for their NPUs is curious considering there are GPUs that sport an order of magnitude higher TOPs. Perhaps they just picked the easiest to implement for the initial release, because - for example - the NVIDIA RTX 4090 that companies are still spending stupid money on for AI and was banned for sale to the PRC has at least 10x more hardware available to inference engines in the form of Tensor cores...

Cheers!

Seeing as how I work in tech, I feel like I should "get" what MS is driving at here. It really just seems like an ARM based PC. There's obviously going to be compatibility problems as the vast majority of applications for windows are not compiled for ARM. Does the average user need/want this AI feature?

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Good lord that’s a mouthful of acronymic grape nuts to chew through, @day_trippr !

Sounds like he's saying that there should be a new SOP ASAP for BYOD for new AI in the latest KB in the MS OS to make the GUI and UX faster without risking OOM from the EEPROM or crashing the NVMe, IDK.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Seeing as how I work in tech, I feel like I should "get" what MS is driving at here.

Have you looked at the AI related sessions from Build 2024?

 

[passedpawn]

Seeing as how I work in tech, I feel like I should "get" what MS is driving at here. It really just seems like an ARM based PC. There's obviously going to be compatibility problems as the vast majority of applications for windows are not compiled for ARM. Does the average user need/want this AI feature?

No serious PC is gonna run on ARM any time soon. I'd guess that MS compiling for ARM architecture is another failed attempt to get into mobile/?? space.

MS is so dumb. There is no reason they couldn't have made it big in phone OS, but they are just dang bad at business.

HOWEVER, regardless the odd stuff popping up in my task bar with new releases, I love it on the desktop.

 

[day_trippr]

I wouldn't be quite so quick to dismiss the evolution of ARM architecture at this point. There is a fairly decent threat to Intel's traditional CISC designs and marketing thereof that could gain momentum with Microsoft's encouragement...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

I wouldn't be quite so quick to dismiss the evolution of ARM architecture at this point. There is a fairly decent threat to Intel's traditional CISC designs and marketing thereof that could gain momentum with Microsoft's encouragement...

Cheers!

In my world, ARM is king. I'm a designer of things, and almost all of my things are ARM M0 - M4. But for the desktop, Intel/AMD are so far advanced. I don't game, but I build a new PC ever few years and it's incredible what I'm running right now. Not ARM territory.

 

[day_trippr]

You're living in a silo. You need to get out more.
fwiw, I have almost a dozen US patents on computer architecture...

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

You're living in a silo. You need to get out more.
fwiw, I have almost a dozen US patents on computer architecture...

Cheers!

well yea... I'm a bricklayer.

 

[day_trippr]

Also, fwiw, I do game, and just recently built a 14900K with 64GB of DDR5 6000, an RTX 4090 24GB OC, and three 2TB M.2 NVME drives, all driving 3 matched 27" 1440P screens running up to 165hz with Gsync. The rig screams through everything with aplomb at max settings with crazy FPS up in the 250+ range.

BUT that's all just this particular point in time, and there's a decent argument that the AMD flagship is faster in gaming (though slower in "productivity apps"), but I'm more comfortable with Intel as a big chunk of my design career was based on their tendencies.

Meanwhile, I would definitely not dismiss what's going on in the ARM camp - especially if Nvidia decides to get into the desktop...

Cheers!

 

[Kent88]

I learned something new about day-trippr today.

 

[balrog]

I learned something new about day-trippr today.

Yeah, but absolutely no mention of VR or hacking NORAD.

 

[sibelman]

No serious PC is gonna run on ARM any time soon.

"Serious" is a somewhat flexible term.

The fact that MS now includes Arm64 in the Windows big tent confirms that "serious" computing is already possible with Arm -- even though not the blistering performance of high end x86-64 Intel and AMD machines (or Apple M[0-9] silicon). Surprisingly, my cute little RPI4 functions acceptably as a home theater PC, given my modest needs. Sure, my home-built fanless Core™ i7 Ubuntu box runs rings 'round it, but I suspect the RPI5 would meet most of my (also modest) desktop needs. So if "serious" means practical ordinary end-user computing, Arm is already there.

That's not "serious" by gaming standards. But it certainly suggests that Arm capabilities are moving up at a good pace.

 

[day_trippr]

https://www.techradar.com/pro/jaw-d...ion-as-it-claims-cpu-leadership-ahead-of-epyc

Don't sleep on ARM...

 

[sibelman]

More exciting news re Windows 11, Recall™, and even Arm.

 

[balrog]

From https://www.windowscentral.com/soft...th-its-users-windows-recall-is-the-last-straw

"On paper, it's a cool idea. ...uses AI to triage and index everything you've ever done on your computer, enabling you to semantically search for things you've seen using natural language. It's a new and improved way of finding things on Windows, and in our testing of the feature, it works really well.

However, for a tool like this to be feasible, trust between the user and the platform is required, a luxury Microsoft doesn't appear to have with its Windows user base right now. Recall operates by taking and storing captures of your screen every few seconds to build a database that the user can later search, with screenshots as visual aids. That database is stored locally on your device and never uploaded to the cloud.

In fact, Microsoft goes so far as to promise that it cannot see the data collected by Windows Recall, that it can't train any of its AI models on your data, and that it definitely can't sell that data to advertisers. All of this is true, but that doesn't mean people believe Microsoft when it says these things. In fact, many have jumped to the conclusion that even if it's true today, it won't be true in the future."

The missing obvious part to me is that WELL OF COURSE NOBODY FROM THE INTERNET COULD POSSIBLY GET INTO THAT DATA NOW COULD THEY???!!!

To me, it's like having a toaster/fridge/thermostat/doorbell/TV that is IoT allowing every bad actor with AI aided hacking to do diabolical things. I mean imagine the anarchy of constantly telling me I need more eggs while jacking my furnace level 11, Satan's arsehole, and ruining my pumpernickel bagel?

 

[sibelman]

It appears that MS will be reducing some of the concerns with Recall, and making it entirely opt-in. Still, seems worrisome.

 

[tracer bullet]

I suppose because I've done computers for a long while that I sort of hate how every version of windows makes things "easier". I like to have my OS on the C drive, have it be as fast as I can buy, have my storage on a different and huge drive with a different letter, etc. I like my pictures to be in a certain folder in a certain place. I have them organized how I like them and know to search for them. I have files named well, and if the file count gets too large inside of a folder, I create more folders. A place for everything, and everything in its place. Every new version of windows seems to be "just hit save, we'll put it in a gigantic box all jumbled up for you, trust us, you'll find it someday, probably". I'd probably still be running XP if I could.