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Microsoft Starts Rolling Out Windows 11 To More PCs (theverge.com) 59

Microsoft is rolling out Windows 11 to more PCs this week. After an initial launch to mostly new PCs earlier this month, Microsoft is gradually making the free Windows 11 upgrade available to more existing and eligible devices. From a report: "The availability of Windows 11 has been increased and we are leveraging our latest generation machine learning model to offer the upgrade to an expanded set of eligible devices," says Microsoft. "We will continue to train our machine learning model throughout the phased rollout to deliver a smooth upgrade experience." If you've been waiting for the Windows 11 upgrade to appear in Windows Update, you might find the above prompt this week. Anecdotally, we've been offered the upgrade on a variety of devices today, including a custom gaming PC.
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Microsoft Starts Rolling Out Windows 11 To More PCs

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  • by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Thursday October 28, 2021 @02:32PM (#61936499) Homepage
    Usually they push a list of benefits of a new version, but if there is such a list, there certainly has been no effort to push that information out to individuals who might care (like myself). Why are we supposed to upgrade from a perfectly good (and even numbered) OS? :)
    • Re:Benefits? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Camel Pilot ( 78781 ) on Thursday October 28, 2021 @02:52PM (#61936587) Homepage Journal

      Benefits? Yes, lots of them.

      First your tasks on the taskbar are now centered - big step forward there. You can't right click on the task bar like you have since forever, you now have to remember some 3-finger salute. Settings control and information have been rearranged... not for the better but just because. Why do GUI designers like doing this? On my X1 laptop, Chrome locks up and I have to reboot frequently to recover. I have never had this happen with 10.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

        First your tasks on the taskbar are now centered - big step forward there.

        That's a HUGE matter of opinion / personal preference -- thankfully it can be disabled (at the moment, anyway).

        I understand the arguments for center alignment, but having everything left aligned means things can stay in the same absolute position on the task bar regardless of how many things are there.

        Thankfully I won't have to worry about this as my systems are too old for Windows 11 system "requirements" and I won't be upgrading. I'll just (eventually) make the full-time switch to my Linux systems.

        • Re:Benefits? (Score:4, Informative)

          by jenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) on Thursday October 28, 2021 @09:16PM (#61937663)

          First your tasks on the taskbar are now centered - big step forward there... you now have to remember some 3-finger salute... not for the better but just because...

          That's a HUGE matter of opinion / personal preference -- thankfully it can be disabled (at the moment, anyway).

          WHOOSH!!!

          Repeat after me: "I will read a post fully, at least twice, and look carefully for signs of sarcasm before I respond to the post".

          • You need to learn to be better at sarcasm -- especially when commenting on things some (other) people actually like, like center-aligned items on the task bar.

      • "Yes, let's move the steering wheel to the floor, put the gas pedal on the ceiling, the brake petal under the seat, and move all the controls for the A/C unit to the back seat. We will then totally rearrange this again for next year's model."

        - If software UI designers were in charge of a car's control layout.

    • The benefits are that it will install itself without any effort from you! Just sit back and accept it.

    • I wait to modify installed main OS and play with new toys in virtual machines, an expendable hdd or a spare PC.

      Computers are not exciting and "upgrade" is marketroid for "different" so I evaluate changes at leisure. I do this for software, hardware, vehicle and other stuff there being no reason not to and every benefit to leisurely evaluation of new offerings.

  • Jumped the queue (Score:5, Informative)

    by aerogems ( 339274 ) on Thursday October 28, 2021 @02:34PM (#61936511)

    I decided to force install it on my home system. Tried once shortly after launch and the experience was a bit bumpy, but after updating some drivers and waiting for the second cumulative update before trying again, it's been smooth sailing. I have to say, I rather like the streamlined Start menu, but the Widgets panel is pretty much useless right now. Maybe at some point they'll add more things for it to do or just take it out back and put a bullet in its head. The one thing I really wish I could change is how it opens Edge for so many things. Minor annoyance really, but still...

    • by Scoth ( 879800 )

      This is, what, the third attempt at something widgety? IE4/Win98 Active Desktop, Vista/7 Gadgets, and now this? Maybe four if you count the Start screen/menu live tiles on 8/10 that tried to replicate some widgety functionality. Microsoft is known for the third time being the charm on stuff, so maybe this time it'll work.

      • Maybe 5 if you count the news and interests bar they rolled out to Windows 10 with an update earlier this year.

        • I must've missed it scince I long force disabled all autoupdating in Windows 10.

          "s1nK tEh s3kUr1Ty"...um the security risks are always there no matter what. Dare I say the security holes may be intentional to justify the codedroids' continued employment.

          Just as I would not want somebody to suddenly come into my house on a whim and start changing things around, I don't want a corporation to suddenly come into my computer and start changing things on a whim.

          The security risk is far less than allowing

          • I must've missed it scince I long force disabled all autoupdating in Windows 10.

            What a proud anti-vaxxer you are.

            • Rarely do I read such a moronic comment like the one you have just posted.

              FYI - I got the vax when it first came out.

              Honestly, I don't even know how to reply to your post. All as I can say is that I hope someday that you can realize not wanting somebody to screw around with your personal property and refusing a life saving vaccine are not one and the same

  • Mixed emotions (Score:5, Informative)

    by TheRealPhaser125 ( 6982956 ) on Thursday October 28, 2021 @02:42PM (#61936543)
    I am a Windows user, I'll fully admit. I am also the one who tries to think as logically and reasonably as I can when things change, and try not to immediately shut something down as problematic or "worse" just because it's different from what I'm accustomed to. I try to be reasonable, and even to defend changes and updates to my employees, friends and families who might otherwise shut something down as terrible due to change. Windows 11 looks "pretty". I have been running it on a few of my mainstream machines for work, and I can say that it "looks" good. This is purely opinion. That being said, I have run into many small thing that make me go "why"... Why can't I right click anywhere on the task bar and get to task manager? Why can't I get to the power button on the start menu as easily as I used to be able to (farther mouse travel to get there). Why isn't settings right where it belongs. Why, for the love of god, does the start menu button MOVE depending on how many icons are currently loaded on the task bar. Honestly, put it in the damn center for all I care, but having it left justified on an ever changing centered mass, makes no sense. Having it centered, and having the task bar icons hovering around the center of the screen works well for some scenarios (49" 32:9 display, for example), so I won't shut down the centered concept completely. Why, when I click the left justified on the center mass start button, does it bring up a menu dead center on the screen, instead of nearby where the mouse cursor was when it clicked the thing to bring up the menu? Anyways, that was all surface annoyances. Overall, I haven't had it majorly crash nor have any driver or software full-blown compatibility issues. That being said, I have to say it has graphics issues. When a video starts playback on various Thinkpad / Thinkcentre machines (state-of-the art machines, one or two I've tried with 11th gen Core i7 cpus with corresponding modern intel graphics), the screen flashes briefly to black when a video starts playing. Odd, and consistent. I have the same experience on multiple machines. A few times, I had the screen go black, and when it came back, everything got what I'd describe as a light digital fuzz over the whole screen. Odd to say the least, and it happened on multiple machines. Overall, I haven't had any other major issues, but I'm going to be facing some sh*t when this update goes out to certain individuals at my company. Yeah, I know, find ways to prevent it, find ways to hold off on big updates, but inevitably, someone will have it on some machine and be pissed by the new glitches.
    • Thanks for the excellent post. I'm a bit sick of the "Windows bad" crap that seems to get spammed to these sorts of posts, but you've at least been thoughtful with your criticisms.
      I've been dealing with Windows for nearly 30 years now, and every release is greeted with cries of "Oh, the horror, the horror!"
      Like every single other Windows release, we will get used to it, and Microsoft will fix the bugs.
      I suspect they will make it available on older processors too.
      • by jvkjvk ( 102057 )

        >Like every single other Windows release, we will get used to it, and Microsoft will fix the bugs.

        And how many Billions in productivity, if not Trillions, have been wasted my Microsoft with their sloppy production practices?

    • Agile. Thus, you must make changes for the sake of making changes. If you don't make changes, then your job must be worthless, so make changes so the boss thinks you're doing something! No big features thank you, those won't fit into a scrum, so instead lets have lots of tiny insignificant changes that no one cares about.

      I'm waiting for the scrum that changes Windows to not reinstall Edge everytime someone jumps through the hoops to uninstall it.

    • I am a Windows user, I fully admit. Only because, Adobe Creative Cloud only runs on Windows and Mac, and I find the Apple culture a little creepy.

      Everything else runs in a web browser.

      So the moment Adobe CC gets ported to Linux, both Redmond and Cupertino can kiss my a$$.

      Just sayin'.

    • I am also the one who tries to think as logically and reasonably as I can when things change, and try not to immediately shut something down as problematic or "worse" just because it's different from what I'm accustomed to.

      Your response seems reasonable and balanced, and is much calmer than mine could ever be in a similar situation. That said, I invite you to consider how your laid-back attitude in these situations might encourage the things you're now complaining about.

      When you accept and defend changes that were made solely for the sake of change; when there was no inherent need nor practical reason for those changes; and when, in the very least they require a loss of productivity while climbing a new learning curve; then y

    • by dschnur ( 61074 )
      It looks and acts like it was designed by committee were:
      1: The people on the committee were told "Make it look like Apple."
      2: Nobody on the committee had or has ever seen an Apple product.
      3: They still haven't.
      • Yes, they even failed on the bar on side of screen option that I use on my Mac, Linux machine and Win 10 machine..

    • Why can't I right click anywhere on the task bar and get to task manager? Why can't I get to the power button on the start menu as easily as I used to be able to (farther mouse travel to get there). Why isn't settings right where it belongs

      Right click the start button instead. That context menu is pretty much the same on Windows 10 too. And Windows 8.1, which is where that habit started for me (start menu was basically gone). Not sure about 8.0. Works on Windows Server versions too (at least 2012 R2 +)

  • Announcing a malware infection beforehand is quite nice, wouldn't you agree?
    • Baby, I know you like honesty, so I'll just come out with it. I've got herpes. Don't worry, it's treatable though it won't ever go away. Wait, why are you leaving? Don't you want a better user experience?

      • Baby, I know you like honesty, so I'll just come out with it. I've got herpes. Don't worry, it's treatable though it won't ever go away. Wait, why are you leaving? Don't you want a better user experience?

        Thanks for the laugh! I'm glad I wasn't eating or drinking anything when I read it - that would have been messy...

  • by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Thursday October 28, 2021 @03:07PM (#61936649)
    ... Microsoft won't trick me into doing the Windows 11 upgrade when I do not want to do it.
    • ... Microsoft won't trick me into doing the Windows 11 upgrade when I do not want to do it.

      I hope you're right and I wish you much luck. But I know quite a few people who got suckered into upgrading to Windows 10 when they were trying most diligently not to, so I wouldn't bet much on your chances.

  • I did the "unrecommened" forced upgrade on my PC. I haven't had noticed any real issues. Other than a curved box for my unmaximized windows, and a center aligned task bar. I have found it seems to better deal with my battery than what Windows 10 did. But overall it really isn't that much different. I just wanted to check it out, so I forced upgraded my PC. I wouldn't say upgrade your work PC unless you really have too, and if you have AMD chips you may want to wait as well. However, I know this is Slas

    • Back when I was 25, I was using a DEC VT100. Seriously, I have no desire to go back to that.

      I was pleasantly surprised with Windows 10, especially after the debacle that was Windows 8. It seemed like Microsoft forgot how to make an operating system, but I guess they remembered again.

      But like Star Trek movies, there's a tendency for every other release to suck, so I'm not in any hurry to upgrade. I will say that I appreciate all of you early adopters for helping to advance the technology. But I personall

      • AMD user here, so a hard no to 11.

        But ever since 11 was announced, it's damned near impossible to get any info about Windows 10 21H2.

        When does it hit GA? (i.e., non-insider)?

    • By the forced upgrade, I was referring to how Microsoft tricked users into upgrading against their desire to upgrade... Details are here: Upgradegate: Microsoft’s Upgrade Deceptions Are Undermining Windows 10 ( https://www.thurrott.com/windo... [thurrott.com] )
  • Why do they need machine learning for a software rollout? I would think there should be a fairly straightforward list of "compatible" and "not compatible." And while I know there are hundreds of thousands, if not more, possible configurations for windows machines, I still think it basically boils down to that binary choice of yes or no. Is this just another case of somebody playing buzzword bingo in ad copy with no relevance whatsoever to what's actually happening?

    • This is a guess, so take that for what it's worth(less):

      All the telemetry in windows 10 may have finally found a function- to show Redmond which systems are best suited to Windows 11.

  • I think I'll wait for Windows 12.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      I think I'll wait for Windows 12.

      Did you not hear? Windows 11 is definitely the last version of Windows! And Microsoft will also stop blatantly lying to its customers! Also, Hell has frozen over.

      • Sorry I missed what you said over the noise of a flock of pigs going by.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

        Says who? You seem to think that a corporation is some static concept rather than nothing more than the some of its people. It's worth looking up the executive team. Precisely none of the people who said Windows 10 is the last version of windows actually work at Microsoft anymore.

        • Et tu, thegarbz? Even you missed the sarcasm in the post you're replying to? It must be something in the water - lots of whooshing sounds over lots of heads here recently.

          • Et tu, thegarbz? Even you missed the sarcasm in the post you're replying to?

            Indeed because there was no sarcasm. It's 2021 and on Slashdot the default and safe assumption is that a poster is actually saying something stupid. In written language some 70% of communication is lost, which is precisely why if you're sarcastic you end your post with a "/s".

            Also I was replying to gweihir so even if he did put a /s on his post I'd still assume he was saying something stupid as he usually does on any Microsoft related post.

            • by gweihir ( 88907 )

              Nope. You probably have a communication disability. Written sarcasm does not get much more obvious than what I just used.

        • by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Precisely none of the people who said Windows 10 is the last version of windows actually work at Microsoft anymore.

          And how is that relevant? First, extremely obliviously my statement was sarcastic. That means it is not a claim about actual hard facts. Look it up if you do not know what sarcasm is. May not actually work for you though, because understanding sarcasm requires some level of personal sophistication.

          So, as to facts: Statements made publicly by people high up enough in a corporation and _undisputed_ by the corporation become statements by that corporation. In fact, in some contexts (probably not this one, but

      • Did you not hear? Windows 11 is definitely the last version of Windows! And Microsoft will also stop blatantly lying to its customers! Also, Hell has frozen over.

        You might persuade me that Hell both exists and has frozen over; but there isn't enough drug-laced Kool-Aid in the universe to make me believe Microsoft PR...

        • by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Did you not hear? Windows 11 is definitely the last version of Windows! And Microsoft will also stop blatantly lying to its customers! Also, Hell has frozen over.

          You might persuade me that Hell both exists and has frozen over; but there isn't enough drug-laced Kool-Aid in the universe to make me believe Microsoft PR...

          That was my point. Thanks for confirming that it was actually pretty clear. Some people here really seem to be unable to understand sarcasm, no matter how extremely obvious.

  • Operating systems have a new unwanted stepchild.
  • If you've got the Home version, with a local user what happens if the system upgrades and only cloud spyware users are allowed? Does the user lose their local account & saved passwords/data?
    • From what I've read, people are installing with the Microsoft account, creating a local user and then deleting the Microsoft account afterwards, so you should retain the account you have. Unless MS hates you. =)

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