30% of Supported Surface Devices Don't Have Windows 11 Driver Packages Yet (neowin.net) 31
Reader segaboy81 shares a report: When Microsoft announced Windows 11 in June of 2021, it was greeted with mixed reactions by the tech press. Some outlets praised the round corners and modern design elements, while others conjectured that visual elements from the remains of Windows 10x had simply been transplanted onto a stable, familiar base. All the while, Microsoft had been gaining a loyal following with what was purported to be last version on Windows. Windows, like Arch Linux, had essentially become a rolling release. That all changed with the announcement of the Surface Pro 8, Surface Go 3, and Surface Laptop Studio.
The road has been long for many users, mired with controversy regarding TPM 2.0, AMD Ryzen performance pitfalls, and more. We are a full two months into the official release of Windows 11, but driver support for Microsoft's Surface line of devices listed on the official compatibility list is still incomplete. Counting AMD and Intel variants of the Surface Laptop and the 2021 lineup of new hardware, there are 16 base Surface configurations that support Windows 11. Five of them still don't have a Windows 11 driver package two months after release. They are as follows: Surface Go 2, Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Laptop 3 (Ryzen), and Surface Studio 2.
The road has been long for many users, mired with controversy regarding TPM 2.0, AMD Ryzen performance pitfalls, and more. We are a full two months into the official release of Windows 11, but driver support for Microsoft's Surface line of devices listed on the official compatibility list is still incomplete. Counting AMD and Intel variants of the Surface Laptop and the 2021 lineup of new hardware, there are 16 base Surface configurations that support Windows 11. Five of them still don't have a Windows 11 driver package two months after release. They are as follows: Surface Go 2, Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Laptop 3 (Ryzen), and Surface Studio 2.
Driver Package(s) (Score:3)
Do they mean (no, I didn't read the article, I"m not new here!) Win11-certified drivers, or do they mean any drivers at all? Because there's a big difference between "unsupported" (aka no drivers exist at all) and "not fully supported" (using drivers meant for earlier Windows)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
I fear my old flatbed scanner is one OS update from not working.
The audio gear and cameras should be fine.
But I only use windows to play games and the occasional document scan because the scanner hates linux. I do my day job in Linux and my programming for funzies in Linux.
So I'll stick with Win 10 for now.
Re:Driver Package(s) [Better or worse?] (Score:2)
Nice FP, but your question seems unclear. Not sure if this will help, but maybe the status of the driver packages should be compared to the Windows 10 situation?
Not in the vacuum, however. I'm still trying to find out if Windows 11 overall is better or worse than Windows 10. I even suggested it as a poll for Slashdot. (Much better, better, same, worse, much worse, waiting for Cowboy Neal to weigh in, but the the powers-that-be-Slashdot weren't interested.)
Asking for a friend. Really. Trying to persuade my w
Re: (Score:3)
No compelling reason to upgrade, but no issues. Go to taskbar settings and change the alignment to Left, because centering the start button to left of center is maddening.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Do they mean (no, I didn't read the article, I"m not new here!) Win11-certified drivers, or do they mean any drivers at all? Because there's a big difference between "unsupported" (aka no drivers exist at all) and "not fully supported" (using drivers meant for earlier Windows)
The previous (already installed under win 10) drivers work fine. No issues -so far.
Re: (Score:3)
Old pcs (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
What do you mean dead product? The Surface Studio 2 is their *current flagship device* and the only desktop you can currently buy from Microsoft.
The Surface Laptop 3 can still be bought today including 2 year warranty.
And the Surface Go 2 is still the current model in many countries as the Go 3 is new enough to not be globally available yet.
Re: (Score:3)
Microsoft had been gaining a loyal following with what was purported to be last version on Windows.
Well, they "gained a loyal following" in the same way they herpes and AIDs gained a loyal following.
Having more fun spying on the TPM (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm personally having more fun spying on the TPM via emulation and enjoying the show.
Working on a small app to fill up the TPM with loads of useless garbage so it's not as available for microsofts use. Believe it may be possible as 2.0 implements a lot of sharing features.
Re: (Score:2)
Interesting. What tools do you use for that, in particular for the emulation?
Re: (Score:2)
that sounds fun.
i'm more than happy that ms thinks my computer is not up to date, so they abstain from shoving yet another inane iteration of windows i couldn't care less about in front of my nose. stability and not bugging me with periodic fad and bloatware is exactly what i want from an operating system. good job, ms! not planning on upgrading anytime soon!
A tech post on Dicedot? Well done good sir! (Score:2)
And an interesting one at that!
Is there a place we can read more about your work?
Re: (Score:2)
Working on a small app to fill up the TPM with loads of useless garbage so it's not as available for microsofts use.
Surely there's an easier way to break your computer, like erasing the TPM? I mean personally I like dressing in leather and having a woman in a catsuit spank me till I cry, but I'm not hardcore enough to voluntarily want to type in my 48 character bitlocker recovery key and then not have my fingerprint reader working just for kicks. That sounds like true masochism.
ah, the modern round corners (Score:2)
"Some outlets praised the round corners and modern design elements..."
Yeah, "modern design elements" like the round corners that Windows used to use, and presumably the flat icons that take us back to Windows 3.0.
Come to think of it, I still don't like the pointy edges of Windows 10 but, not enough to "upgrade".
Didn't they tell us that Windows 10 would be the final version number? Of course, Microsoft has always lied like that. I believe Google has found their behavior inspirational.
Re: (Score:2)
And to think that on a decent OS, the GUI is a software component that you can select and configure yourself, not a part of the OS (which it has absolutely no business being). If I want round corners in fvwm (I do not), I expect there is a config setting somewhere for that. Probably has been there for almost 30 years.
It also seems that these supposed "experts" have absolutely no clue about Operating Systems or they would not focus on a almost irrelevant design element for their praise.
Re: (Score:2)
In the 90s on Linux I could already choose my window decorations to be pointy, round, flat, curved, textured. I remember some people were really into translucent windows then.
Re: (Score:2)
I really miss actual window handles instead of a 1-pixel wide suggestion of a border most modern apps have.
red herring post (Score:2)
I support 7 computers, 6 of which can't run W11 (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Why should I and my family and co-workers have to learn two different interfaces?
It's not a question of should you. It's a question does it make sense to learn now at your own pace or be forced to make a fool of yourself when you're required to use the interface.
I know Slashdot is anti-change and anti-learning. But it's getting a bit embarrassing to see tech experts unable to navigate the Office Ribbon while Alice from accounting is running rings around them.
Windows 11 is coming. Unless you plan to die in the coming decade you'll need to use it eventually. May as well do it on your own
What's the rush? (Score:2)
Most people won't switch to W11 until MS end-of-lives W10 anyway.
Re: (Score:1)
Most people have older machines that work just fine with W10 and get snarky messages about not being able to upgrade every time they open Windows Update.
In my case, it's because I have Surface Pro 5s. As the current price for a (used) one is over £400, I'm not about to upgrade just because only the CPU isn't supported.
The Windows 11 UI (Score:2)
From my perspective, Windows Permissions has turned into Android Permissions. Editing anything that Windows uses: Profile pictures, shortcuts, unused AppData directories, requires Administrator privileges.
I suspect the next step is assigning everything on the boot drive a "Root" permission that users can't touch.
The last few updates have made the Windows 11 UI very slow, although it seems to be an 'enhancement' of less-important controls since some UI controls are still fast.
Rounded corners (Score:2)