According to the reporting, Windows 11 can be characterized as Windows 10 with rounded corners and a central dock. On the face of it, that would not necessarily warrant the effort to go through positioning this as an entirely new version (i.e., whole-number-version-upgrade) of an operating system. Especially if Microsoft previously stated that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows (unlikely from the get-go but such a convinced statement.
Since most users don’t purchase Windows separately and many users can update to Win 11 for free, it does not even make sense as an immediate cashflow move - at least not in the direct-to-consumer selling (which Windows never was, to be honest).
Which leads us to the thing I omitted above: it’s not only rounded corners and a central dock, but also new hardware limitations - what we’ve been hearing much about during launch. Implicitly, I seem to remember many commentaries to wink, point, and nod toward hardware providers who need to keep up business after the great Covid tech upswing of 2020.
Which leads me to the “hidden” questions: Is it plausible that PC and laptop hardware providers struck a deal with Microsoft to make more of their 21H2 update (call it a new full version) and lock out old hardware in order to sell more hardware? If that’s what happened - what was the compensation for Microsoft? And if it were compensated - is that an objectionable business move?
Thinking through this backwards, Microsoft has demonstrated that it’s good at being a for-profit-company. They would not move a limb if it did not pay off. Windows 11 does… not… visibly… pay off to anyone? Except it did and no-one talked about it. It might be more intricate than that - political revenue with business partners who then return the favor - but I wonder where the line is between business partners and a cartel. Albeit: we’re not talking about a cartel if partners are not in competition anyways (software and hardware are separate markets).
Might be that I have my conspiracy theory hat on today - and that what I see as a conspiracy would not even be one, just business. But I just thought back on the reporting about Win11 and somehow I always got the idea that yes, there was a motivation to help hardware suppliers and that increasing planned obsolescence truly helps hardware providers. Then again, there are plenty of alternatives to pick from if you don’t like Win 11. Ok, cooled myself off, here.
Except for if someone likes to take over the torch and gets all excited…
Windows 11 is Microsoft’s most recent sex tape. If they’re not talking about you, you’re dying… so better to have something for people to talk about, even if it’s not good. No such thing as bad publicity, etc…
You forgot, it is Windows 10 with rounded corners and a centralised dock/taskbar and all the power-user features stripped out of it…
MS never said it was the last version of Windows, one developer said that and MS never corrected his statement, so it was never official, but they let journalists run with it.
They are also adding more advertising (directly into the start menu, with suggested apps) and in Edge, they have made it incredibly difficult, if not impossible to make another browser the default - even if you do, Windows will still use Edge for many tasks, such as search. Now they are building in the buy now, pay later technology, which monitors your webpage and offers you 6-week payment terms for purchases.
It seems to be a play for adding more revenue generation through advertising and commission on payments, plus a bone to hardware manufacturers.
It depends, it has been the kicking off point for some users to switch to macOS or Linux, only small numbers so far, but it is putting a lot of people’s noses out of joint.
I’ve gone Linux and I pulled the trigger on a Mac mini M1 purchase yesterday…
They sure did break a lot of things while rounding out those corners.
This is the conclusion that I have come to. Lock out older hardware under the guise of safety (legitimate or not) and keep the wheels turning for the PC manufacturers. I think the compensation is pretty simple - if the manufacturers can sell more hardware, that’s more license fees and market share for Microsoft.
True, true. It’s simpler than I thought. In that sense, it is almost surprising that they kept to Windows 10 that long. Maybe it was a sweet spot between making the partners happy by increasing newness and making business customers sad by turning the wheel too quickly.
You know what really grinds my gears? What Microsoft is doing with Edge. A buy now, pay later tool? Really?? That more than anything is pushing me towards Linux.
I’ve seen that they are doing that (BNPE) - but so far it hasn’t popped up for me at all. When it does - I’ll evaluate how I feel about it as I don’t want others reactions to determine my own.
I will say that a few commenters in the Verge article @Leo linked to have made comparisons to Apple’s BNPE program with Apple Card. And they make the argument that Microsoft’s program really isn’t that different from Apple’s (the differences largely being one uses the browser and the other uses a dedicated app).
From a bloatware perspective - I don’t care for the idea. But from a perspective of offering financial services - I have a hard time seeing the fundamental difference between the two.
Which addresses the elephant in the room: Edge’s iron-clad tie-in into the operating system. It would all be fun and games if Windows 11 would simply be browser-agnostic. Would not be a problem at all. But no, I need Edge and a bleeping Teams button on the start bar, everything prodding me toward Bing and OneDrive while I am being advertised to play Candy Crush and my printer does not work anymore. That cannot be the desired and heralded experience, right? Windows is less like an operating system built on freedom and choice and more like a cult of mandatory services with every update.
It goes without saying it’s a point of common courtesy, style, and pragmatism to be friendly to every single guest, but I really am looking forward to the Christmas Capossella show this year - if there is going to be one. By channelling my inner Paul Thurott, what I am trying to say is: “Certainly, there is a friendly and welcoming way of asking if … everyone has lost their minds at Microsoft.”
For argument’s sake, how is this different from iOS, where every browser is just Safari with a different skin, or ChromeOS with the obvious comparison? Is it just that Windows has not offered the services yet to make that trade off compelling?
I suppose it’s different in so far as Windows is a multi purpose operating system that comes with all of the associated challenges (complexities, maintenance, idiosyncracies) but a decreasing number of rewards. iOS and ChromeOS are single purpose operating systems, meant for appliance-like ease of use and degrees of flexibility.
I wouldn’t ask the provider of my toaster to be toast-timer-software agnostic and support me in fiddling around with it, but I’d like my pen to write more words than the pen producer officially approves off.
But I suppose what you are saying is a good depiction of what Microsoft is thinking and how they might be reasoning. It just means such a sizable pivot to Windows as a product that I would not be surprised if many users felt the lateral G-forces. Then again… likely only those who once liked and appreciated the ways of Windows. It’s a turn in favor of those who could care less - which seems like a shame.
Interestingly, earlier this evening my high end AMD (the 5950X) had a icon on the tray with a dot. When I hovered over it, it told me Windows 11 was ready for my PC. I don’t want it, so I responded with the “maybe later” answer, but I guess I will need to take further steps to prevent Windows from eventually deciding I get it whether I want it or not. (I’m determined to run Windows 10 to EOL, and then move to Linux probably.)
Personal opinion, Windows 11 is Microsoft finally listening to everyone that’s been praising Apple. When they come out with a new version of Mac OS it’s fully baked. I’ve heard Paul say that many times during the show. So I feel like the strict hardware requirements was Microsofts way of saying moving forward we are only going to support the latest and greatest for this OS. If an OEM wants Windows 11 it must be compatible with this. This makes it easier to program for a smaller footprint of devices (Much like Apple has been doing for years). I also believe Microsoft believes going with this stricter hardware requirement will make it easier to leave the dreaded Legacy software behind.
Microsoft will support Windows 10 and the old hardware for a billion years so regardless of what they do with Windows 11 and the new hardware, Microsoft will still play the same game for a long while to come.
Yesterday I checked for updates, and it nagged me again to learn about Windows 11 and getting ready. That prompted me to go set the proper policy to tell it to stay on Windows 10. No more nagging for me.
Windows 10 was one of the rezones why I gone MAC. Now I now no longer think Windows 11 is just an SDK tanning porgram for the move to ARM. I’m now over %100 sure that like the gaming paftom Steam; the Windows OS is an computer virus.
I set up some new laptops last week. They booted into an options screen Windows 10 or Windows 11…
I selected Windows 10, next screen was “But Windows 11 has all these advantages, you really want Windows 11, don’t you?” NO!
So, not only do you have to say you don’t want to use a Microsoft account, you want to use a domain account, to which it prompts you to create a Microsoft account anyway, because, you know, its better!
Now you also have to tell the initial set-up that you don’t want Windows 11, twice!
