I had two Windows 8 tablet devices which I used regularly. I didn’t like 8, but I dislike Windows 11 a lot more, so my experience differs from Paul’s.
I have a very capable Windows 11 device, but I just don’t want to turn it on. 10 or Chromebook are still my laptop choices at the moment, or iPad for web browsing. Everything email-related I do on Android apps on my phone, but not Outlook. I really dislike Outlook these days.
I was happy that I was able to upgrade both those Windows 8 devices to 10, and it ran acceptably for simple tasks despite their pitiful spec (Atom processor & 2GB of RAM). For me, 10 was well designed, more efficient than its predecessors, and easy to use. I’m just not feeling that with 11, and it also seems like updates break more things.
Paul Thurrott breaks down the “Windows is dying” narrative—spoiler alert, it’s not as bad as Windows 8 was
PowerToys 0.98 gets a serious glow-up with new Command Palette features that’ll change how you work
Microsoft’s shaking up leadership with Rajesh Jha’s retirement and a major AI reorganization around Mustafa Suleyman
Intel’s Arrow Lake refresh processors are here, but they won’t play ball with Copilot+ PC requirements
Plus, Microsoft might actually sue OpenAI over contract stuff, and we’re separating the rumors from what’s really happening with Copilot and Xbox