Cheesed off at Win 11

[trout39843]

I've had it with Win 11!
For the last 2 years, EVERY dadgum time it updates I have to go in and reset things.
Now, with this latest update (I turned update off to prevent this from happening) which snuck through my settings has messed everything up!
I do like the widgets thing and finally had the sports thing set to my beloved O's. Now all I get is NBA or soccer (football here). Try and change it and it works for a few hours then back to whatever. The regular navigation I am getting used to and other settings seem to turn on or get added with with every update. What do I need with AI or subscriptions to "The Cloud" , just keep them off but NO, they keep comming.

Today is the last straw!
It has switched my VPN to Windows VPN (I normally use McAffe which is part of my security package I pay for) and won't let me change it to the U.S which I need for my banking there, log in to many news sites (Fox news, WaPo and others) or my military pay site.

I am now 3/4 of the way tempted to;
1. Restart with my back-up from Jan. 2023 and see what happens.
2. Get Win. 10 and try that.
3. Go back to Win. 7 which I was happy with till I got a new PC with 11 pre installed.

Sorry for the rant but any advice please.

[Dragonrider]

Apparently, there is a major upgrade due or that may be the one you've just had, that basically raises it to |Windows 12, but they aren't calling it 12, well, not yet anyway...

Glad my old creaky PC won't upgrade to 11, will have to buy a new box if I want to upgrade, or speed things up.

[Keyolder]

I have a Windows 11 Surface Go 3 that runs S the cutdown version of 11. It seems to store all my settings and favourites ok, then again, I don’t use it all that much only if traveling. I do prefer my old laptop running Windows 10, its from 2010 originally running Windows 7 but has been upgraded to 10 in a few steps.

I powered on my old base unit last year just for fun, its running Windows 98. I got all sorts of warnings of out-of-date software and service updates being discontinued but it ran, although quite slow compared to current computer hardware.

I know it would be a bit laborious and take a few hours, but how about performing a software reset. You can choose what to keep and most settings, it would then at least be a cleanish platform to start from.

I’ve done this a few times on Windows 10 when it slows down or has a few glitches that I can’t solve.

[EBJ]

I was on Windows 11 S but it would not let me do some of the things i wanted so went on to basic Windows 11 and like you Trout m8 i do have problems such as yours the old Windows ten was much better.

[thecaretaker]

Apparently, there is a major upgrade due or that may be the one you've just had, that basically raises it to |Windows 12, but they aren't calling it 12, well, not yet anyway...

Glad my old creaky PC won't upgrade to 11, will have to buy a new box if I want to upgrade, or speed things up.

Microsoft has decided to increase Windows 11's system requirements starting with version 24H2. These new requirements go beyond the original Windows 11 system requirements, consisting of Secure Boot, TPM support, and a Kaby Lake or newer CPU. POPCNT and the SSE 4.2 requirements are new and have been added specifically to 24H2 and will be applied to future iterations of Windows 11 going forward.

Windows 11 will not boot unless the PC meets these new requirements. There is no known method to get around the new requirements.

One of the new features is an extension to Copilot features. If you remember Timeline? where you could go back and look at previously viewed documents/work, the new Copilot will be recording everything you do on your pc and making copies of files, taking screenshots of work (sites you visit) in the background and making it easier to find stuff using AI. Lord knows how much space this will take up and it remains to be seen to how it effects privacy laws. Copilot basically replaced Cortana and timeline. Oh, and Microsoft wants you to pay a subscription to get the full use out of Copilot.

Windows will also be showing more adverts on the start menu. They can be turned off in settings, but will be on by default.

I like Windows 11 and thankfully, it has been stable for me. But I'm not sure I like the direction Microsoft is taking Windows. What with wanting you to take out annual subscriptions out for 365, Copilot and the ads for purchases in the Microsoft Store on the start screen, it's getting very much Money, Money, Money. Thankfully, the older Office packages still work and I've no need for 365. I don't use Outlook or their Edge browser. I much prefer to use my own browser and email client. Using Firefox and Thunderbird I feel much more in control and can (and do regularly) make backups of all my important emails. Here in the UK we use POP3 a lot for email, something Outlook was never very good at handling.

[trout39843]

Thanks all.
Looks like I'll have to ride the storms out and "suck it up and drive on".
I will search for proper win 10 or 7 install disks though. I do feel safe running a previous version as I have good scanners and blockers to feel safe, haven't had a virus or anything for near on 20 years.
I don't like the way windows is going with all the AI doo doo.