Windows 11 was released for download October 5 2021 and Microsoft is offering it out as optional update (for PCs that meet their requirements)
Our Verdict – None of us need this, not yet anyway, it may be that going forward we get no choice, but for now WAIT!
To find our reasons for this advice, please read on:
This is the first Impression, the screen you get when you first start (more or less), and it is pretty, looks fresh, but what is under the bonnet?
The Start menu has moved to the centre of the screen, it can be moved if you prefer the more traditional left-hand corner. Everyone here changed to the left-hand corner almost immediately, I however have soldiered on with the central position, in order to “give it a fair chance”
The Taskbar has apparently been renamed the “Dock” and can have “apps” pinned to it for easy access
Clicking on the Start Icon gets you to the initial menu “start”, this is different to the Windows 10 Start menu in lots of ways, the icons cannot be customised, there are no active “tiles” (not a bad thing we believe), but it does not show all apps only those that are pinned and if you have lots pinned you have to scroll through pages so not even all apps may be visible.
At the bottom is a recommended section We really detest recommendations! on what basis are they recommended? (it seems most used however this frequently means most recent, not long term use), get rid of this Microsoft, and give us more pinned apps.
In order to get a menu listing of the programs installed, you now need to click the “all apps” small button on the top right of the Start Menu. I cannot see how this is an improvement, we now need two clicks and a cursor jiggle to do what one click achieved in Windows 10?
This is a thread that runs throughout Windows 11, the belief that smaller menus are easier, but inevitably more of them makes things more complex.
Some Good bits, but quite a lot of Bad
A number of features and apps from Windows 10 are missing from Windows 11. Some of us are relieved that Cortana is no longer included in the initial boot experience, nor is she pinned to the taskbar. You still have access to Cortana should you want it, but it’s nice to know she isn’t going to be up in your face when trying to set up your new device.
We have also seen the departure of Internet Explorer, which doesn’t come as a huge surprise given support for the web browser ended on August 17 2021 after 25 years of service. Instead, Edge is the recommended replacement although this does include an IE Mode should you need legacy support.
There are also a few changes rather than removals, with the Taskbar functionality being restricted to the bottom of the display. Apps also won’t be able to customize areas of the Taskbar, which is odd given it was mentioned that Android apps can be pinned to it if you use them frequently.
The Start Menu has some significant changes too, with Live Tiles no longer available and existing pinned apps and websites cannot be migrate if you make the upgrade. Named groups and folders of apps are also axed and the layout is not resizable so you’re stuck with what Microsoft gives you.
What else has has gone?
Other problems are whilst typing quickly for things like emails or word documents text lags behind what the user actually inputs this appears to be caused by Windows 11 as opposed to a slow machine or driver issues. Another problem we are finding is on laptops is the battery icon is less accurate and while it is a small thing it is often annoying and has made it harder to glance at the humble icon for a good guess of when you will need to fish the charger out of your bag.
Some of the smaller things that are worth noting but we do not feel are significant enough to get there own section to themselves are listed below.
- Desktop wallpaper cannot be roamed to or from device when signed in with a Microsoft account.
- Math Input Panel is removed. Math Recognizer will install on demand and includes the math input control and recognizer. Math inking in apps like OneNote are not impacted by this change.
- News & Interests has evolved. New functionality has been added which can be found by clicking the Widgets icon on the Taskbar.
- Quick Status from the Lockscreen and associated settings are removed.
- S Mode is only available now for Windows 11 Home edition.
- Snipping Tool is still available but the old design and functionality in the Windows 10 version has been replaced with those of the app previously known as Snip & Sketch.
- Tablet Mode is removed and new functionality and capability is included for keyboard attach and detach postures.
- Touch Keyboard will no longer dock and undock keyboard layouts on screen sizes 18 inches and larger.
- Wallet is removed.
The following apps won’t be removed if you upgrade an existing device, but they’ll no longer be installed on new devices or when clean-installing Windows 11. If you still want to use them then you’re free to do so, but you need to manually download them from the Windows store.
- 3D Viewer
- OneNote for Windows 10
- Paint 3D
- Skype
Windows Central has an article here that has a suggestion to improve the Start menu, whilst not entirely my style, it’s certainly way better than Microsoft’s current attempt, the page also has a video of the main parts of the Start Menu functionality which may be a good starting point if you haven’t yet seen Windows 11)
Windows 10 Start Menu makes more sense and can be tailored, I personally set my Programs and Apps in Groups that make sense to me and even used large Icons for the most used items, and smaller icons for less used items, some icons are just on the main menu.
Burying Windows goodies?
In Windows 10 to discover available WiFi networks, it was simple to just click on the Network Icon at the bottom right of the taskbar, and a list of detected WiFi Networks immediately popped up.
It is here however it is clear that the differences between Windows 11 and all the previous versions of Windows begin to become apparent.
In Windows 10 a quick and efficient way to attach files or move files to the desktop was by dragging them to the item on the taskbar, or for moving to the desktop a user could drag the file to the bottom right corner.
In Windows 11 however, the ability to drag and drop files in such a way was removed so more clicks are again required for a simple task.
So many little things, almost imperceptible bits of Windows Menus and structure, have been moved, generally just a little deeper, another click, perhaps a second choice, why?
Microsoft not too long, ago laid great store, in their “usability labs”, where allegedly thousands of users tested how straightforward the system made their tasks, Windows 11 seems to have put this in to reverse, hiding things, making it harder to personalise (or even find what you want) why?
These are really just some of the points that we believe make Windows 11 a poorer system than Windows 10. We feel that Microsoft has slipped back into the pattern of a great Operating System, followed by newer but inferior incarnation.
Three steps forward and two steps back seems to be the Windows way, which is a pity as Windows 10 was good, and Windows 11 has improved security a sensible objective but we don’t need to take away functionality and ease of use.