Jump to content

Windows 11 will be free - Auto HDR, Direct Storage Support, Xbox App Built in with XCloud

Brian

By Brian
in The Spawn Point

 Share

Recommended Posts

TwinIon

TwinIon

Posted
Posted

I think it's fine to make a clean-ish start and require newer hardware for new software, but I really wonder if the current CPU requirements will stand or if MS will continue certifying older CPUs for Win 11. If they hold firm on 8th gen and up, there must be a specific feature on newer CPUs they rely on. My desktop is fine, but my laptop (2017 XPS 15) has an Intel Core i7-7700HQ that is apparently one generation too old for Windows 11. It's a few years old now, but it was one of the fastest mobile chips you could get at the time, and according to Notebook Check it holds up pretty well against newer chips like the Intel Core i5-10200H, which makes sense given that despite being 1300 days newer, that 10th gen i5 uses the same 14nm process, has the same number of cores and threads, and runs at similar clock speeds.

 

My expectation is that the current CPU list is very preliminary, and we'll see a much larger list of supported chips in the near future. Preview builds of W11 apparently don't enforce many hardware requirements, so MS will soon be collecting plenty of data on how it runs on older machines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Dre801

Dre801

Posted
Posted

One of my laptops just upgraded to it.  I guess I was in that Windows Insider Program or something,  I thought I was just applying a standard Windows Update and when it came back from reboot, it was a Windows 11 machine.

 

Kinda surprised this happened since this laptop is from 2014 and failed the "Can it run Windows 11" test.  I mean, it's got 32GB of RAM, quad core CPU, and all SSD storage, but it doesn't fulfill the TPM requirement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zaku3

Zaku3

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Dre801 said:

One of my laptops just upgraded to it.  I guess I was in that Windows Insider Program or something,  I thought I was just applying a standard Windows Update and when it came back from reboot, it was a Windows 11 machine.

 

Kinda surprised this happened since this laptop is from 2014 and failed the "Can it run Windows 11" test.  I mean, it's got 32GB of RAM, quad core CPU, and all SSD storage, but it doesn't fulfill the TPM requirement.

 

I don't think it's enforced at this time. 

 

I probably won't upgrade right away unless it's a 10 out of 10. Did turn on TPM when I set up auto OC on my CPU though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Xbob42

Xbob42

Posted
Posted

I upgraded to this on my own on my main PC today. Figure the sooner I get it (but not TOO soon, now seemed like a decent time) the faster I'll get used to it.


So far I like the rounded edges for corners. It's a little thing that doesn't matter at all, but I'm always down for an aesthetic change even if it's just them trying to be a Mac OS.

 

A small thing but I appreciate the nice themes it comes with, all with very high resolution wallpapers instead of the frankly kind of grainy ones that 10 came with since it came out so long ago.

 

Turning on HDR doesn't change how the desktop looks anymore, so I can leave it on. This one is huge. Turning on HDR in Windows 10 made the desktop look like dog shit, and it was buried in a weird menu. I still don't see a quick toggle for it (though I haven't looked) but it seems redundant now that I can just leave it on permanently. Excellent change. Massive QoL improvement.

 

The audio settings UI is much more usable now. Instead of selecting audio devices from a dropdown list, you've got that classic multiple-choice style window where everything is displayed all at once, making much better use of available space and making at-a-glance swapping between audio devices much, MUCH easier. There's also an easy toggle for mono sound, which while it only has some niche uses that I'm aware of (for example: someone uploads a long Youtube video, but it only puts out audio to the left channel...) it's much appreciated.


Haven't been using it long enough to find too much else different. Seems like you can uninstall basically any app you want now, so notepad or even paint. Again, limited uses, but the option is much appreciated. I moved my taskbar back to the left, not a fan of it in the center. But now the start button doesn't fill up the entire bottom left corner of the screen like it used to so it's easier to misclick on empty space, especially in 4k. A bit of a pointless change.


Another change I don't like is the removal of taskbar labels. i.e. change things on the taskbar to be both icons and labels (Icon of Steam, but also the word "Steam" for example) -- now you're forced to have it just be icons. Why? What's the point of changing this? I've had it as labels for years. It'd automatically switch to just icons if you filled up the taskbar anyway. Does someone get paid to remove features for no reason at tech companies? I know some of you here work at big tech companies, who pays you to remove useful features? Tell them to stop.

 

Also a weird change is that stuff like the nvidia control panel is like a layer-deep now. Instead of right clicking then going to nvidia settings, you right click and then click on "show more options." It has "Shift+F10" there as a shortcut... but hitting that combination of keys doesn't seem to do anything for me.

 

I can't remember, did anyone post a quick guide for new stuff to Windows 10? I use my PC 100% as a consumer-grade gaming PC with web browsing, no enterprise stuff, so anything like that I don't really need at the moment.


So far I'm enjoying it. The massive benefit of HDR working properly dwarfs all the minor inconveniences I'll get used to, so thumbs up for that alone so far. Installation was super quick and done as a basic Windows update, nothing at all was lost in the transition and all settings were kept as I liked them. Was probably the smoothest OS upgrade I've ever done, and I found 8 to 10 to be very smooth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zaku3

Zaku3

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

I upgraded to this on my own on my main PC today. Figure the sooner I get it (but not TOO soon, now seemed like a decent time) the faster I'll get used to it.


So far I like the rounded edges for corners. It's a little thing that doesn't matter at all, but I'm always down for an aesthetic change even if it's just them trying to be a Mac OS.

 

A small thing but I appreciate the nice themes it comes with, all with very high resolution wallpapers instead of the frankly kind of grainy ones that 10 came with since it came out so long ago.

 

Turning on HDR doesn't change how the desktop looks anymore, so I can leave it on. This one is huge. Turning on HDR in Windows 10 made the desktop look like dog shit, and it was buried in a weird menu. I still don't see a quick toggle for it (though I haven't looked) but it seems redundant now that I can just leave it on permanently. Excellent change. Massive QoL improvement.

 

The audio settings UI is much more usable now. Instead of selecting audio devices from a dropdown list, you've got that classic multiple-choice style window where everything is displayed all at once, making much better use of available space and making at-a-glance swapping between audio devices much, MUCH easier. There's also an easy toggle for mono sound, which while it only has some niche uses that I'm aware of (for example: someone uploads a long Youtube video, but it only puts out audio to the left channel...) it's much appreciated.


Haven't been using it long enough to find too much else different. Seems like you can uninstall basically any app you want now, so notepad or even paint. Again, limited uses, but the option is much appreciated. I moved my taskbar back to the left, not a fan of it in the center. But now the start button doesn't fill up the entire bottom left corner of the screen like it used to so it's easier to misclick on empty space, especially in 4k. A bit of a pointless change.


Another change I don't like is the removal of taskbar labels. i.e. change things on the taskbar to be both icons and labels (Icon of Steam, but also the word "Steam" for example) -- now you're forced to have it just be icons. Why? What's the point of changing this? I've had it as labels for years. It'd automatically switch to just icons if you filled up the taskbar anyway. Does someone get paid to remove features for no reason at tech companies? I know some of you here work at big tech companies, who pays you to remove useful features? Tell them to stop.

 

Also a weird change is that stuff like the nvidia control panel is like a layer-deep now. Instead of right clicking then going to nvidia settings, you right click and then click on "show more options." It has "Shift+F10" there as a shortcut... but hitting that combination of keys doesn't seem to do anything for me.

 

I can't remember, did anyone post a quick guide for new stuff to Windows 10? I use my PC 100% as a consumer-grade gaming PC with web browsing, no enterprise stuff, so anything like that I don't really need at the moment.


So far I'm enjoying it. The massive benefit of HDR working properly dwarfs all the minor inconveniences I'll get used to, so thumbs up for that alone so far. Installation was super quick and done as a basic Windows update, nothing at all was lost in the transition and all settings were kept as I liked them. Was probably the smoothest OS upgrade I've ever done, and I found 8 to 10 to be very smooth.

 

Does it have an open for a clean install? I have a SSD that I can't format and I think I have a plan from microcenter on it. Need to see if a clean windows install can format it before I remove it and try to get it replaced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
legend

legend

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

Another change I don't like is the removal of taskbar labels. i.e. change things on the taskbar to be both icons and labels (Icon of Steam, but also the word "Steam" for example) -- now you're forced to have it just be icons. Why? What's the point of changing this? I've had it as labels for years. It'd automatically switch to just icons if you filled up the taskbar anyway. Does someone get paid to remove features for no reason at tech companies? I know some of you here work at big tech companies, who pays you to remove useful features? Tell them to stop.

 

Yeah that sounds annoying; I like the labels. 

 

I don't work for MS, but if I had to speculate why features get removed it's because every feature adds more complexity to test and maintain. If most people don't really care, the simplification might be worth it.

 

I do, however, happen to care and I suspect a big enough fraction of the population does to argue that they shouldn't have removed this feature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ghost_MH

Ghost_MH

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I've never even heard of labels. How do you use them?

 

It's just the text next to an app's icon in the taskbar. I never turn them on because I either have so few things open that I already know each app or I have too many open that they get truncated anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Xbob42

Xbob42

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, legend said:

I don't work for MS, but if I had to speculate why features get removed it's because every feature adds more complexity to test and maintain. If most people don't really care, the simplification might be worth it.

I could see that, except with how complex and useless Cortana was, simplifying the codebase or whatever doesn't seem to be Microsoft's goal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ghost_MH

Ghost_MH

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

I could see that, except with how complex and useless Cortana was, simplifying the codebase or whatever doesn't seem to be Microsoft's goal.

 

If you can uninstall notepad and paint then that's already a good step toward simplifying the OS. Neither of those should have been treated as a core part of the OS. Seems like Cortana is also now another app and not a core part of the OS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Xbob42

Xbob42

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

If you can uninstall notepad and paint then that's already a good step toward simplifying the OS. Neither of those should have been treated as a core part of the OS. Seems like Cortana is also now another app and not a core part of the OS.

True, they should've also let people uninstall labels then. :thinking:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
legend

legend

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Xbob42 said:

I could see that, except with how complex and useless Cortana was, simplifying the codebase or whatever doesn't seem to be Microsoft's goal.

 

I suspect they think Cortana is useful, or will be some day. They might be wrong, but I suspect they believe it! :p 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

It's just the text next to an app's icon in the taskbar. I never turn them on because I either have so few things open that I already know each app or I have too many open that they get truncated anyway.

 

Yeah but... how do you use them, like enable them or whatever?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ghost_MH

Ghost_MH

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I don't see it in the settings

 

In Windows 10 there's an option under taskbar settings called "Combine taskbar buttons". If you allow Windows to not collapse taskbar items, you'll get the icon plus the app name like was the default in Windows XP and prior.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Xbob42

Xbob42

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Ah I see now.

Looks ugly.

And that's why options are good!


Because I think this looks like shit:

 

0bqst6e.png

Yes, please force me to mouse over Steam to select whether I want to select the app itself, my friend list or a conversation. And then leave like 9 miles of empty space in my task bar that does absolutely nothing. Brilliant. This is so useful! I've always wanted lots of unused space while everything is cramped in a tiny corner and information is hidden away like I'm an illiterate child.


This is so absurd it's almost comical:

vc4lBhJ.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
stepee

stepee

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Great news—your PC meets the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. Specific timing for when it will be offered can vary as we get it ready for you.

 

I got that and then just googled “windows 11 download” went to the MS download page and installed it.

 

I haven’t messed with anything new yet, but so haven’t had any problems, the upgrade was pretty smooth just like a regular Windows update really, just a bit longer to process. I had to uninstall msi dragon center to proceed with the install so keep that in mind if you have a msi motherboard and it blocks you due to some weird driver conflict.

 

I played a few hours of Kena just fine. I almost want to say maybe the hdr is better now? It’s such a beautiful game it’s hard to tell if it improved or it’s just in my mind, or just my color tweaks in dragon center after reinstall.

 

I’ll check out some auto hdr stuff later today. Is there any other game related stuff to check out or toggle on/off?

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, stepee said:

 

I got that and then just googled “windows 11 download” went to the MS download page and installed it.

 

I haven’t messed with anything new yet, but so haven’t had any problems, the upgrade was pretty smooth just like a regular Windows update really, just a bit longer to process. I had to uninstall msi dragon center to proceed with the install so keep that in mind if you have a msi motherboard and it blocks you due to some weird driver conflict.

 

I read there is a memory leak so I might just hold off until they iron that out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...