Windows 11

[DalekSec]

Me: Ahh finally Windows 10 and Intune nicely working hand in hand, hopefully no major changes for awhile!

 

Microsoft: I'm going to do what's called, a pro gamer move

 

[flyinghaggis]

You never know, some people might prefer it centred. It might be more convenient for teachers using laptop touchpads or interactive panels.

 

+1 I have an ultrawide monitor at home so having the start menu and taskbar centred would actually be preferable!

Edited June 16, 2021 by flyinghaggis

[Asgard]

Someone has shown a video of AutoPilot

 

 

And also an image of it running on the current version of MDT

 

 

Credit ( https://twitter.com/itritobe/status/1405079212600537089?s=21 )

 

Exporting the Start Menu May be different !

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by Asgard

[Arthur]

[Oaktech]

It would also appear that at the moment the leaked 'stock' media will only install via UEFI and TPM 2.0 which if it continues has the potential to render practically my whole computing fleet useless... Which might be a bit of an issue for many people.

 

 

There are already documented ways round it, but they're a bit kludgey.

[Asgard]

It would also appear that at the moment the leaked 'stock' media will only install via UEFI and TPM 2.0 which if it continues has the potential to render practically my whole computing fleet useless... Which might be a bit of an issue for many people.

 

 

There are already documented ways round it, but they're a bit kludgey.

 

I read on Twitter that they are changing this , hopefully true.

 

I ended up by-passing this and just in-place upgraded and it was pretty painless . About 30 minutes on a fairly decent spec SurfaceBook3 from 21H1

 

[aicrd]

Worth noting that you shouldn't really be installing any leaked builds on physical hardware, we don't know the legitimacy of any of the builds or if they contain any sort of nasty malware so I'd stear clear of it for now.

[Asgard]

Worth noting that you shouldn't really be installing any leaked builds on physical hardware, we don't know the legitimacy of any of the builds or if they contain any sort of nasty malware so I'd stear clear of it for now.

 

I’m happy it’s on a sanitised machine that doesn’t go near anything major and uses no passwords on it that are used in my day job.

 

Really just installed for curiosity to see office, Adobe CC and our AV - SentinelOne install fine and then look at stuff like start menu customising etc.

Edited June 17, 2021 by Asgard

[ozydave]

Nope, still staying with my Linux box [emoji4]

[JRowley]

Now it's official and coming out this year(!) I think we could do with a forum being set up so we can share resources as we did for Windows 10.

[LeMarchand]

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ChromeOS and MacOS are full on blushing right now.

 

If they make the icons animated then your average user will think that it "as good as" a Mac .

 

You can also move it to its usual position and there's dark mode too

 

Thank the Lloyd for that. I thought it looked pretty bland. Mind you, I like Live/sizeable tiles; shame even MS don't make many of their app tiles sizeable and fewer Live.

 

 

Also, the W11 "Health Check"

 

 

Thanks, MS. That's really helpful.

[Zoom7000]

It definitely didn't feel like Windows 11, more like Windows 10.5!

 

One thing I can't understand is why they haven't replaced all of the old Windows XP menus. You've still got 2 ways to do most things - Control Panel and Settings App. And then you've only got 1 way to do other things, through Control Panel.

 

As for the new UI, they haven't even bothered to update the Run command to look like the new UI! Honestly, how hard can that be and is no one at Microsoft seeing this?! 🤦♂️

It's getting to the point that it's just becoming Windows XP/7 with more and more things piled on top.

 

I think that one of the positives is the inclusion of the Android apps. Hopefully this will be something that is easy to manage from a corporate/school perspective.

 

I want to be positive about Windows, it's still my main operating system of choice at both work and home, but I wish they would put some true development into overhauling the user experience, as opposed to what looks like constant patch work.

[AdamL]

just if anyone else was thinking TPM 2.0 would be a problem, you can use TPM1.2.

 

Compatibility for Windows 11- Compatibility Cookbook | Microsoft Docs

[localzuk]

So, all machines will need TPM (1.2 or above it seems?).

 

Secure Boot is necessary.

 

4GB RAM minimum and 64GB storage space - which based on my own experience means we need 240GB+, as 64GB is barely big enough for Windows 10 with anything installed and more than 1 user logging in. 128GB just delays the time needed to clear stuff out a bit as well.

 

I've been finding 8GB of RAM is starting to be not quite enough for some of our heavier users as well for Windows 10 + Excel + Sims .Net + SMART Notebook, and have had to upgrade to 16GB. So if Windows 11 needs 4GB by itself now, it may be that our minimum spec ends up being 16GB going forward.

 

All in all, its going to be a busy 4 years getting everything up to spec to be able to make the switch.

[sonofsanta]

So, all machines will need TPM (1.2 or above it seems?).

 

Secure Boot is necessary.

 

 

The TPM thing is going to be painful--just checked and the batch of PCs I've ordered in the last few weeks only comes with the TPM header, no pre-installed module. I don't reckon any of our machines (all custom built by VeryPC, Stone etc.) are going to have them on, tbh, because they've never been standard but instead been segmented into a higher class of mobo that we didn't need to pay £ to upgrade to. Given we generally stretch to 6-7 years on our refresh schedule, and Windows 10 stops being supported in 2025... gonna be a pain one way or another.

 

ETA: Just checked back a year and the 120 we put in Summer 2020 don't even have the header. FFS...

Edited June 25, 2021 by sonofsanta

[LeMarchand]

I'm wondering if a lot of this is a back room agreement to help chums in manufacturing sell more/more expensive boxes.

 

Also wondering if it might prompt more schools (in particular) to switch to Chrome as much as possible.

[Norphy]

No, it's more likely to be a move to improve security and to be able to say "Hey, look, W11 devices are encrypted by default". If there's a TPM, having Bitlocker and whole-disk encryption is made a lot easier as the encryption key is stored on there, rather than having to use a USB key or type in a password to turn the machine on.

[aicrd]

The minimum requirement is for TPM 2.0, not just 1.2.

 

I've seen a few people manage to modify the leaked ISO to get it to install on non-TPM devices. This might be something others will have to look into as well.

[jthompson]

No, it's more likely to be a move to improve security and to be able to say "Hey, look, W11 devices are encrypted by default".

 

I agree. Win 11 seems to me to be about MS taking the opportunity to set a new basic level of security for as much of their userbase as they can. Just look at what happened with EternalBlue: millions of instances of Windows not taking advantage of features already developed that would've protected against it. Android is perhaps the only other competitor that carries that kind of baggage, but even then to nothing like the same extent.

 

Were it not for MS being anxious to mandate those kinds of feautres, I doubt they'd have bothered launching Win 11, and instead have just brough in its UI enhancements as feature updates for Win 10. One wonders what they know that we don't in terms of the vulnerability of devices not running secure boot, Credential Guard, etc.

[ITGuyNW]

The minimum requirement is for TPM 2.0, not just 1.2.

 

I've seen a few people manage to modify the leaked ISO to get it to install on non-TPM devices. This might be something others will have to look into as well.

 

Minimum is 1.2

 

Compatibility for Windows 11- Compatibility Cookbook | Microsoft Docs

[aicrd]

Minimum is 1.2

 

Compatibility for Windows 11- Compatibility Cookbook | Microsoft Docs

 

Interesting. On this site: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11

 

It says 2.0 is the requirement.

[ITGuyNW]

Interesting. On this site: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11

 

It says 2.0 is the requirement.

 

It seems they clarified it last night as many knickers were getting twisted online.

[ITGuyNW]

I'm not planning anything yet as there's plenty of time for minimum specs to change between now and release day.

[aicrd]

If you need an extension beyond Windows 10 SAC, you could always deploy LTSC 2019, which doesnt reach EOL until 2029.

 

Granted, it's not exactly possible to know if future applications and software updates would support this release, even if it does still get security updates. But its always an option.

[sonofsanta]

The TPM thing is a good idea, making Windows more secure by default, and allowing for more specific trust at the OS level... it's the 4 year ticking clock on Win10 that makes it unreasonable. Announcing a four-year planned obsolescence for what is probably the vast majority of hardware out there, at a time when devices will run as long as a decade for basic home use now, after a year when probably more devices have been bought than ever before to support home working/learning, is a bit of a rubbish move.

 

Make Win11 require TPM by default, fine. But support Win10 for longer; make sure one of the final releases gets ongoing security updates for another 7-8 years from here.