Strategy

[Badaz52]

What are everyone's thoughts on Windows 11 in terms of whether to actively put a strategy in place for it or not? We know that MS has a history of releasing poor operating systems every other time (Me, Vista, 8) so will this one be the same or are we now being actively forced into adopting it regardless with the TPM 2.0 issue. I know they appear to be wanting to follow the Apple approach of getting people to refresh their hardware every 5 years or so but based on the fact that about 90% of our devices are reconditioned to save costs it looks like we are going to have to replace them all with new over the next 4 years which requires a huge investment because they don't have TPM 2.

 

Do you think anything will change or is this it now, no looking back?

 

How do you intend to manage it yourselves? are you in the same position as us where the bulk of your machines won't run it?

[aicrd]

TPM isn't an issue at all now. Microsoft made it so it only "Nags" you, instead of preventing an install. They only require TPM for upgrade installs.

 

We run LTSC 2019 here, which has an end of support date of 2029. Realistically all of our machies should be very capable of running Windows 11 by that point anyways.

[Oaktech]

We're replacing all student Windows devices with Chromebooks on a rolling basis. Admin and teacher PCs are being replaced a few at a time, we've now got 12 compatible devices, we need 250 across 3 schools.

 

Teacher laptops are the sticking point. The debate is: Do we replace them at all and invest in a better RDP provision for home devices, Replace them, or replace them with chromebooks and make them use RDP in the browser?

[LeMarchand]

Stra-tur-gee I had to look that one up!

 

I've started to make noises that the heads need to start looking at putting money aside if they want to maintain the same level/styles of equipment, though the two that are a bit more techie are likely to move to Google. Yep, the kit still has built in obsolesence, but it's much cheaper! All my schools are in the same boat, with naff all of the current fleet able to go to W11.

 

I wonder if MS might step back the specs a bit once people who aren't hardware manufacturers start making noises. We all know how long it took people to move away from XP and 7! Maybe they might do a Windows 10+ (basically 11 but without such stringent requirements) and Windows 11? If not, I think they are expecting a lot of people to spend money they don't want to to stay on the good ship Windows.

[mavhc]

It's just Windows 10 R2, when all your out of spec hardware has been replaced then upgrade in X years

[aicrd]

TPM isn't an issue at all now. Microsoft made it so it only "Nags" you, instead of preventing an install. They only require TPM for upgrade installs.

 

We run LTSC 2019 here, which has an end of support date of 2029. Realistically all of our machies should be very capable of running Windows 11 by that point anyways.

 

To clarify on this, ISOs created via the media creation tool will be able to bypass the TPM and secure boot and the EFI requirements, but its not a supported configuration by Microsoft.

[supportman]

Most likely will skip Windows 11. I've done that with Vista and windows 8 and been very happy with that decision.

 

No rush with things like this, we are totally cloud now so the operating system is kind moot.

[Ironside]

So I'm not even remotely a Network Manager but if it was up to me I'd run Win 10 till about 6 months or until the last big holiday before the end of life date, then go ahead and move to Win 11. hopefully by then updates will have made it an actual successor to Win 10 instead of something that is what happens if you mix the complexity of Chrome os with the launch preparation of Vista

[Chuckster]

I didn't upgrade from XP to 7 until 3 years after its initial release date (c. 2012). Windows 10 was released in 2015 and I made the move to upgrade in summer 2017. I will hold off on 11 until it's matured.

 

I will let the early adopters tackle it first before I think of deploying it.

[Badaz52]

Oh my plan is to not upgrade till Summer 2025 just before Windows 10 support ends my concern was that only 20% of our current devices have the TPM requirement so we will have to start replacing from as early as next financial year as there is no way we can go and buy 600 devices in Summer 2025 and have the time to install them all. I know you can get past the requirement but the way I see it is its there for a reason.

[mdrabble]

Going to hold off for as long as possible but run in IT Support so we can test, test and get ready for the complaint of how different it is.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

only 20% of our current devices have the TPM requirement

I don't know if this will help you at all, but HP, Dell & Lenovo have TPM firmware update tools for their business machines on TPM 1.2 that come with a 6th generation or newer intel CPU.

You can flash these to 2.0.

 

That's machines of similar age to HP EliteDesk/ProDesk G2, Dell Optiplex 3040, 7040 and Lenovo Thinkcentre M900.

 

Anything of similar age and spec should be capable of the free upgrade

Edited September 22, 2021 by ICTDirect_Dave

[3s-gtech]

Would that include the lovely HP Probook 450s (G3?) we had off you Dave? Skylake CPU. Would be a huge plus if so!

[ICTDirect_Dave]

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c05381064

 

According to this, yes! Third device down

[KK20]

My strategy is bury my head in the sand for a few years and hope I get a budget increase. We still havea lot of latitude gen4 i5's with replacement batteries. I have a handful of desktops that are circa 2013 that are connected to various single use applications (the laser cutter, milling machines, boiler management terminals etc). I would estimate at least a half of my machines wont run 11 effectively. The core desktops are all 7020 i5 with 8gb and SSD, they run 10 brilliantly but wont support 11. So im screwed really and I only retire in 12 years so I will have to fix things :-)

 

I mean, I got core2duo's working just fine on W10 1604 and those started life with XP on them...

Edited September 24, 2021 by KK20

[mavhc]

But Windows 10 says it only supports i3-3xxx core CPUs or later!!!

[3s-gtech]

But Windows 10 says it only supports i3-3xxx core CPUs or later!!!

 

Does it really? I’ve never looked at the requirements. I have it running on some right antiques here, no complaints as long as there’s an SSD and 4GB of RAM.

 

In fact, I did put it on a Dell Inspiron 6400 which was a first gen Core 2 (915 chipset) machine from 2006. Still going strong (off domain).

[Guest Guest]

We've got it running on a few 1st and 2nd gen i5s and it runs ok Edited September 25, 2021 by Guest

[ICTDirect_Dave]

We tested W10 running quite nicely on an old HP DC7600. The 3.0GHz Hyperthreading Pentium 4 did quite well with 4GB RAM. Things got even better when we added an SSD.

 

I suspect W11 will be similar, with the caveat of a TPM and dual core cpu being required.

[KK20]

The difference with W10 and W11 on old hardware is the threat of withholding updates and patches.

[3s-gtech]

We tested W10 running quite nicely on an old HP DC7600. The 3.0GHz Hyperthreading Pentium 4 did quite well with 4GB RAM. Things got even better when we added an SSD.

 

I suspect W11 will be similar, with the caveat of a TPM and dual core cpu being required.

Wow! We ditched our 7600s about 9 years back - clunky, slow old beasts even with 4GB but we never put SSDs in them. Not tried 10 on anything pre Core 2.

[Oaktech]

I have, with a bit of recycling of SCCM tasks, got windows 11 to run quite happily on a 3.1ghz C2D with 8gb ram and an SSD. Updates currently available to us via WSUS.

[Oaktech]

I have, with a bit of recycling of SCCM tasks, got windows 11 to run quite happily on a 3.1ghz C2D with 8gb ram and an SSD. Updates currently available to us via WSUS.

 

I've had to put the C2D back to windows 10 because I need to use it in production, but here's my office machine...