Windows 11 Thread

[smatovic]

...being the computer guy in my neighborhood, and with Windows 10 EOL in 10/2025, I have to consider to install some Linux distro on some ~10 years but still going laptops/PCs, an elderly lady has a Dell from ~2013, still useful for office, YouTube and surfing the web, will consider Ubuntu Linux, heard Mint is good, another senior bought an HP printer w/o possibility to connect via USB cable (wtf?) only via WLAN, his ~15 years old laptop fulfills the Ubuntu requirements, but I doubt I will get the WLAN printer running :-/

Windows 11 system requirements:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_11#Platform

64-bit CPUs from ~2017/~2018, UEFI BIOS, TPM 2.0, DX12 GPU.

There are tricks to install Windows 11 on older machines, but there might be certain restrictions.

AFAIK for companies there will be a Service Level Agreement possible, to get for some further time Windows 10 security updates (as with XP/7).

Maybe Google will start to push ChromeOS as life extender for older machines:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChromeOS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChromiumOS

In 2023 the linux desktop user base increased from ~2% to ~4%, some users won't make the switch to Windows 11.

"Next year ist the year of Linux on the desktop!"

--
Srdja

[Modern Times]

Yes, on older PCs Linux is a very good choice.

Windows 10 and 11 are much of a muchness to me. Windows 10 at work, Windows 11 at home. Makes little difference to me except that one of my desktops and one of my laptops are Intel Pcore-Ecore architecture that is best with Windows 11 apparently.

[Hai]

Buy a Mac and use macOS, iPadOS, iOS, Windows 11 and Linux.

[towforce]

Maybe Google will start to push ChromeOS as life extender for older machines:
Srdja

They promote ChromeOS Flex for that purpose - which OUGHT to be a gateway to getting more people using ChromeOS instead of Windows.

But as far as I can see, ChromeOS Flex is just too restrictive:

* won't run Windows apps

* won't run Android apps

For me, the Windows end-of-life programme to force everyone to use new versions of Windows (and maybe have to buy new computers) represents a good opportunity for another OS to start replacing Windows, but given the absence of an OS that:

1. is easy to install

2. offers the required features

...it looks like an opportunity that nobody wants. Maybe marketing teams are telling decision makers that the kind of people that want to do this are not the kind of people who spend worthwhile amounts of money.

[AdminX]

As a privacy and security zealot, I have reduced the number of systems that run windows in my home down to 4 out of 14. 9 systems now run on Linux, and 1 one MacOS. The only reason I keep the Windows systems is for Corporate Work and for Academic reasons, and I try to lock them down as much as possible. There was a time when I kept Windows only because of Chess software, but today I really don't care as much for those Windows based Chess products and only give preference to the ones that will run with Wine. Ironically thanks to sites such as Chess.com, Lichess.org, and even Playchess.com, I now have very little need for some of the Windows based Chess products that I once relied on. As for linux, my favorite distros are ArchCraft, and Kali. My youngest son loves Garuda, but I have other boxes running Fedora, Debian, and Crunchbang ++ for the really old boxes. Truth be told, I would rather someday to contain my Windows systems to VMs.

[towforce]

As a privacy and security zealot, I have reduced the number of systems that run windows in my home down to 4 out of 14. 9 systems now run on Linux, and 1 one MacOS. The only reason I keep the Windows systems is for Corporate Work and for Academic reasons, and I try to lock them down as much as possible. There was a time when I kept Windows only because of Chess software, but today I really don't care as much for those Windows based Chess products and only give preference to the ones that will run with Wine. Ironically thanks to sites such as Chess.com, Lichess.org, and even Playchess.com, I now have very little need for some of the Windows based Chess products that I once relied on. As for linux, my favorite distros are ArchCraft, and Kali. My youngest son loves Garuda, but I have other boxes running Fedora, Debian, and Crunchbang ++ for the really old boxes. Truth be told, I would rather someday to contain my Windows systems to VMs.

This is good. You appear to like tinkering with operating systems. The OP, however, is dealing with an "elderly lady" and a "senior [man]". It's seems unlikely that they're going to be comfortable with maintaining such systems.

I'm going to start a wish list for an OS to replace Windows with on an old PC:

* easy to install

* manages its own updates and security patches

* can run Windows applications

* can run Android applications (to do this on Windows, you have to use a phone emulator like BlueStacks)

* can run the Chrome browser

* decent help with finding things (something like the Windows search bar)

* easy to open common document types (like PDF)

* easy to use for somebody who is used to Windows

[AdminX]

As a privacy and security zealot, I have reduced the number of systems that run windows in my home down to 4 out of 14. 9 systems now run on Linux, and 1 one MacOS. The only reason I keep the Windows systems is for Corporate Work and for Academic reasons, and I try to lock them down as much as possible. There was a time when I kept Windows only because of Chess software, but today I really don't care as much for those Windows based Chess products and only give preference to the ones that will run with Wine. Ironically thanks to sites such as Chess.com, Lichess.org, and even Playchess.com, I now have very little need for some of the Windows based Chess products that I once relied on. As for linux, my favorite distros are ArchCraft, and Kali. My youngest son loves Garuda, but I have other boxes running Fedora, Debian, and Crunchbang ++ for the really old boxes. Truth be told, I would rather someday to contain my Windows systems to VMs.

This is good. You appear to like tinkering with operating systems. The OP, however, is dealing with an "elderly lady" and a "senior [man]". It's seems unlikely that they're going to be comfortable with maintaining such systems.

I'm going to start a wish list for an OS to replace Windows with on an old PC:

* easy to install

* manages its own updates and security patches

* can run Windows applications

* can run Android applications (to do this on Windows, you have to use a phone emulator like BlueStacks)

* can run the Chrome browser

* decent help with finding things (something like the Windows search bar)

* easy to open common document types (like PDF)

* easy to use for somebody who is used to Windows

Oh, and I agree with you 100% I think he is on the correct path with Ubuntu and Linux Mint as they are two of the best choices for those coming from Windows. PS: I think ChromeOS is great if you don't need Windows apps and can get by with Android apps.

[smatovic]

[...]
As for linux, my favorite distros are ArchCraft, and Kali.
[...]

Haha, Kali Linux, Mr. Robot and his wipe downs pop up in my mind

[smatovic]

Alright, "Computer George" has a lil adventure forthcoming, just looked up, and the WLAN printer should be installable via WPS on router, was mentioned in the extended manual only, so, reviving a ~15 years old Acer laptop with new SATA SSD and Ubuntu Linux and connecting the printer

--
Srdja

[Ras]

I'm going to start a wish list for an OS to replace Windows with on an old PC:

Linux Mint Cinnamon qualifies an nearly all items.

easy to install

Just use the provided ISO files, boot from USB, install Mint. Best thing: it's a live image, i.e. you can boot into Mint without installing it to see whether your hardware is supported and whether you like Mint.

manages its own updates and security patches

The Update Manager can be configured to fully automated updates. If something should go seriously wrong, there's Timeshift that makes system snapshots, and if all else fails, you can boot from the USB ISO and restore an earlier snapshot. Never had such a problem, though.

Distro updates always need manual action: the minor point releases are graphically from within the Update Manager, and major releases as per the upgrade instructions on the Mint website, every two years. One nice thing here is that Mint doesn't follow a strict release schedule and instead follows the "release when it's ready" approach.

can run Windows applications

There's Wine for that, but better use native applications. The OS that is best at running Windows software is, unsurprisingly, Windows. Part of the OS migration is finding alternative software, or to find out to be locked into Windows anyway, mostly with expensive professional software such as Photoshop.

However, Steam does work under Mint, including support for Playstation controllers. Windows-titles (i.e. no Linux version of the game) that run here are e.g. Witcher 2 and 3, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, Stray, Red Dead Redemption 2.

can run Android applications (to do this on Windows, you have to use a phone emulator like BlueStacks)

Might be possible under Mint, I don't know - but just use Android for that.

can run the Chrome browser

Possible, but Firefox is a better option.

decent help with finding things (something like the Windows search bar)

Nemo (the file manager) has search for files and content, and the start menu also has a search. Though the start menu is better than under Windows because it is sorted by logical categories.

easy to open common document types (like PDF)

Xreader for reading PDFs.

easy to use for somebody who is used to Windows

Cinnamon is a classic desktop much like Windows 7, arguably the best Windows version ever. Sure, it is not exactly like Windows, but that's the same with every new Windows version as well. I've put a number of non-IT end users on Mint Cinnamon after support for Win 7 ran out.