I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 (the production version, not an early release). I downloaded an ISO file of the installer and ran that. It installed smoothly and my machine was activated with a digital licence. All very good. I then did another download and created a bootable USB key with the installer. I booted from this USB key and then formatted the Windows partition and installed Windows 11 as a cold install. It installed in about 5 minutes (I have a fast machine) and then about 10 minutes of silly questions and we were good to go.
Like many people I have my favourite programs and apps. So I set about installing these and then my troubles began. I installed my Office 13 which I have had for many years and has worked very well. It installed and activated but Word 2013 did not look like it did on Win 10. I then found out that Office 2013 is no longer supported. I’m still working out what I’ll do about that. Then the real fun begins. I have a favourite program for showing images (Irfanview) so I set about installing it. I set it up and then told it what file extensions that it could use by default. I then looked at a JPG file and it opened with MS Photos. I thought that I can fix that, but no, there is no capability for setting a default for JPG, JPEG, and PNG files. I then thought that I would install my favourite browser, Chrome. I found a similar problem. It could be done but making it a default was very tedious.
My conclusion is that Windows 11 is great if you wish to use the Microsoft provided programs and apps but not if you are more independent. Microsoft must be getting very close to behaving like a monopoly here. This could be a target for the EU regulators. I retreated and I am now firmly back in the Windows 10 camp and I’ll stay there until Windows 11 becomes more friendly to people such as me.
For those people who might wonder that this approach of mine is a lot of work it is not. My machine is dual booted. It originally had two partitions of Windows 10 Pro. It now has one of Windows 10 Pro and one of Windows 11 Pro. I have not given up completely on Windows 11. I will boot it up occasionally and apply updates and see if it behaves better. Of course, all of these problems could be due to early development and rough edges. We shall see but, for now, I am very productive on Windows 10.
I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 (the production version, not an early release). I downloaded an ISO file of the installer and ran that. It installed smoothly and my machine was activated with a digital licence. All very good. I then did another download and created a bootable USB key with the installer. I booted from this USB key and then formatted the Windows partition and installed Windows 11 as a cold install. It installed in about 5 minutes (I have a fast machine) and then about 10 minutes of silly questions and we were good to go.
Like many people I have my favourite programs and apps. So I set about installing these and then my troubles began. I installed my Office 13 which I have had for many years and has worked very well. It installed and activated but Word 2013 did not look like it did on Win 10. I then found out that Office 2013 is no longer supported. I’m still working out what I’ll do about that. Then the real fun begins. I have a favourite program for showing images (Irfanview) so I set about installing it. I set it up and then told it what file extensions that it could use by default. I then looked at a JPG file and it opened with MS Photos. I thought that I can fix that, but no, there is no capability for setting a default for JPG, JPEG, and PNG files. I then thought that I would install my favourite browser, Chrome. I found a similar problem. It could be done but making it a default was very tedious.
My conclusion is that Windows 11 is great if you wish to use the Microsoft provided programs and apps but not if you are more independent. Microsoft must be getting very close to behaving like a monopoly here. This could be a target for the EU regulators. I retreated and I am now firmly back in the Windows 10 camp and I’ll stay there until Windows 11 becomes more friendly to people such as me.
For those people who might wonder that this approach of mine is a lot of work it is not. My machine is dual booted. It originally had two partitions of Windows 10 Pro. It now has one of Windows 10 Pro and one of Windows 11 Pro. I have not given up completely on Windows 11. I will boot it up occasionally and apply updates and see if it behaves better. Of course, all of these problems could be due to early development and rough edges. We shall see but, for now, I am very productive on Windows 10.