Windows 11 Requirements

Discussion
1

I ran the above open source tool to check Windows 11 compatability with my computer and to my surprise, it was missing 1 component from the checklist.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-a-tpm-and-why-do-i-need-one-for-windows-11

According to the article, a TPM module should exist on most modern laptops, however it’s not unusual for self-built computers to miss them. It’s also not that straight-forward to manually add a TPM to the motherboard, manually.

Seems like Windows 11 requirements are not that straight forward, after all.

It seems like in my initial assessment based on first impressions of the requirements, I completely waved off the TPM thing,

Apparently, not the CPU and RAM requirements are the culprit, but this TPM requirement. While I can understand requiring that from a technical perspective, it at the same time wonders me that it’s apparently normal for self-built computers (i.e. motherboards bought on their own) to usually not incorporate such module. This way, Windows 11 pushes away enthusiasts and people who know what they are doing to favour the ones buying laptops or simply people who do not know that much about computers.

I wonder how exactly it’d be possible for most people to install the TPM module manually and how much of a hassle it’d be in actual practice.

If it’s really a big thing, perhaps it will be possible to run a limited Windows 11 on non-TPM enabled computers.
One thing is for sure though, motherboards will probably now get TPM 2.0 all over the place…

All that said, it doesn’t bother me. I just wondered, that I was missing one of the things in the checklist shown through the open source tool linked above. I’m not particularly hot for Windows 11. I am not interested in upgrading, unless they show me something that really is something new and actually useful, instead of a “nice gadget” like Windows Hello or whatever. I just want the really good stuff.
Windows 10 allowed DirectX 12 and other stuff I have already forgotten about. That was some new stuff!

Windows 11, what new features do you offer me besides some funny little gadgets and UX changes?

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Require TPM2, require your e-mail (possibly to intrude your private area too), bump a number from 10 to 11. :smiley:

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The only thing I can see, is if you’re upgrading from Windows 10 through their upgrade tool, then Cortana will not be installed, so what? They’ve also joined up with Android, to run Android apps in Windows 11, again so What? I’m not interested in Windows 11, even though my processor and motherboard support the weird TPM security. They done a weird support thing with Windows Vista and Windows 7, if memory remembers correctly? Apparently it boots quicker, yes probably it does till you update it?

They apparently have fixed their updater, which they keep saying with every update release of Windows 10, still as slow as ever, then when it says it’s downloaded an update at 100%, it starts downloading it again instead of installing it. I only use Windows for gaming on. Imagine my frustration, with having to wait for it to update? I’m using SSD’s too, must be even slower on a normal hard drive?

4

That actually reminds me of a funny story.

I’ve seen so many people tell me how much faster their computer boots, etc. bla bla bla. Somehow I could never reach those speeds, even when my rig was clearly better than theirs.

A while later, I realised, the biggest difference between their and my own setup was that their only had minimal customisation done, no dual boot with Linux and no extra bells and whistles for the boot. Fast Boot was turned off, of course, as well.
The sheer amount of stuff that has to load up on my personal computer leads to never being able to boot as quickly as I was shown. I have multiple hard drives, multiple SSDs, extra safety bells and whistles during POST enabled, etc.
Naturally, it won’t boot as quickly as with the computers that had been shown to me.

All that said, boot time was never an issue for me. I turn that thing on once a day and turn it off once a day. Why would I need quick boot ups for that… Ironically I sometimes could get the feeling that it boots up “too quickly”. Usually, I turn on the computer, go away for a couple of minutes and it’s already booted up for some time. So I never even notice the “long boot up time” others would mention, except I specifically wait for it to boot up, when standing in front of it and watching.

I also have to clarify that when I’m saying “quick” I mean below 10-20 seconds. My computer takes about 1-2 minutes. Which is “very slow” in the class of rigs my setup is in. :laughing:

This ususally indicates an issue with updates. I had already trouble with that. Though, it luckily rarely happens.

Ironically, almost all people I have ever seen in my life only have problems, when they do not regularly update. If a user regularly updates their Windows, they rarely happen to have problems with updates. Exhibit A is myself.
My friend too – years ago, before he switched a 100% to Linux – always complained about updates on Windows etc. I never had problems with them, back then. He was also updating his Windows maybe once a year or even less.
I let my Windows update itself, by letting it download all updates during usage and then letting it install during the next boot up i.e. the next day. So, I never notice upgrades and they are as seemless as they get.

I know, to many Linux users it sounds very contradictory, but it’s true according to my experience:
If you do not want update trouble with Windows, keep updating Windows regularly! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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It’s also got password saving protection, which is what Windows 10 has got, hidden inside virtual memory, which Microsoft can access too no doubt? I think this whole security thing is way, way, I’ll type it again, way over the top. All because people gripe about how lax their security is, but this is over the top. Didn’t they say about only certain computers with Vista and Windows 7? They’ll change their minds again, wait and see?

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I think it’s a very interesting philosophical question, if it’s worse to have your password looked at by a HUGE company like Microsoft, or by a small company or, even worse, a tiny minority or perhaps even a single “hacker”.

To me it’s clear, that I rather want my password looked at by a company that, if they truly do that, looks at passwords from BILLIONS of computers. The more passwords are in their pool, the less is my password worth. So, if they really look at all Windows users’ passwords, my passwords are pretty unimportant and especially very unprofitable.
So, the only argument that remains is the “well, they give the password to the NSA, if they ask for it”. That is, in my opinion, not a convincing argument, at all, because if NSA really wants something from your computer, they are going to get it one way or another. Asking Apple, Facebook or Microsoft for passwords it’s just a convenience thing for them. All people imagine they would say something like “crap, Apple doesn’t give us the users’ passwords – damn it, justice has won and we can do nothing about it!”, when it’s actually like “well, Apple doesn’t give us the users’ passwords – so we gotta do it the old fashioned way again… Guys, let’s go!”.

I also want to emphasize that this NSA thing is not a Windows thing. NSA can hack into any operating system that is used by a significant amount of human users. Linux users are just as vulnerable as Windows users. Just look at Dirty Cow. It has been on our computers since like ever and just was relatively recently fixed. Do Linux users really think, that was the only exploit on Linux? 10 years later, we will see. Same thing goes for macOS.

So, if you are worrying about NSA or something like that, you cannot use any OS, except if you use something like Tails in a really expert fashion, however then it’s obvious you cannot use it for normal every day stuff.

If you worry about companies giving away your info, then I would rather worry about small companies doing it, than huge companies with a name, image and a huge pool of potential victims.

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It again is all telemetry, though with the billions of people out there in the wild who blatantly give their info to Microsoft, in a recent poll done by all the collections of data that they collected, they came up with the fact that a majority of people who use their OS are gamers and have the technology to run these TMP 2.0, secure boot. Though take a look at what Linus says in his video?

8

I watched the video.

To me it seems like everyone is pretending now the Windows 11 requirements are a huge issue, as every wants to upgrade right now. Is this suddenly actually the case?
When Windows 8 came out, literally no one wanted to upgrade. The only people I have seen back then with Windows 8 are the ones who bought a brand new device when Windows 8 was new. Everyone else preferred to stay on Windows 7. The same happened when switching from Windows XP to Windows Vista. Everyone hated Vista and a majority of users stayed on XP for seemingly forever. When Windows 7 came out, Windows XP was still very normal.
Even when Windows 10 came out, people didn’t want to switch from Windows 7 to 10, not only because it seemed like a big leap, but also because they were happy with Windows 7 and Windows 10 didn’t look right.
Now, everyone wants to switch to Windows 11, even though I still have yet to see something special and worth to switch about it? I doubt that.
The only real reason that comes to my mind for people suddenly wanting to switch is a psychological trick:
Whenever Windows was easy to switch to and available for all, it wasn’t as attractive. However, since the newest version is not so easy to get into and you, at least officially, need special requirements, it more or less becomes an “exclusive club” for a “special” set of users. This might seem appealing to some tech-ignorant people who think, everything behind a barrier must be somehow good and everything free must be somehow bad. Those are probably the same type of people who buy 1 Gbit Ethernet cables for their 50 Mbit internet connection to get “faster internet”…

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Just like me too :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
I kept Windows 7 for the very last moment it was possible for me. Then a HW upgrade forced me to Windows 10 (motherboard had lacking good working drivers for Windows 7).
Then the disgust I found in Windows 10 kind of pushed me to Linux :smiley:
No regret so far. :smiley:

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Remembers me snobbish audiophiles who buy 2 meters special power cord for their amplifier to have cooler sound. But don’t think about to change the rest of the powerline kilometers long to the transformator, and even up to more far away to the power plant.
:rofl:

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@Akito
This Windows 🪟 11 has stupid system requirements
Compared what Linux can even run on 32 bit ancient computer :desktop_computer: coupled with 512 MB RAM .

And look at this Windows
4GB RAM etc
TBH the companies are forcing you to buy new computers and turn the old ones into E Waste .

Higher system requirements
Because of
Business
Business
That’s only the thing .

13

That’s really unfair.

Demanding a computer having more than 4GB in 2021 is more than legitimate. In fact, it’s not that easy to buy a laptop or even computer having less than 8GB RAM. If you really want a computer with 4GB or less, you have to look for extremely old machines, that are at least 10 years old.

And Linux supporting 512MB RAM is not really an argument either, because you can do nothing with this amount. Nothing an end-user would need to do. Like surfing, reading e-mails, etc. It’s just not enough. Not because of Microsoft, but because we have Internet from 2021 and not from 1999…

Thirdly, running E-Waste with less than 4GB is literally a waste of electrical power. Just buy a newer computer.

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@Akito
You don’t check ITFoss website it seems and
Why to buy new computer :desktop_computer: frequently??
And no buys computers frequently

See this

I have a system running with low RAM
2GB and its working perfectly for my all tasks

In todays time

4GB
8 GB
12 GB
16 GB
Is more than enough for us in modern times .

No one invests in short term

Everyone wants that their computers should last longer giving optimum performance.

The concept of planned obsolescence is given by the companies because they want business .

15

15 years is frequently? Good to know. In my world (reality) 15 years is not frequently, but overdue.

Then you are doing nothing with your PC. And it’s still a waste of electrical power. You are better off buying a newer PC that consumes less power.

No.

The best thing about a computer is, that it’s most of the time long term in any way, because it’s usually upgradable. So, you can usually add some RAM later on, for example.

P.S.:
Posted this message from my computer with 48GB RAM.

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A lot of horsepower for a glorified typewriter.

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Not 15 years
But 10 years the computers should last

Fun Fact
My father is IT professional and he has used computers more than 10 + years
They fufilled all his needs

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Still, waste of electrical power.

20

They usually last. I’ve seen much older computers.
The problem is with the “progression” :slight_smile:
Every year we (mankind) are capable of producing much more powerful computers, which do their jobs faster.
Then after a while, we put more and harder tasks to computers, which require them to be more powerful.
Just think of the web. What resources did require to display a web page 15 years ago, and what today?
A computer from 15 years ago may b useful today for emailing, do some office-like task, but surely will fail with a html5 page with a video background…

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@kovacslt
Yes I agree with you But the problem is that the companies do have the planning of planned obsolescence

If you talk about India we still use Feature phones today although SmartPhones have the dominance but still people have old phones which are working perfectly and top condition .
People are still using 3G,4G phones which were purchased long time before
Same case is with computers :desktop_computer: .
As we throw old computers they become E Waste but we humans don’t recycle :recycle: them India .

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Yes, I’ve seen those huge Indian dumps in documentaries. For e.g. in the slummy part of Mumbai there is a huge one, where people literally died already and others get sick because of the extremely toxic fumes evaporating from that disgusting dump.

That said, it’s not the fault of old computers or phones (they get collected by children from the dumps, anyway) that these huge dumps exist, but it’s the fault of corrupt politics. Just look at one of the Indian leaders Modi. I don’t live there, so I don’t allow myself to judge, but from what I’ve heard, he is pretty harsh and pretty corrupt. All this behaviour oozes down to the lower levels of politics in your country.

So, to fix problems with trash in your country, you have to fix your politics first.

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