FEAR of Windows 11

[GrifterGuru]

A proper install of Windows 11 with no connection to a Microsoft Account, a taskbar setting change to shift the Start button to the left side where it should be, and a whole bunch of shutting stuff off in Privacy settings and in Edge and it will look and work like Windows 10.

Things are changing. Windows abandoning being a stand alone OS and becoming a service only is getting closer. For now, Win 11 is something you should already be using or you should be making the switch before the support for 10 begins to expire late next year.

Much tougher decisions are coming in the versions soon after 11 at the rate things are going, but we aren't there quite yet. The frog boils slowly.

You will not convince me that microshaft is run for any other reason than grabbing data to sell it and that they will make it as difficult as possible to use it as a system and as hard as possible to block the data leaks as well as block the backdoors.

After Win7 (actually, truly, after XP, Michroshaft have screwed the pooch royally and you will never convince me otherwise. I have not only experience of the systems, but also a close friend who has to deal with this BS on a daily basis as a high level tech and even he is appalled (putting it mildly) with the state of michroshaft products and refuses to go near W10 or W11.

You may well be happy with it, but I REFUSE to allow microshaft bloated spyware of Win10 or Win11 onto any of my PCs or laptops.

Sorry, but those systems are a useless POS taking up way to much HDD space with far too many backdoors and data breaches direct to microshaft.

 

[pdentrem]

! How did you do that? I have an old Acad 2000 lying around somewhere and it would be all I need for 2D cad. I've tried the alternates and even rented Acad LT but frankly, I would be happier with the old Acad.

As far as a new PC, I still grudgingly build my own. I usually start with an existing enclosure and buy decent parts for much less than a similar packaged unit. I say grudgingly because I'm sort of getting tired of doing it these days.

I sent you a PM with the instructions that I had found. Apparently the original setup file is 16 bit and that is the issue. 64 bit OS will operate a 32 bit program usually but cannot handle 16 bit.
Pierre

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[tim81]

I am still using an HP desktop with Win 7 Ultimate that I bought some thirteen years ago, It has been a stable and reliable machine for the most part. My most expensive software is SolidWorks and I don't believe that it will play nicely with Win 11. I also have SprutCAM7 on the machine and between the two, it would be over $5K to update them to current versions. I would also have to add a video card capable of working with SolidWorks which would potentially add another $1K to an upgrade.

I stopped doing updates some years back when a MS update screwed up the computer and I had to restore it to a previous state to recover it. I realize that I am at risk of a malware attack by not running current software. A solution might be to take this computer off line and dedicate it to my CAD/CAM work.

A question for all the gurus out there; can I set up a separate LAN to communicate with our primary system and still isolate it from the outside world.

Yes, better idea is get your setup virtualised on a kvm image and run it on a Linux machine. Do you pass through and use the win7 and solid work you already paid for the issue is having drivers sometimes the newer ones are not backward compatible. Then changing physical hardware is trivial as you have the kvm image to move it as you please. This is the way to save money on older apps with legacy OS requirements. Or stick to the gpu that kvm has and increase its memory and try it out. On Linux with kvm you can setup networks and do even firewalls if you like it.

If you want isolation from internet then flash drive is you best friend and no connection to internet connected equipment.

 

[matthewsx]

As an IT Admin, Linux early adopter and courseware author, and Cupertino native I was never able to take operating systems as a religion. I’ve supported everything my client/boss required and recommended more than a few systems where my job was on the line.

Personally, I run Mac OS on Apple hardware because when I get home the last thing I want is a support call from my family. Say what you want about Apple but their stuff just works and it lasts a lot longer than the competition.

But, you’ll never get corporate America away from the Windows ecosystem as sorry as it is. April 1 started at my work with network down because a raid controller failed after a power outage and my old boss is running DNS and DHCP on a VMWare esxi Windows server host (insert facepalm emoji).

So, if your software needs require Windows then run the latest version you can and update it religiously.

Windows also runs fine, some say better, as a VM on Mac hardware.

VM’s give you the advantage of being able to back up your whole system as a working image. Data is easy but configuration takes time.

All my important data is in the “cloud”, has been for two decades since I realized I could email files to myself at Yahoo or Gmail and access them anywhere. Now I also use Google drive, One drive and iCloud.

Good luck with whatever you do and remember, computers are just machines and you can make them do whatever you want.

John

 

[tim81]

I have been using Linux since a decade ago as primary at work and home and for work since early 2000. windows only for apps not found on Linux and for games for phones iPhone they just work.
As John said they are just tools but I use freecad for what I do and flatpak has cura and other stuff. If your in on windows use it and search eBay for spare parts it might make your equipment last another decade. As side story we searched for an intel motherboard from 2001 to extend the life of a way to old server with legacy apps that the upgrade would have been 5 digits. That thing is still running after sourcing motherboard and other parts from ebay. Your mileage might vary but you got the point.

 

[Forty Niner]

I prefer to run my computers by logging in locally ONLY. I do not wish to log in to a Microsoft account just to use my computer.
So, all of my computers are set up to do just that. It is, I'll admit, tricky to install Windows 11 without logging in to Microsoft, but it is worth it. Instructions can be found online on how it's done. If you purchase a new computer, set it up with it completely isolated / disconnected from the internet to start with. You can connect it later.

The Windows 11 OS is very easy to use and is no problem for a Windows 10 user to get used to.

I have found that Windows 11, if installed and configured to limit the ads and the bloat, is a nice smooth operating system, better than Windows 10.

My home network consists of 3 Windows 11 PC's, two Windows 10 machines, two Linux machines, and one FreeBSD Unix machine running a pfSense firewall.

One Windows 11 machine at first refused to install 11 because of it's age, but I found a workaround and it runs great on it.

just my 2 cents !

 

[David2011]

Pull the band aid off once and just get W11. Support for W10 will supposedly go away late next year (10/2025), and some older computers will not support W11 if you later want to upgrade.

W11 has been out for 3 years so they have had the time to work out {most) of the bugs.

I switched to Windows 11 two years ago, following a bad W10 update that required a full re-install. There are some WHY!!! changes (mostly moving key interface icons) that took some getting used to but after a month or so I really don't care anymore and now have no trouble moving back and forth between a W11 and W10 machine.

Last year I took an older (originally W7) machine from 2012 in to a local shop to get it upgraded as a second computer. Was still a viable computer just dated. I replaced the hard drive with something larger and added RAM. I found out that due to the age it will not support W11 even though by specs it should. It is based on something intrinsic to the hardware (chip or motherboard, don't recall). Doesn't really matter to me as it won't go online and the programs I will use on it work with both W10 and W11, so I just have to deal with the quirks of two OSs.

Your W10 update experience sounds all too familiar. My background started with DOS 3.1 that was networked. I started supporting computers commercially in the Windows 3.11 for networking era. When I retired we had deployed Win10 Pro. I spent over 20 years in a Fortune 100 Enterprise environment. Several years ago I migrated my parents’s computer from Win7 to 10. A few months ago it choked on a forced update and wouldn’t complete a startup. I ended up reinstalling the OS on a fresh HDD. When the update ran again it choked again. Eventually I got into it and ran a restore that got it working again. The next forced update it repeated the same failure. Reluctantly, I gave in and we got a new computer as it was clear that there was a compatibility problem between Windows and the machine.

Microsoft wasn’t done with me yet. I’m running 64 bit Win10 on a very high end but older HP ZBook 17 and 32 bit Win10 on my old workshop Gateway laptop. I use it to run an old Ashlar 2D CAD program, to view PDFs and to view SketchUp designs that I create on the “good” computer. I have considerable experience with 10 at the corporate level and at home. That wasn’t enough to help me with the new computer. During the setup it offered a 32 or a 64 bit installation. Of course, I chose 64 for the alleged improved security. It wouldn’t let me install Office 2013 because it’s a 32 bit program. It wouldn’t allow any 32 bit software to be installed. Dad is gone now but Mom uses the computer to pay bills and do her banking. She used to play several games that were installed from CDs/DVDs. None of them will install. She mostly uses her phone and iPad for texting, email and browsing so at least the computer takes care of her business needs. She thinks she’s technically inept but I think for 89 years old she does well. I was just surprised at how different the OEM Windows 10 on her computer is from the “same“ version that’s on my ZBook, also an OEM version.

 

[matthewsx]

Your W10 update experience sounds all too familiar. My background started with DOS 3.1 that was networked. I started supporting computers commercially in the Windows 3.11 for networking era. When I retired we had deployed Win10 Pro. I spent over 20 years in a Fortune 100 Enterprise environment. Several years ago I migrated my parents’s computer from Win7 to 10. A few months ago it choked on a forced update and wouldn’t complete a startup. I ended up reinstalling the OS on a fresh HDD. When the update ran again it choked again. Eventually I got into it and ran a restore that got it working again. The next forced update it repeated the same failure. Reluctantly, I gave in and we got a new computer as it was clear that there was a compatibility problem between Windows and the machine.

Microsoft wasn’t done with me yet. I’m running 64 bit Win10 on a very high end but older HP ZBook 17 and 32 bit Win10 on my old workshop Gateway laptop. I use it to run an old Ashlar 2D CAD program, to view PDFs and to view SketchUp designs that I create on the “good” computer. I have considerable experience with 10 at the corporate level and at home. That wasn’t enough to help me with the new computer. During the setup it offered a 32 or a 64 bit installation. Of course, I chose 64 for the alleged improved security. It wouldn’t let me install Office 2013 because it’s a 32 bit program. It wouldn’t allow any 32 bit software to be installed. Dad is gone now but Mom uses the computer to pay bills and do her banking. She used to play several games that were installed from CDs/DVDs. None of them will install. She mostly uses her phone and iPad for texting, email and browsing so at least the computer takes care of her business needs. She thinks she’s technically inept but I think for 89 years old she does well. I was just surprised at how different the OEM Windows 10 on her computer is from the “same“ version that’s on my ZBook, also an OEM version.

Bless your mom and so sorry for the loss of your father.

I‘ve often said that when I retire I’ll just have one phone and it’ll be attached to the wall. If you need to reach me send a letter or call when I’m home just like it was when I was a kid.

Your experience just reinforces what I tell folks all the time. Replace your computer before you have to just like we do in corporate IT. If you wait until you’re behind it will come to bite you in unexpected ways. If you just plan on doing it every three years or so you’ll be happier and likely not spend any more than if you push it out to five.

What many folks don’t realize is that there are many different versions of any given Windows distribution. Enterprise users get a very different distro than home users and there are multiple flavors of each not even counting which build you are on. Macs are better in this respect since there’s no “enterprise” version, Berkeley Unix was probably the first desktop OS to even take networking seriously.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your story and give your mom a hug from all of us.

John

 

[Bone Head]

"Microshaft" I like that; consider it stolen.
I'm running an old Dell W10 at home. Strictly for keeping track of motorcycle tech, you guys and email Wife does facefook, keeps involve with her quilting. I've had hacking attacks, viruses and such.
I figure at 75 I'm about done and upgrading is kind of pointless. Nothing I do requires me to do so I think.
I cannot get Microshaft to understand their updates are nothing but trouble for me. If Bill Gates wanders though here and is reading this I hope you slip in the bathroom and drown in your toilet.
Rant over.

 

[rabler]

While virtual machines (VM) are one possible tool, I would be cautious about using a VM on anything controlling a machine (aka CNC). Latency issues could be problematic. I believe Karl is running a few such machines.