Win 11 pro's? con's? opinions?

[B00nie]

The start menu can be moved to the left side with a single setting already built-in to windows. No need to install 3rd party addons.

View attachment 421523



Google REALLY doesn't want people to use Microsoft programs to access Google services. They gleefully make changes that break compatibility with certain 3rd party programs, knowing that people are more likely to blame Microsoft than Google, and that it may even convince them to access their google services directly instead. Thunderbird is obviously something that they don't view as a threat.

Microsoft does the same to open formats, breaking compatibility intentionally.

 

[B00nie]

There are literally apps that let you install Windows updates whenever you want. You're not locked into Microsoft's update box. There are always ways around things on Windows. I don't know what less control you are referring to, but I still have as much control as I ever did on Windows.

When you start to hack windows like that you risk breaking things. You can't even disable certain services because they're intentionally built so that non-related things break if you try to disable them.

 

[Shoganai]

When you start to hack windows like that you risk breaking things. You can't even disable certain services because they're intentionally built so that non-related things break if you try to disable them.

It's not a hack. There are literally Microsoft certified apps that let you do this.

 

[B00nie]

It's not a hack. There are literally Microsoft certified apps that let you do this.

It's a hack when it's not a built in feature that the general consumer can use as a normal part of the OS. Like windowblinds. Easy to install etc. but 99,9% of Windows users don't even know about it and things can break when you use it.

 

[Shoganai]

It's a hack when it's not a built in feature that the general consumer can use as a normal part of the OS. Like windowblinds. Easy to install etc. but 99,9% of Windows users don't even know about it and things can break when you use it.

Literally nothing has broken in years of using it. I'm not sure what your goal is here at this point. They're literally a partner of Microsoft: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

Please just stop.

 

[B00nie]

Literally nothing has broken in years of using it. I'm not sure what your goal is here at this point. They're literally a partner of Microsoft: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

Please just stop.

Nothing has broken for you perhaps. For others things may be very much different. And we're not discussing about the app that's been developed only because Windows is fundamentally bad in this aspect.

 

[Mazzspeed]

Start8 under Windows 8.1 most certainly caused random glitches for me, it's actually the reason I ended up going back to Windows 7.

 

[elvn]

I haven't used windows file explorer since early xp days, and my setup has evolved away from using the taskbar(s) too.

So windows 11's interface changes aren't interesting to me. In fact if anything they make me cautious in that it might require upgrades for some apps. Things like game performance optimizations, HDR game performace, and autoHDR would be worthwhile upgrades though so at some point I will upgrade (even though it's been rumored that autoHDR might be added to windows10 ).

Pasting some replies I've posted before that are relevant to the mod/add-on and 3rd party app discussion:

=======================================================================

I use a stream deck's plugins combined with displayfusion functions to open and set all of my app's "home" locations across three screens. Cobbling together a few existing functions in the displayfusion library, I can hit a single app icon key several time to:
..check to see if the app is open, if not open, launch it.
..check to see if the app is minimized: if not, minimize it. if yes, restore it to its home position
That way I can hit the button once to launch an app or hit it a few times to shuffle the app min/restored to its home position.
I also have a bunch of streamdeck buttons that will move whatever windows is the active window to a bunch of pre-set locations:

I also have a button set to an overall saved window position profile so that once all of my apps are launched or after anytime I move any from their home positions - I can hit one button and they'll all shuffle back to where I saved them in the window position profile. (I can also save more than one position profile).
I keep the main taskbar dragged off of my primary screens to the top of one of my side portrait mode screens. I use translucent taskbar to make it transparent and I set up taskbarhider app to show/hide the taskbar as a toggle via hotkey/stream deck button. That locks the taskbar away or shows it via hotkey/button rather than relying on mouse-over.
I can still hit WIN+S and type two letters and hit enter for anything I have yet to map to a page on my streamdeck's buttons. I can use Win+TAB to page between tiles of all apps/windows (displayfusion can set that to limit to what are open on the active screen optionally as well) .. but I can usually just do that with each app's button as I outlined above so rarely need to do that. The start menu button is always available too obviously but again I have little need with Win+S.

I also use directory opus file manager and have been since around 2006 I think, xp days. Windows file explorer pales by comparision. Opus is highly customizable and has a million things it can do. I use it in dual pane with no directory tree on the side (I can just keep "PC" as a favorite to see the root directory). It has tabbed browsing so I keep a number of directory tabs on the bottom of each pane (like two pages of an open book with tabs on the bottom of each page). It also has a favorites drop down so you can favorite all of your most used folders and open them in a new tab easily from the favorites menu. You can also right click any sub folder and open in new tab, or duplicate tab, drag tabs between the two panes, etc. That's the tip of the iceberg with opus it's really amazing.
So for me personally, there is little reason to have any taskbar visible other than the system tray once in awhile to access menus of a tray item. If I could find an app to break out the system tray into a window I could summon via hotkey I'd be free of the taskbar for all practical purposes.
I hope that in the long run windows doesn't go full console kiosk and break the functionality I enjoy. I'd prob have to run windows dual boot just for games at that point.

---------------------------------------

You can also do this with some of the available plug ins for a stream deck without having to use displayfusion:
https://altarofgaming.com/stream-deck-guide-faq/

Navigate to "More Actions…" and install the following plugins to your Stream Deck: Advanced Launcher & Windows Mover & Resizer.
Advanced Launcher, will not only let you pick the application you want to run, but you can also choose to Run as Administrator, Limit the number of running instances, Kill the existing instances – as well as the best one of all – set your unique arguments on the launcher!
>Windows Mover & Resizer on the other hand, takes productivity to a WHOLE new level! The macro will apply to either your currently selected window, or a specific application you define, and it will let you choose the exact monitor, position & size you want the window to take on the click of your button! ?? This. Is. Sick!
>And what's the last piece of this glorious puzzle? Stream Deck Multi Actions! Simply combine Advanced Launcher & Windows Mover into a Multi Action, where you first launch the application with the exact settings you need, then it gets automatically positioned in the exact coordinates and size you need!
>Bringing us to the last huge step! Creating a HUGE multi action that will instantly launch a "Workspace" for you! Launch your game, audio output & input settings, stream starting soon scene, face camera, lights and whatever else you can dream of, in the press of a button! Oh yes, Stream Deck can get THAT good! ??

------------------------------------------

I second the suggestion to use rainmeter widgets including the clock on multi monitor setups.
I also recommend considering buying a small midi controller board like akaii midimix (one of the cheapest) or similar ones like
The korg nanokontrol2, korg microkontrol, and the behringer XTOUCHMINI are some of the smallest if space is a concern but if you have a big desk I'd use something like the midimix or a better alternative called the Novation Launch Control XL MkII.
I replaced my akaii midimix with the Novation Launch conrol XL because it's a little better quality but they both work well.
I formerly used the old app called "Powermixer" to map all of my app volumes to midi knobs and sliders. It still works, but now Jack Williams made a much more modern app called "MIDI Mixer" which does the same thing but also adds a lot more features and functionality.

MIDI Mixer - Controlling Windows volumes with MIDI controllers

https://www.midi-mixer.com/

---

I set up a bunch of physical sliders on my midi controller board for my most used apps with audio, and some knobs for things like windows interface audio and whatever games I'm playing at the time.
I use a drok audio knob for my master volume and it also acts as a giant mute/unmute toggle button when you push the knob.
What I hate is that the windows master volume makes an overlay layer pop up with an app graphic and a volume graphic. This completely drops you out of fullscreen exclusive games and fullscreen exclusive hdr games in windows which is a clunky screen blinking series of events like changing resolution.
Using my midi control board I can adjust any app volumes I've assigned individually while in my game. Even outside of gaming it's very handy to adjust levels compared to each other. I can also set some of the pad buttons available on the novation launch kontrol XL as mute/unmute or play/pause (or just zero the sliders/knobs).

---

To label the sliders and faders
I use thin colored tapes I bought off of amazon here:
6 Pack 6mm 1/4 Inch Width Graphic Art Tape Adhesive Artist Tape, Whiteboards Chart PET Thin Tape, 216 Feet Long per Roll (Multicolor - 1/4 Inch)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H3R1ZL4
along with this pack of fine tip pain pens (white, black):
PANDAFLY White Paint Pens, 8 Pack 0.7mm Acrylic Permanent Marker 6 White With 2 Black Paint Pens for Wood Rock Plastic Leather Glass Stone Metal Canvas Ceramic, Extra Fine Point Opaque Ink
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T3TRPM1

---

Worth the small investment in my opinion. I also highly recommend a stream deck to break away from the whole windows kiosk interface even more. It'll change you life.

 

[Shoganai]

Nothing has broken for you perhaps. For others things may be very much different. And we're not discussing about the app that's been developed only because Windows is fundamentally bad in this aspect.

Nothing you’re saying is going to make people stop using Windows, which seems to be your goal.

 

[elvn]

Nothing has broken for you perhaps. For others things may be very much different. And we're not discussing about the app that's been developed only because Windows is fundamentally bad in this aspect.

I know you aren't talking about the apps I outlined above but I've been using Directory Opus and Displayfusion (and even WinAeroTweaker that I forgot to mention above) through several windows iterations for many, many years (xp days) and in the last several years a stream deck which has its own app and plugins... with no problems. Really, no persistent problems at all that I can remember more than any other app. I don't upgrade my windows edition immediately though. Like other apps and games they usually iron out wrinkles and run more optimally after they've been out for at least a short time. Any app can and many do get patched or a newer version of the app is released to work better with a newer version of windows (or with newer hardware), not just quality of life apps for windows interfacing.

To me, windows is fundamentally bad in some interfacing respects or is not great - at least compared to using it with the apps and hardware I outlined above. Windows has added some simple features that give at least some of the features I've been using since XP though over time (e.g. a few upgrades to windows file explorer, the multi-window collection sets that work a lot like the split window groupings on modern android tablets, actually remembering a windows position profile and not shuffling your windows around (even if you can't save and hotkey it), etc.).

Still comparatively only a few quality of life things and much watered down. Worse, they've pushed kiosk/console like interfaces in places and some popups by default, as well as promoting the use of windows store kioskware that you can't operate on directly/call on as exes using other apps. You can't move or delete anything from your windows store folder without breaking your windows functionality either. You don't own that folder on your hard drive as far as that is concerned which I'm not a fan of. Another thing that annoys me is that they do a popup overlay for the windows master volume which drops your fullscreen exclusive / full-screen exclusive HDR game out in a clunky screen flashing and minimizing series of events like changing your resolution. I haven't found a way to reliably disable that overlay but now I use a small usb midi controller with sliders and knobs now to control every app's volume separately from the master/system volume so I can avoid that issue. Some of the system options require you to drill down more than you should have to now or even consider resorting to registry editing which is annoying. Winaero tweaker helps with a bunch of things including window border sizes, etc. without having to resort to registry editing manually. The windows search function has improved a lot over the years though. It is pretty handy and doesn't require any taskbar to summon (Win+S).

I think it would be nice if windows broke it's interface up more fully into root themes. For example a default theme with more jumbo kiosk interfaces, taskbar, simple windows explorer view (jumbo buttons, hidden features), etc. and a few increasingly more streamlined, minimal, opposite of toys'r us duplo blocks/console-kiosk themes with settings more suitable for a workstation and more advanced users.

 

[Lunas]

Freedom to install whatever you want ... which is definitely not a freedom that Linux provides. This is a Windows Pro and Con thread and yet another person chimes in with Linux. I will never install Linux ... it'll be even more restricting than macOS is. I'm glad you love Linux. It will never be an option for some people.

When was the last time you used linux it is alot better than it used to be but if you are not very well versed in some things there are issues that can happen and some things you need to manually do.

As for what has been said. Yes windows even pro does not let you choose to not install some updates this has been something they added in 10 and it has been reported for causing all sorts of issues. But good news we have those half baked patches that cause boot loops and nuke your install and brick your pc to protect us from the exploits.

When i updated to win 10 it uninstalled several programs without telling me because it was not compatible i reinstalled after low and behold it worked fine...

Personally speaking i had to fight windows 10 for the right to keep my drivers updated with the ones i wanted it to be using. I was using intel's latest from their site microsoft insisted the one from windows update was more up to date and i needed to use that one. Despite the build number of the drivers being 12.27 vs 12.32 windows insisted on using the 12.27 build. On the windows test forums they were complaining about how to prevent this behavior. Nothing worked i ended up having to edit the registry...

And after everything i have seen to date about windows 11 i am in no rush to jump on the beta testing wagon again.

I have used every version since 3.1 including me and vista and 8 windows 11 looks to be doing a repeat of 8

 

[Domingo]

Windows 11 does have a Windows 8 vibe about it. Lots of little tweaks that are only for the sake of change. Aesthetic changes that don't seem bad on the surface, but weren't fully thought out. Disconnects between UI elements that "will be unified eventually" but we're still dealing with almost 10 years later. Selling points about ease of use that don't seem to be backed up by anything. Missing features. The list goes on. Hell, even the system UI is based on Microsoft still trying to be relevant in the mobile device space (Windows 10X). Based on how things are progressing, it even looks like they might have most of their ducks in a row for a Windows 11.1 next fall that fixes most of the major issues with the OS.

 

[elvn]

Haven't tried these features as I haven't installed windows 11 yet:

https://winaero.com/winaero-tweaker-1-30-is-here-allows-you-to-move-windows-11-taskbar-and-more/amp/

Personally, in windows 10, I move my taskbar to the top of my right portrait mode monitor and lock it away using taskbarhider app's show/hide toggle via hotkey. Other than the system tray on occasion I don't need to use the taskbar anymore. I can manage my app's being the focus, min/restore to home position or to a number of generic window positions using stream deck buttons/functions. I can also use win+tab to show all of the open apps and then select them, making the whole screen a taskbar momentarily more or less. Displayfusion also has extended alt+tab functionality:

Alt+Tab Handler​

DisplayFusion's Alt+Tab Handler has additional modes over and above what Windows offers. You can have the Alt+Tab window shown on all monitors, the current monitor, or just the Primary monitor. It can show all open windows across all monitors, or just the windows on the current monitor. You can also choose whether you'd like the window titles shown below the entires in Alt+Tab, and whether you'd like the 'Desktop' entry shown or not.

https://www.displayfusion.com/Features/AltTab/

It also allows you to define the size of the alt+tab thumbnails shown:

--------------

Win 11 preview had issues with Alt+TAB but they've supposedly been fixed. Like I said I prefer waiting some time for fixed issues in both the OS and in apps, games, hardware/drivers.

July build's fixes/remaining issues

https://blogs.windows.com/windows-i...ng-windows-11-insider-preview-build-22000-71/

Fixes​

• Taskbar:
  • We fixed an issue where if you drag app icons on the Taskbar to rearrange them, it was making the apps launch or minimize when you released the icon.
  • Using a long press with touch on an app icon in the Taskbar to open the jump list should now work.
  • After right-clicking the Start icon in the Taskbar, clicking somewhere else should now dismiss the menu more reliably.
  • Shift + Right-click on an app icon in the Taskbar will now bring up the window menu like it used to and not the jump list.
  • We’ve addressed an issue that was making your mouse move slowly when hovering over the Taskbar previews.
  • We’ve included the fix for an issue when using multiple Desktops where an app icon in the taskbar might give the appearance of multiple windows being open when that wasn’t the case on that Desktop.
  • When using the Amharic IME you should no longer see an unexpected X next to the IME icon in the taskbar.
  • The issue where if you click on the input indicator on the Taskbar and it would unexpectedly highlighted Quick Settings has been fixed.
  • When you hover over Task View, the preview flyout for your Desktops will no longer pop back up after using Esc to dismiss them.
  • We made a fix to address an issue where explorer.exe might crash after hovering over the Task View icon in the Taskbar.
  • We fixed an issue where the selected date in the calendar flyout was out of sync with the date in the Taskbar.
  • We made an update to address a scenario resulting in some Insiders not seeing the lunar calendar text in the calendar flyout when enabled in Settings.
  • This flight addressed an issue that could unexpectedly make the Taskbar background transparent.
  • Right-clicking the focus assist icon in the taskbar should now show a context menu.
  • The issue from the previous flight where icons in the taskbar corner were getting crushed against the top of the Taskbar has been addressed.
  • The tooltip for the location in use icon in the Taskbar should no longer appear blank sometimes.
• Settings:
  • We fixed an issue making Settings crash on launch periodically.
  • Using the volume mixer sliders in Sound Settings should be more responsive now, as well as the page responsiveness as a whole.
  • We fixed an issue resulting in Disk and Volumes Settings’ change size option being clipped.
  • There was a non-functional verify link under Backup Settings – this has been fixed.
  • The Power and Battery Settings page should no longer be reporting that battery saver is engaged in it’s not.
  • The Power and Battery Settings page should also now not crash when launched from Quick Settings.
  • We fixed a grammatical error in the Sign-in Settings text.
  • The “I forgot my PIN” link was unexpectedly missing in Sign-in Settings when a PIN was set up and has now been returned.
  • The issue where the Move option under Apps & Features in Settings wasn’t working reliably should be addressed in this build.
  • We’ve mitigated a problem where some of the colors in Settings weren’t updating after switching between dark and light mode, leaving unreadable text.
  • We’ve done some work to help improve the performance of Settings when switching between light and dark mode.
  • We addressed an issue where some of the elements of the Themes page in Settings would end up crowded together when the window size was small.
  • We resolved an issue where the Pen menu toggle under Taskbar Settings was not in sync with the actual state of the feature.
  • Changes made to “Dismiss notification after this amount of time” in Accessibility Settings should now persist.
  • Some of the icons you could enable in Taskbar Settings were erroneously labeled Windows Explorer even though that’s not what they were – this should now be fixed.
  • The Connect text in Quick Settings has been updated to say Cast.
• File Explorer:
  • Clicking the command bar button twice should now close any dropdown that appeared.
  • The new command bar should now appear when “Open folders in a separate process” is enabled under File Explorer Options > View.
  • This build addresses an issue where right clicking a file and selecting Open With > Choose another app might launch the file in the default app rather than opening the Open With dialog.
  • Fixed an issue the desktop and File Explorer context menu would stop launching.
• Search:
  • We fixed an issue where the option to verify your account in Search wasn’t working.
  • Hovering over the Search icon on a secondary monitor will now show the flyout on the correct monitor.
  • Search should now work if you open Start and start typing after having gone to the apps list and back.
• Widgets:
  • When using the Outlook client with a Microsoft account, Calendar, and To Do updates should sync faster down to the widgets.
  • We addressed an issue where if you added multiple widgets quickly from the widgets settings, it could result in some of the widgets not being visible on the board.
  • We fixed a bug where widgets could all become stuck in a loading state (blank squares in the window).
  • The traffic widget should now follow the Windows mode (light or dark).
  • The title of the sports widget should no longer mismatch with the content of the widget.
• Other:
  • This build addresses an issue where ALT + Tab was getting stuck open sometimes after you released the keys and had to be manually dismissed.
  • We made a fix for an issue where Narrator focus wasn’t ending up on the emoji panel after using the keyboard shortcut to open it.
  • Magnifier’s lens view has been updated so the lens now has rounded corners.
  • We found an issue that was noticeably impacting Start launch reliability for some Insiders, and have addressed it with this flight.
  • We’ve updated the “Most Used” text in the Start menu’s app list so it should no longer be getting clipped.
  • Using the semantic zoom in Start’s app list should no longer result in the list being pushed down and to the right off the edge of the window.
  • We fixed an issue where if you pressed WIN + Z you would need to press Tab before you could use the arrow key to navigate through the snap layouts.
  • We addressed an issue where an acrylic area could get left on the screen after repeatedly snapping and unsnapping a window with touch.
  • We’ve done some work to mitigate an unexpected flash when moving a snapped window with touch.
  • We made a change to help window borders have a little more contrast when “Show accent color on title bars and windows borders” was turned off.

Known issues​

• [REMINDER] When upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 10 or when installing an update to Windows 11, some features may be deprecated or removed. See details here.
• Start:
  • In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the Taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.
  • Based on feedback, we are working on adding access keys to WIN + X so that you can do things like “WIN + X M” to launch Device Manager. Insiders may see this functionality in this build, however we are currently investigating an issue in which sometimes the option is unexpectedly unavailable.
• Taskbar:
  • There is an issue in this build where Explorer.exe will crash when the date and time button on the Taskbar is clicked to access new notifications with Focus Assist turned off. The workaround for this is to enable Focus assist to priority or alarms mode. Note that when focus assist is turned on, notification popups won’t appear, but they will be in the notification center when opened.
  • The Taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
  • Taskbar previews may draw partially offscreen.
• Settings:
  • When launching the Settings app, a brief green flash may appear.
  • When using Quick Settings to modify Accessibility settings, the settings UI may not save the selected state.
  • The button to rename your PC doesn’t work in this build. If needed, this can be done using sysdm.cpl.
  • Settings will crash when clicking “Facial recognition (Windows Hello)” under Sign-in Settings if Windows Hello is already set up.
  • Reset this PC and Go back buttons in Settings > System > Recovery do not function. Reset and roll back can be accessed from the Windows Recovery Environment by selecting System > Recovery > Advanced startup, and pressing Restart now. Once in Windows Recovery, choose Troubleshoot.
    • Choose Reset this PC to perform a reset.
    • Choose Advanced options > Uninstall Updates > Uninstall latest feature update to perform a rollback.
• File Explorer:
  • Explorer.exe crashes in a loop for Insiders using the Turkish display language when battery charge is at 100%.
  • When right clicking the desktop or File Explorer, the resulting context menu and submenus may appear partially off screen.
  • Clicking a desktop icon or context menu entry may result in the wrong item being selected.
• Search:
  • After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.
  • When you hover your mouse over the Search icon on the Taskbar, recent searches may not be displayed. To work around the issue, restart your PC.
  • Search panel might appear as black and not display any content below the search box.
• Widgets:
  • Widgets board may appear empty. To work around the issue, you can sign out and then sign back in again.
  • Launching links from the widgets board may not invoke apps to the foreground.
  • Widgets may be displayed in the wrong size on external monitors. If you encounter this, you can launch the widgets via touch or WIN + W shortcut on your actual PC display first and then launch on your secondary monitors.
• Store:
  • The install button might not be functional yet in some limited scenarios.
  • Rating and reviews are not available for some apps.
• Windows Security:
  • Device Security is unexpectedly saying “Standard hardware security not supported” for Insiders with supported hardware.
  • “Automatic sample submission” is unexpectedly turned off when you restart your PC.
• Localization:
  • There is an issue where some Insiders may be missing some translations from their user experience for a small subset of languages running the latest Insider Preview builds. To confirm if you have been impacted, please visit this Answers forum post and follow the steps for remediation.

Current Build december 2021's fixes

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the active development branch may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11 that became generally available on October 5th.

https://blogs.windows.com/windows-i...ncing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-22518/

Fixes​

[Taskbar]

• Fixed an explorer.exe crash related to having websites pinned to the Taskbar.

[Search]

• Did some work to help address an issue where an invisible window frame for the recent searches flyout could end up stuck on the screen, consuming input in that area.
• When you’re hovering over items in the recent searches flyout, truncated text in the flyout (for example, when using the accessibility setting to make text larger) will now have a tooltip so you can see the full text.
• Improved visibility of the text in the recent searches flyout if a contrast mode was enabled.
• The recent searches flyout now has an accessible name when a screen reader sets focus to it, instead of just saying button.
• Fixed an issue which was causing the search icon in the recent searches icon to become a garbage character for people using the Chinese display language.
• Fixed a high hitting Search crash.
• Did some work to help reduce the likelihood of keystrokes getting dropped if you start your search by pressing the Windows key and start typing.
• If you use Search to run commands, the “Run as administrator” and “Open file location” options should be visible again for you to select on the side of the search window. In addition, CTRL + Shift + Enter should work again now for commands.

[File Explorer]

• Mitigated an issue that could lead to not being able to add network drives as a source in Media Player.
• Fixed an issue that could lead to seeing an unexpected blank icon after compressing a file, instead of the one corresponding to your default app for handling that file type.
• Right clicking on a folder and then quickly closing and reopening the File Explorer window should no longer lead to an explorer.exe crash when the “run as a separate process” option is enabled.
• Removed some unexpected characters in the dialog when moving user account folders to another location.
• If you right click on files like .htm in File Explorer, the icon next to Microsoft Edge Canary, Beta or Dev should now display correctly (if installed) under Open With, instead of showing a generic icon.
• Addressed an issue that could lead to icons for app entries (like Windows Terminal) in the context menu going missing / being invisible sometimes.
• Improved the consistency of the background color of the command bar and menu dropdowns when a contrast mode was enabled.
• Made some more little improvements to help with File Explorer folder navigation performance.

[Input]

• If you’ve pressed WIN + Period and have navigated to the emoji or gifs section with a search term, when you go back to the main page, we will now clear out the search query so you can start fresh.
• The IME candidate window should now appear more reliably when typing into Search immediately after booting your PC.
• Fixed an issue where u-mode/v-mode/name-mode wasn’t not showing candidates when typing with the Simplified Chinese IME.
• Fixed an issue where the Japanese IME was unexpectedly displaying candidates in horizontal mode instead of vertical mode.
• Fixed an issue where the IME toolbar might randomly show on the lock screen.
• Addressed an issue where the keyboard focus wouldn’t always be in the right place after pressing WIN + Period, depending on where you’d left focus the last time the window was used.
• When personalizing your family emoji in the emoji panel, the UI should no longer unexpectedly dismiss when you click the white space.
• Clicking on your personalized family emoji in the most recently used list in the emoji panel should no longer unexpectedly invoke the customization UI.
• If you try to start voice typing (WIN + H) without setting focus to a text box first, the popup suggesting you move focus should work again now.

[Windowing]

• Fixed issue where snap group thumbnails weren’t updating in real time in Task View after you moved a group window to a different Desktop.

[Settings]

• Fixed an issue that was causing Settings to crash when going to open options for added languages for some Insiders.
• Fixed a few issues on the Text Input page under Personalization, including:
  • The preview image for your current set up should be showing now.
  • Added a few keywords to help search for this page.
  • Improved read out of the page for screen reader users.
• Searching for the word widgets should return to the corresponding Settings page with that toggle now.

[Other]

• Mitigated an issue believed to be causing Insiders with certain devices to be experiencing bug checks with the error SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION in recent flights.
• Fixed an issue where users updating from Builds 22000.xxx, or earlier, to newer Dev Channel builds using the latest Dev Channel ISO would receive the following warning message: The build you are trying to install is Flight Signed. To continue installing, enable flight signing.
• Removed some excess padding on the left of the boot logo, which was causing it to look off-center compared to the progress wheel.
• Addressed an issue where UAC was unexpectedly showing “Unknown program” when trying to elevate certain programs, despite them having proper names.
• Fixed an issue leading to Narrator unexpectedly saying “No item in view” sometimes when tabbing to win32 text boxes.
• Fixed a crash that was leading to login issues in OOBE (if you were to reset your PC), and well as issues resetting your PIN from the lock screen in the last 2 flights.
• Fixed an issue leading to acrylic unexpectedly not working in certain places in the preview flight.
• Mitigated an issue leading to some people unexpectedly seeing “Something went wrong” when trying to click the “stop recording” button when recording a message in Voice Recorder.

NOTE: Some fixes noted here in Insider Preview builds from the active development branch may make their way into the servicing updates for the released version of Windows 11 that became generally available on October 5th.

Known issues​

[General]

• We’re investigating reports from Insiders that DWM is crashing (causing the screen to flash repeatedly) when trying to use certain apps.
• [ADDED 12/9] You may be unable to sign-in to certain apps such as Feedback Hub. Restarting your PC should correct the issue.

[Start]

• In some cases, you might be unable to enter text when using Search from Start or the taskbar. If you experience the issue, press WIN + R on the keyboard to launch the Run dialog box, then close it.

[Taskbar]

• The taskbar will sometimes flicker when switching input methods.
• The network icon sometimes goes missing in the taskbar when it’s supposed to be there. If you encounter this, please try using Task Manager to restart explorer.exe.
• If you have multiple monitors connected to your PC and right-click on the date and time on the taskbar on your primary monitor, it will crash explorer.exe

[Search]

• After clicking the Search icon on the Taskbar, the Search panel may not open. If this occurs, restart the “Windows Explorer” process, and open the search panel again.

[Settings]

• When viewing the list of available Wi-Fi networks, the signal strength indicators do not reflect the correct signal strength.

[Widgets]

• Changing the taskbar alignment can cause the Widgets button to disappear from taskbar.
• Widgets board may not have the correct resolution when hovering the entry point on a secondary monitor.
• The Widgets board may be temporarily blank.
• Links may not open properly when opening the widgets board using hover.
• When having multiple monitors, Widgets content on taskbar may get out of sync between monitors.

[Voice access]

• Voice access is not yet fully compatible with screen readers like Narrator, and you may experience gaps or unexpected behavior running these together.
• Some text authoring commands, e.g., “select that” or “delete that”, may not work as expected across Windows applications.
• You cannot use the command “press Windows L” to lock your PC via voice.
• Recognition of some punctuation marks and symbols such as @ sign is not accurate.

 

[Shoganai]

When was the last time you used linux it is alot better than it used to be but if you are not very well versed in some things there are issues that can happen and some things you need to manually do.

As for what has been said. Yes windows even pro does not let you choose to not install some updates this has been something they added in 10 and it has been reported for causing all sorts of issues. But good news we have those half baked patches that cause boot loops and nuke your install and brick your pc to protect us from the exploits.

When i updated to win 10 it uninstalled several programs without telling me because it was not compatible i reinstalled after low and behold it worked fine...

Personally speaking i had to fight windows 10 for the right to keep my drivers updated with the ones i wanted it to be using. I was using intel's latest from their site microsoft insisted the one from windows update was more up to date and i needed to use that one. Despite the build number of the drivers being 12.27 vs 12.32 windows insisted on using the 12.27 build. On the windows test forums they were complaining about how to prevent this behavior. Nothing worked i ended up having to edit the registry...

And after everything i have seen to date about windows 11 i am in no rush to jump on the beta testing wagon again.

I have used every version since 3.1 including me and vista and 8 windows 11 looks to be doing a repeat of 8

I don't hate Linux. If it had all the software that I need on it and if it played all the same games, I would switch in a heartbeat. But it doesn't. And it may never. And that is the only reason I can't switch.

As for boot loops and other funs things, back ups are crucial, regardless of what platform you are on. I use AOMEI Backupper with OneKey recovery. Last time I had something borked I pressed a few buttons and was back to normal. I've had this happen in Linux, macOS, and Windows. I'm not saying Windows doesn't have problems. It most definitely certainly absolutely does. But the excuses people are making as to why it's bad are just patently false. There are many logical and legitimate reasons to bash Windows (like the horrendous, drive-wiping Windows updates). Stating we aren't free to install what we want on Windows isn't one of them.

 

[Domingo]

I bet most of us have better solutions at this point, but Microsoft has updated their "Groove" app to be an all new Windows Media Player.
Configuration/sorting options are extremely sparse and you need an HEVC codec to play some files...but it's a step in the right direction. It seems to combine Groove and their Movies & TV apps into one.
At the very least it gives casual users a better default option for playing video files.
https://www.windowscentral.com/goodbye-groove-music-new-media-player-rolling-out-windows-11