I'm a bit late to this party, but Windows 11 was recently foisted on me, so here we go again.
Having used it for a few weeks, I'm beginning to suspect that Microsoft are approaching operating system releases in the same way that Star Trek films were made.
I don't think that there's been much innovation in operating systems for a while now - at least from a user perspective. Maybe there's a future when we crack the Minority Report style UI, but right now there's nothing new coming anytime soon to dramatically distinguish a new operating system from the old. We've figured out how to do window management.
I think Microsoft realised this a long time ago and to make sure people keep buying their products they're doing the Star Trek movie pattern - make every odd numbered version a bit worse than its predecessor - so they can sell the next one on the basis that it 'fixes' the problems.
I've been using Windows 11 for a few months and honestly apart from cosmetic changes it's hard to say what's new. There are, however, some differences.
The Start menu
Take the Start Menu, for example. In Windows 10 it contained a variety of features but the main one was the ability to layout a custom grid of icons for your favourite applications. I used to group my icons by type - games, editors, graphics, etc. It didn't matter if I couldn't remember the name of an application - I could find it on the grid based on the type of application I was trying to find.
That feature has been removed entirely in Windows 11. Instead you can let Windows group your applications for you automatically in a series of uneditable folders (hard pass) or you can add your favourites to a simple list, which can only be reordered and not repositioned. If you add a new icon at the beginning everything else moves along one, changing the layout.
It's possible that we're supposed to just search for everything now, but my brain doesn't work that way.
Hidden features
There are some useful features that are weirdly unavailable until you track down the right option to enable them. Like Windows remembering the file explorer windows you had open after you reboot, or the hibernate button on the Start Menu.
Both features were available in Windows 10, so there's nothing new here, but it would be nice if they were already on by default. Also can it remember the order of those file explorer windows? No - reboot and they reappear, but in a different order. Personally, I find that annoying.
Hidden layers
What's more annoying though is the continued duality of configuring Windows, as we still have to deal with two different ways of doing so. Windows 8 (?) introduced Settings, an apparent replacement for Control Panel, but several versions later and Control Panel is still here, lurking in the background if you dig deep enough.
Personally I don't think Settings is any better (and often confusing to use) but mainly I find it frustrating that there are two places for doing things - each with different user interfaces.
The Context menu
Speaking of things lurking beneath the surface, there are now layers to the Context menu when you right click a file. The new Context menu is basically the old, with a slightly larger font size, polished look and fewer options. Near the bottom you'll find 'show more options', which opens the old Context menu, replete with a different set of options - some duplicate, some new. It's really irritating if something you do regularly is in the second menu, and you have to click twice to get to it - and yes, this is happening to me a lot.
The new Context menu has another problem. Some of the most used features - cut, copy, rename, delete - have now been promoted to named icons laid out horizontally at the top. That's nice, but if the Context menu is triggered near the bottom of the screen so that it appears above where you clicked rather than below, these buttons are shown at the bottom, not the top. Confused? Yes, I am.
I find the way that this bit of user interface can change in an unexpected manner totally confusing. Maybe there's a setting somewhere to make those buttons always appear in the same place, but I haven't found it yet.
Things I like
All this relentless criticism might be getting a bit wearing, so let's look at the positive.
So far the updates have been minimal and not disruptive. I've been asked each time when I want to update, and always given the option to defer. This is definitely an improvement.
File Explorer windows can now have tabs. I don't think that was previously available, and it's a good way of being able to group related windows together without cluttering up the taskbar. I have experienced some bugs with these windows unfortunately. Once after a reboot I tried to change the directory of one tab and it changed both tabs in the same window. Another time one specific window was unresponsive and wouldn't let me change directories via the address bar.
For all its faults Windows has felt fairly stable for a few versions now, so to encounter these kind of problems is discomforting.
Personal frustrations
My experience of Windows 11 was clouded from the start when I couldn't achieve the simple task of setting up a headset with a built in microphone. I'd like to think I'm a pretty experienced computer user but for some reason this simple task eluded me. I spent days changing settings, trying different things - even buying new headsets - all to no avail.
Eventually it just suddenly started working and I still don't know why. Throughout I felt that the option I wanted just didn't exist - there were many audio settings to choose from, but all I really wanted was a way to choose my headset for both output and input.
Other things
The Start Menu is always open when I log in (and there appears to be no option to change this). Given that its usefulness has reduced, this is a bit annoying.
The Print screen button no longer takes a screenshot, but triggers some user unfriendly app that tries to manage screenshots for me - but fails spectacularly (this one I've at least managed to disable). And there's no option to swap the left/right speaker outputs, even though that seems like a really small fix.
That's probably enough
The new Windows is fine, I guess. There's no really obvious improvements, but it still requires more powerful hardware than the last version. I don't feel particularly productive using it, and I don't like some of the changes, but at this point I'm basically resigned to trying to make the best of the situation. It feels like a job where you're not really happy but you can't afford to leave.
Maybe in the future there'll be some of the options I really want - like being able to customise the Context menu. But until then I'll be here, wading my way through the myriad of options, wishing for a simpler life. It's another version of Windows. It's not much worse than the last one, it's not much better. It's just a bit different.
It looks like a major version of Windows happens every 2-6 years. I think I'll just configure this site to output the two paragraphs above to fit that pattern, and save myself the effort of reviewing the next one.