Thanks for the tip. My only experience with UI changes to Windows has been pretty poor as it caused strange issues, so I try to leave it stock (other than PowerToys), but needs-must and all!
I'm also a bit surprised that they're moving on from Windows 10 given that they seemed to suggest it would be rolling releases from 10 on out, which would make sense considering how slowly things change these days (granted that was never going to last forever). If they let me have a more classic taskbar experience and don't rule out my 4th-gen i7, that'd be great.
As a side note, I tried to install an update on a Macbook Air the other day to Big Sur through the app store, and it failed... now it won't boot and reinstalling through the system restore keeps failing. Why do I ever apply updates
You're welcome.
Yep, any change to the UI (can and often does) lead to stability issues.
I'm not the least surprised they moved on from Win10, I was shocked they even floated the idea without it being software as a service first. Regardless, they may not have had plans to move on but a few things happened. The first was the failed dual screen laptop project, it's what lead to the UI of Win 11, they spent a lot on it and someone probably realized they could recoup that money with a new OS. While they could have rolled it into Win10, that's a pretty dramatic UI shift, so it kind of makes sense to release it fresh. The other part is obviously money, offering it as a new OS means more money, for them and for OEMs.
While those things sound good, from their perspective at least, it also lets them correct what I consider a major, major mistake and that is offering Win10 in 32bit.
Win 10 should NEVER have been released as 32bit, 64bit CPU support had been common for over 10 years and by offering 32bit, especially perpetually, it meant supporting two systems and all that comes with it, perpetually. Even worse, Win10 and 11 REALLY do need 8gb minimum ram which 32bit can't even support (it could but it doesn't). Yes, I know the spec says 1.5gb (win10) and 4gb (modern Win10 and 11) and while they can physically run on those numbers it;s painful, especially if you open a browser. Even 8gigs is a stretch, heck even 16 is rough at times and while 32gb is not the answer (it doesn't help as much as people think). Allowing 4gb or less is just stupid.
I don't agree with the TPM requirement, especially considering how last minute all of Win11 was but I do agree they needed to let go of some stuff. In a traditional release they would have let manufacturers know more than a year or more in advance to prep for that major of a change and they didn't. They were told to start implementing or that they should start to implement it, but not that it would be required, remember, "Win10 is the last Windows" so why should they make a change that requires testing and money to make that change. You heard about Win11 and the requirements the same day most vendors did, which is insane. When people ask why I say Win11 was rushed, this is why. It's not that the OS itself was rushed, it's Win10 underneath, it was the idea to bring it to market and with these requirements that was rushed.
Regarding your Mac
I firmly believe Apple put all Mac development into ARM and left everything Intel to fall by the wayside for years. Intel Mac software probably peaked around El Cap or Sierra (at least in my use case) and it's been downhill ever since. I don't expect it to get any better on ARM considering where Apple is headed, I see the Ipad Pro as the blueprint for future Macs.