Windows 11 supports up to 18 months of use.
Windows 11 supports up to 18 months of use.
The update came out on October 21, not after 18 months. It seemed better in the subject line. I got Windows 11 shortly after launch and wasn’t very impressed, so I rolled it back. The main issue was the start menu being in the middle of the screen. If I wanted a Mac, I’d have chosen one! Besides a few minor annoyances, it felt like an unnecessary upgrade. After getting a new motherboard, I was asked about Windows 11 at boot—free upgrade, but I’m curious if it’s worth it. How does it compare to it from a year ago? Windows 10 works just fine, so I’d love to know if Windows 11 has really improved or is just another version of the same thing. Thanks ahead!
It seems outdated. The latest release is 11, and I've worked well with version 10 without any problems. I prefer a fresh installation whenever possible.
It seems there were several behind-the-scenes improvements targeting a specific niche issue. We've implemented it across more than 1,000 systems in our workplace. Personally, I don’t like it, but from a neutral standpoint, it works. (EDIT) I dislike it because it’s another low-quality copy of the MacOS interface—poorly executed by Microsoft.
I’ll keep installing W10 on my personal PC while moving most of the company’s equipment over to W11. Apart from usual Windows 11 issues, there were no issues at all.
When I mention rolling back, I mean I didn’t do it in the way you described. I favor straightforward installs. There were some driver problems with different devices—hard to pinpoint exactly—but it was the manufacturer’s failure to update that led to the issue. For instance, the label printer had a problem.
I've had Win11 pro on launch day on both my main systems at home and at work. Various other systems still Win10 as well. Win11 is fine and I don't see a reason to use Win10 anymore, especially on a new system. I've even forced older coworkers to use Win11 and I haven't gotten any major complaints, surprisingly. Its practically the same, outside of some specific nonsense. Its more of a problem for power users than normal users, like what directs to what between the Control Panel and Settings menus as an example.
It took me a short time to adapt to the center start menu. You can easily switch it to the left side, which makes it less of a concern. This isn’t a strong reason to pick W10. My primary home and media PC are W11, another media PC runs W10, and my work PCs are also W11. Most of the time I use actual programs rather than the operating system. I don’t face any problems switching between them daily. Overall, I prefer W11 more. It feels more modern, safer, and better suited for current hardware. However, W10 will receive updates until October 2025, so a lot could change before then. Just stick with what you like until then. Change is unavoidable.
I decided to give it a shot in the end and, aside from a few minor learning points—mostly about locating buttons and links—it's now quite manageable. It feels noticeably smoother compared to a year ago, with hardware remaining unchanged except for the GPU. By the way, my 3D score improved, and I'm actually performing better than average for the first time! I never overclocked since my machines are relatively new, so I haven't pushed the GPU too hard; it's nearing its end of life. It was a bit unusual to be in the above-average range again, as I usually don’t push GPUs to their limits unless absolutely necessary. I didn’t really grasp why someone would want to heavily stress the GPU for extra frames. I’d prefer a longer lifespan from the card, even though some components last longer than others under heavy use. Linus made a video on the topic (linked below) that was quite insightful.