trerro: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/desktop/worldwide

So 1/7 users won't get patches against exploits that can affect other versions, too. Sounds like a sound decision.

These are...bad stats to use, because they mainly concern browser traffic only and miss much for many reasons, from plugins like Ublock that block that info, and it largely misses/ignores Enterprise, and enterprise is and has been on 10/11 for years now. Additionally, there are no demographics here, and I would bet that the large majority of 7 machines are overseas - particularly Asia. Windows 7 was one of the last 'easily crackable' versions of Windows that exists, and that's why it persists.

You'll note that there aren't major stories of huge worms ripping through things anymore, mostly because Windows security sub-system is excellent today and is just always there. That and things like patch deployment are 100% easier than they were. My Windows Defender updates 3-4 times a day for latest threats and 0-days. I personally know of CS teams that saw dramatic drops in call traffic for viruses. I worked on a CS team as a backup "tier III" tech when I was doing dev, and I can personally vouch that our call / email volume declined 75-90% in a year after we switched our clients to it.

Windows 7 exploits will not share much in common with Windows 11 ones as the underlying software changed a lot between 8.1 and 10 and slightly between 10 and 11. Thus the vectors for attack were sealed either in version upgrades or security upgrades that continue to be applied. Additionally, things like Internet Explorer literally do not exist on Windows 11 machines anymore (maybe 10 too?). So really, 7 computers are threats to 7 computers.

benelane: Meh, I was on 7 for a very long time, but 10 has been pretty good for me, especially after reverting some stuff back to 7ish. Can't turn off that prompt for installing 11 though. I'll probably be on 10 for awhile to come.

I never thought 10 or 11 were bad, just different. I like that 11 is more widescreen-centric, I also like how fast and light it is as well - even though it's a massive piece of software.

Fooshards: This is my first time trying to mainline an "odd" release, and 11 has been... ok. I hate how deeply the "mobile"-isms are in this desktop operating system.  And the security out of the box is a little aggressive for my taste, but I can see the net good for your average joe.

Thank god they scaled it back from what 8/8.1 was though. The tile system was garbage.

There are a TON of display/feature things that you can do that I really really like:
- Centered task bar a la Mac
- Got music/media playing? Click your sound icon and get controls. Works for pretty much everything
- New screen shot tool Win+Shift+S (not clipping tool!)
- Easy video editing tools in "photos"
- "Aero Shake" grab a window and shake it (you have to turn this on in Settings -> System -> Multitasking) and all other windows minimize.
- Wholly better multi-desktop controls. Give that little two window icon a click
- "Auto HDR" which tries to add HDR to games that don't have it


Oh and Windows 11 supports DTS:X and Dolby Atmos. Nice. DX12 support as well and 7 will never have that.

flood222: Tech is at the point where older is better.  Unless you're in a position of power.

There are about a hundred reasons why this is wrong.

Chromium_One: There's tons of guides out there on how to twiddle settings to allow Win11 install on unsupported hardware.

Additionally, and I know this is going to sound weird, but in my experience Windows 10 runs on far more hardware than 7 did, the generic driver library is...impressive to say the least. Just as an example, I had a Windows 7 laptop, tried to update it to 8 and ran into all sorts of driver issues, went back to 7. Updated to 10 years later and everything worked, even the weird laptop only buttons. It also supports a lot of old hardware that maybe you couldn't find drivers for for years, try it out.

Fooshards: You reminded me of how truly awesome the Win11 sound mixer app is.   As someone whose PC is connected to 2 monitors, computer speakers, an amplified bass system,a TV, and occasionally bluetooth headphones, the sound mixer app does a stellar job putting audio to all the right devices you want it to.

Yeah it's quite good, the volume mixer for the individual apps is much easier to use than prior as well.

rewind2846: Won't be doing windows 11. Not because it isn't a decent OS, but I don't like apple's interface and with the software I run I need as much room on my 3 screens as possible to run 3D Studio Max and other software. The best way to do that is to move the taskbar to the left side of the screen and set it up according to MY workflow.
If I wanted a Mac I would buy one.

You can auto-hide it. There is also a registry key that you can change to force it to the left, though I'm not sure what behavior will be lift.