I wish Microsoft was brave enough not to release Windows 11
Adhering to just a major update to the Windows 10 feature would be a good move for Microsoft and us PC users.
Windows 10 is the latest version of Windows
"Windows 10 is the latest version of Windows," said Jerry Nixon of Microsoft shortly before the launch of the new operating system. It was a bold statement and now, in the face of the staggering Windows 11 launch, I can't help but wish Microsoft had followed that promise instead of acknowledging the strong attraction of the bullpen.
It is a quote that was widely distributed at the time, it continued to be shared regularly during the development of this year's Sun Valley Windows 10 update and also passed the announcement and subsequent launch of Windows 11. However, Windows Product Officer, Panos Panay, seems absurd. so.
Asked why Microsoft changed its mind, Panoy told The Independent: "I was actually asked that question earlier this morning and I didn't know."
"Windows has always been intended to be something new to customers," he said in a statement, "as usual, it is not intended to be static."
But that is exactly what Nixon was talking about in his 'latest Windows' quote. Yes, a bold statement, one that proved to be inaccurate when given the release of Windows 11, but it reflected the prevailing view of Windows as a service.
Microsoft was brave enough not to release Windows 11
It has been suggested that version numbers should mean nothing to the user if given the promise of a regular bi-annual update that will keep this Windows version at the forefront of development.
So, just give me Windows. I like Windows. I don’t need a slightly growing number behind it. An active OS that just can't keep up with the times, as promised.
Give me one simple update in the spring, and a chunkier, rich update that follows in the fall each year — that’s what we were expecting to come to our desktops in October this year. Code called Sun Valley, we would get a new look for Windows 10 through a great feature update that would bring new functionality, born Xbox Series X, and a new look for an aging OS.
That would prove the promise of Windows-as-a-service as, due to the growing modular design of Windows 10, it will bring all the best pieces of the new operating system without any introduction and/or new installation. The OS includes.
That’s good for Microsoft
That’s good for Microsoft, good for users, but you know it’s not so good? People who want to sell punters to new systems based on something shiny new. I’m not saying the only reason we ended up turning Sun Valley’s update into a ‘new’ OS was that laptop manufacturers were looking for a way to market new equipment this year, but I bet there was a discussion or two about it.
I mean, it's not like you can easily change a new laptop if you market it around the feature update to a five-year-old OS. 'Here's a new HP Envy with Windows 10 Update 21H2' doesn't just have a ring like 'New HP Envy with Windows 11,' after all.
Sometimes Microsoft's management will be looking at what the project is earning with the original Sun Valley Windows 10 review redesign and think, 'Hey, that doesn't look like Windows 10.' Look at the moment of the bulb, the dollar signals appearing in their eyes, the whole cartoon fat-cat schtick.
'Why don't we sell this as new Windows ...'
And lo and behold, the concept of Windows 11 is born. Okay, so maybe there were more features to it than that, like being able to pull out the promised support for a lot of older PCs, but you get the general idea I’m going to do.
But if Microsoft were brave enough not to allow the enticements of a major launch event, the sale of new products, and tons of publishing about the new OS to be called, it would keep it - and by expanding with us — much trouble. And incorrect column inches, too.
Just look at the dirt that has been done on Windows 11 so far. The first announcement set the stage for new security requirements as a minimum requirement to upgrade to a new OS. Confusion prevailed as various messages appeared to come from Microsoft almost daily about its sudden love for TPM 2.0.
There seems to be a lot of unsupported hardware that should have worked very well with updating Windows 10 which was now closed Windows 11.
Unless they are actually locked out. Despite threats that Microsoft would be jealous of the collection of chip updates in its listing, the first Windows 11 Post-launch update was happily installed on systems with processors without a small needs grid. It is reported that even single-core Pentium 4 chips.
The confusion is not limited to this, as Microsoft has now published its guidelines on how to bypass the checks required for Windows 11 installed on your machine. All without double duplicating them, and saying that with those system indicators, it will be able to provide an OS that can deliver a 99.8% probable experience.
There is also the sad fact that although Windows 11 has been released it is still lacking in some of the most exciting things we were promised in the beginning. Are you sure we get AutoHDR — well for any HDR playback on PC — but where the hell is DirectStorage? That is an API aimed at making SSDs essential to PC playback, but it is still lost in developer limbo without indicating when we will see the game take advantage of it.
There are also simple, basic Windows puzzle pieces removed from the latest OS for no good reason, such as being able to move the taskbar and missing shortcuts. All except that there are still a lot of settings screens that seem to go back to Windows 2000.
