Windows 11

[Parsifal]

I don't intend to ever retire.  My philosophy is:  "If you stop then you STOP."  haha!!  (There's a reason why the Rockefellers work until they drop.  OK, Nelson Rockefeller died while having sex with a woman who was not his wife.  A good way to go I suppose.)

The only reason why I'm "semi-retired"  is because I was forced into retirement.  The kinds of analysis that I did for companies for many years through my consulting practice now all gets sent to India (at a fraction of the cost).  I could retool and come up to speed with applications like A.I., but companies are hiring younger people for that (and I agree with that).  The reason why I call it "semi-retired" is because I remain professionally active through a large professional association and mentor young people graduating from college who want to enter the fields of analytics, data science and operations research.  And I still use the math/stat software, but not for revenue-generating projects.  (I doubt that the company will send me new disks for Apple if they even exist)

Meanwhile I keep the brain active by registering as a non-degree student for advanced mathematics courses at the local university (my BA and MS degrees are in mathematics).  Yeah, I'm the only grandpa in a class full of 20-y/o's.   It works well.  I make friends with the students and the professors.  (I think I'm the professors' favorite student. )  Just this past Sunday I met up with one of my past uni-classmates.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[jumbler]

I’m wondering when I’m likely to be encountering Windows 11 at work.

2023, maybe?? That’s actually quite optimistic.

(Yes, Government spending on tech really is that bad. We only got access to Windows 10 late 2019. )

[Jwb52z]

So, how can you be sure that your laptop/desktop will be compatible to upgrade from 10 to 11? My laptop isn't quite a year old yet.

[MintyRox]

Download and run the Windows PC Health Check here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11

[Hugh]

Parsifal, I've probably got the wrong end of the stick, in thinking what you Windows you are using. Office 2019, a one off payment and that's what you just get. And 365 getting updates.

You math/stat software and other software that have installation disks, or what you have downloaded. I would look for any icons or words that indicate that the software cam be used for Apple. If you got Apple, you probably need to create an Apple account, that is if you don't have one already.


I feel that Windows 11 is a bit on the planned obsolescence side of things. With that constant updates thing once you bought 1 laptop or PC, why do you really need to upgrade the hardware if there's no software upgrade. Like with mobile phones.
Why not bring the Windows 11 stuff to Windows 10?

[Parsifal]

It's a good idea to upgrade your OS when the new version comes out. Eventually MS will stop support on the current version which also means no more security patches. Understand that we are forever running Beta versions of the OS debugging it for MS.

[Hugh]

Windows 10 Home and Pro support is ending on 14/10/2025

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecyc...me-and-pro

[Parsifal]

My current desktop won't last that long. (I'm currently booting the machine with a boot disk because the boot sector on the hard drive is corrupted) I also have a Windows 10 SSD laptop which is newer. No idea how long it will last, but I'm happy with it.

[Hugh]

If your desktop is on it's last legs, your hard drive is corrupted, maybe get a new one. Even a second hand one would be decent. You don't want to wait to until the desktop dies.

I'm going to be getting a new laptop, just need to save a bit of money. My laptop is old, but working okay.
Did that Windows 11 check thing, to see if my laptop can be upgraded from 10 to 11.
At least I've got a few years before I sorta need to upgrade.

[Parsifal]

No worries here about the desktop suddenly dying.  Every time I create a new file on the machine I back it up on an external hard drive.  I won't lose anything.

[Tiuri]

Well, My PC apparently doesn't support secure boot so it won't get Windows 11

[Bangle1]

I’m wondering when I’m likely to be encountering Windows 11 at work.

2023, maybe?? That’s actually quite optimistic.

(Yes, Government spending on tech really is that bad. We only got access to Windows 10 late 2019. )

I had a surgery cancelled a few years back, citing computer imaging failure. When I went back to get it done the next week, they were still using XP. Given I was having neurosurgery I was a little hesitant to put my trust in him, then I passed out.

Who says the NHS is underfunded!

[Hugh]

Well, My PC apparently doesn't support secure boot so it won't get Windows 11

I got that reason too.
The next few months of saving to buy a brand new out of the box, 1st hand owner

[jumbler]

Well, My PC apparently doesn't support secure boot so it won't get Windows 11

My issue is the processor won’t support TPM be fast enough (3.1 GHz vs 4 GHz required).

Plenty of RAM and HDD storage. Apparently processing capacity isn’t that big an issue. It should not need any more to run Windows 11 than 10.

But after 25 years, it really is time to go Apple.

[jumbler]

Just a quick follow-up. It seems most PCs are being failed on the processor not having TPM installed. Version 2.0 is recommended, but a minimum of 1.2 is acceptable.

Unfortunately this is very high-end stuff (i.e. very geeky) to fix. There are many points of failure, so it’s not always as simple as buying a new card and installing it yourself.

Bottom line, if your PC is 5 years old or less, it should work. Windows 10 has mandated TPM on new machines since then. It is actually being done for the right reasons - to prevent malware and ransomware attacks.

The security feature is embedded in the hardware, so cannot normally be overridden. Just bad news for the environment, when millions of PCs become outdated overnight.

[Parsifal]

How does one check if the processor has TPM installed?

[Kev]

With or without Windows 11, you need to buy a new desktop.

[jumbler]

That really is the short, and the long answer.

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There are two aspects to this issue. One is whether the processor is advanced enough to support TPM (which if it’s more than 5 years old is unlikely), and whether TPM is switched on in the BIOS.

You may also have a processor that has support for TPM, but is switched off because the BIOS is out of date. Again, if it’s an older processor an update won’t be available.

Thee are lists here and here that explain which processors are supported.

Apparently gaming PCs are more likely to be acceptable.

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So, you would need to identify your PC model and serial number (manufacturer’s website would help), download the hardware support tools they have, and any BIOS updates available, and take it from there.

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Microsoft are promising to update the upgrade checker app to make it more “user-friendly”. It’s not really explaining issues as clearly as I have at the moment.

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I have finally worked out that my processor isn’t supported, so that would be the end of the road. You may just decide you need to upgrade anyway, as we’ve already covered.

[jumbler]

My current desktop won't last that long.  (I'm currently booting the machine with a boot disk because the boot sector on the hard drive is corrupted)  I also have a Windows 10 SSD laptop which is newer.  No idea how long it will last, but I'm happy with it.

This is basically the issue that the new security requirements are trying to avoid. Allowing more ways of entry and access to the Windows environment breeds risk, and therefore security issues.

Obviously in your own home you’d think you’d be OK. But there’s always a possibility you may have picked up some malware via wi-fi/a shared machine somewhere you visit, and so on.

[Jwb52z]

I wish there were a way to use that "PC Health Checker" without actually installing it. What happened to being able to programs being able to run through a browser without installing something on to your machine?