Windows 10 was a very fined tuned Operating System on its own and functioned very well to meet the demands of the user. Windows 11 is more of a mixed bag. When Windows 11 does something right it nails it, when Windows 11 does something wrong it falls hard. But, for me Windows 11 is still the more modern OS and is going to do everything better once it is tweaked. The key word there is tweaked.

There are two programs I can absolutely not live without as a Windows 11 user

1. Start 11 (fixes the start menu giving several new options, later releases are promising taskbar fixes as well)

2. explorer patcher https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher (This gives you the option to do a few cool things, it can replace the Windows 11 task bar with the Windows 10 taskbar. It can also replace windows 11 file explorer layout with window 10's) Best of all it is 100 percent compatible with stardock software. Even when Start 11 releases a new taskbar of there own, you can still turn back on Windows 11 task bar and keep the file explorer in windows 10 style if that is still driving you crazy.

3. Turn off security features if you want faster. The main one I would recommend is at least turning off VBS. You could end up with a 25 percent boost on that one alone.

I appreciate the advice. I'm not going to install Windows 11 again until most likely sometime next Summer. 

EDIT   Tried this, didn't work.

I know this isn't the best, but you can do it manually here.

Easy enough to bypass the login screen altogether, if you're the only user.

No-brainer for me - I'm not going to buy a new machine just to run it, as long as Win10 is still getting patched.

Fair enough,

The good part about Windows 11 is that it is actually better at release then Windows vista or Windows 8 was when they were released. The bad part is, that it still doesn't stack up to what Windows xp, Windows 7, or Windows 10 were when they were released. Every other release they seem to come up with this great new idea that doesn't really work the way they intended until it is fixed with the next release. Windows Vista had great new security features that bogged down the machine to almost unusable and wasn't fixed until Windows 7. Windows 8 had a great idea to incorporate both touch screen and mouse and keyboard but it transformed into this weird two different operating systems into one Frankenstein looking one. That was fixed in Windows 10. Windows 11 has a great modern look and further refines touch and mouse and keyboard pc's into one design, but it results in a stupid start menu and taskbar that isn't really that useful. So, I wouldn't expect those issues fixe by Microsoft until Windows 12. But..... I do think Start 11 may evolve nicely in that time and give better usability as it fully develops.

RedneckDude this is what I am talking about. Thumbnails inside the folders, giving a hint of what's inside. Windows 11 doesn't do this. 

Slightly out, there.

Win10 was not good at release.

Vista was effectively 7 but without drivers.

7 was Vista but with drivers so you could actually use it.

8 was a dead-in-the-water attempt to force everyone to a touch screen interface that was intended for the Windows Phone...also dead-in-the-water.

8.1 was a panic attack trying to back-step a bit because the Windows Phone had failed.

10 was 'so good' it was going to be the last.  It clearly wasn't so good...because we have an '11'.

11 is a bit like the same role as 8.1...

One thing that can be banked on....12 will also divide people over whether it's worse yet again...or worth putting up with because it's NEW.

All my computers are currently on 10, except one.

...and that's the one I use...

Jafo - You do make some good points. Particularly with Windows 10. I think at the time it was nice to get away from windows 8 and into something new for me. Surprisingly, I myself was pretty quick to leave Windows 10 behind for Windows 11 so I must have been craving something new.

Honestly, there is only one OS from Microsoft I skipped altogether and otherwise have always been an early adapter. The only OS I ever skipped was Vista. Windows XP probably brought the biggest upsides out of any upgrade I ever had at the time it was released, clearly Windows 10 didn't bring the same level of magic.

Edit. My first OS was Windows 95, So I suppose you could say I skipped everything before that

Yes, Ignoring CBM64 ...first-used OS [that wasn't Fortran] was Dos 2.

But you are right...skipping Vista was 'a thing' ...particularly for me...when I couldn't find a modem driver...so I could get online...and update the....wait for it....modem driver.

Every OS has been 'new and exciting'....the only difference is how quickly things faded into ennui...

Oh boy, I had that problem wiped from my brain. And back then that was a big problem. Usually we had one pc, no smart phones yet and 2 options.

1. Wait a few days until you could get to another pc and hope they have "open" internet access or

2, and my personal fate, take out your old OS CD's and completely reinstall the old OS. Of course there was also several driver CD's that also needed installed separately to get the PC running. Next step search for driver's and hope and pray you find the correct one and save it. And then reinstall the new OS. Now if you have the correct driver you now have internet access. But if for some reason it is the wrong driver then repeat this whole process...

Yes, I plan to stay with Windows 10 until its' EOL (end of life) date, which is October 2025.  All of the issues you describe are good examples of why I won't use 11.  There is simply no compelling reason to switch that makes it worth losing WindowBlinds, etc. 

I'm in no hurry to switch to Win 11 but I am interested in it and will give it another try in a few months.  As all of my desktop PCs were offline to to desk modifications, I did try Win 11 on my HP 2-in-1 laptop/tablet, but it ran so slowly and at times was totally unresponsive. 

Obviously it needs a better, more powerful machine,. but I'm in no frame of mind at this time to be setting up a new OS and installing all my programs.

I don't have to worry about 11 as my machine doesn't meet requirements. Still performs quite well so no worries here.

kona0197

reply 7

RedneckDude this is what I am talking about. Thumbnails inside the folders, giving a hint of what's inside. Windows 11 doesn't do this. 

Microsoft will not fix this on build 22000. Thumbnails in folders will be back on 23H1 (yes 2023) or later.

PhoenixRising1

Are you saying your file explorer fix can make Windowblinds 10 work in Windows 11 as that would be a bit of a coup, not even the developers of WB 10 have come up with a usable WB beta that can do that.

Right now i have uninstalled Start 11 as there is no working WB for Win 11, now using something similar myself as  UltraUXThemePatcher has added support for Windows 11 and a lot of the themes now have an add on (Old New Explorer) allowing those of us who need to use Win 11(need to offer Win 11 support for my job) lots of themes almost as good as Windowblinds 10, so much so the only thing i miss from WB10 is the system colour changer tool.

naroon1

I didn't even think to try that. But you talked me into it. I downloaded a free trial of windows blinds and attached is a screenshot of what I ended up with and the settings I used with explorerpatcher

Note, I have not actually used windows blinds before this trial so you be the judge. And yes this is windows 11 I am using

Hi PhoenixRising1.

I should have been more clear. The main problem using WB10 in Windows 11 is all about Explorer and how different the ribbon at the top is between the two.

Windowblinds 10 can be installed on a Windows 11 system as a lot of us have tested it out, but explorer almost each time it is opened crashes . I and stardock and a few others would be interested in seeing how far you can take this, if you have the time can you test out more skins and see how stable explorer remains.

Stardock maybe not be able to work this out even though other theme makers have created add ons , yourself with explorerpatcher and myself using Old/New Explorer and can make things work, i am sure someone will jump in and say this or that.

The skin you are using is a basic one from your image, any chance you can test this on other more Robust skins, something much darker or something far removed from what looks like a simple Skin, maybe one that makes the desktop look very different from the one posted.

This is intriguing and i am very interested in your results, so please do not see my reply as any kind of criticism as it is not, you seem to be moving with the times, Windows 11 is here to stay so what you and others are doing is just keeping up with what's new, if it is ok i will pm you.