Windows 11 Crisis - Explained Like You Are 5
Discussion
This explains everything that is worng with Windows 11 - which has to be the worst modern OS by a lng shot - unless you are a gamer just use something else (Linus can now run most games).
I have to use Windows on the laptop supplied by my client. Since the OS was "upgraded" to Windows 11 the machine is awful and painfully slow. I swear the old WindowsXP machine in my loft would run faster despite having a fraction of the ram and an old slow HDD instead on an SSD. There is very noticable latence with all tasks, e.g. 5 seconds to open File Explorer, latency changing directories in git bash, latency opening files, 10 seconds or more to open excel etc.
Every couple of weeks I get a "Windows Update" forced on me - which usually presents new bugs and often interferes with HP Wolf Security (another turd).
I have to use Windows on the laptop supplied by my client. Since the OS was "upgraded" to Windows 11 the machine is awful and painfully slow. I swear the old WindowsXP machine in my loft would run faster despite having a fraction of the ram and an old slow HDD instead on an SSD. There is very noticable latence with all tasks, e.g. 5 seconds to open File Explorer, latency changing directories in git bash, latency opening files, 10 seconds or more to open excel etc.
Every couple of weeks I get a "Windows Update" forced on me - which usually presents new bugs and often interferes with HP Wolf Security (another turd).
There's nothing wrong with Windows. I have an ancient Dell 7060 that can open Explorer instantly even though I have Outlook, Excel, Autocad, five Firefox windows, & four Chrome windows all running.
the issue is you. Stop blaming Windows when it's clearly your inability to procure adequate hardware that is the problem.
the issue is you. Stop blaming Windows when it's clearly your inability to procure adequate hardware that is the problem.
Just to address some isues. This is a client supplied machine. Wolf Security is mandated. I cannot adjust many of the settings on the machine so it is defintely not me!
The machine is very locked down which additional checks performed on a lot of thinsg which will slow file access and did on Windows 10. The latency doubled (or possibly tripled) after the upgrade to Windows 11. thi is all down to some "clever" drive mapping that uses a legacy low level windows command to which hs clearly been broken by the Windows 11 upgrade - there is no solution from IT despite it affecting 100s of machines.
I am a developer - compilation has gone from under 5 minutes to over 20 minutes since the windows 11 upgrade.
For non corporate / home users the BIG issue is the use of the TPM module as a way to allow Microsoft/Advertisers/Scammers/Iranians etc to determine a permenent id for your device - this is a privacy nightmare, allowing advertisers to bypass and local cookie settings.
Unlike cookies, which can be rejected, cleared or blocked, hardware-level identifiers are not easily changed. This makes it nigh on impossible for users to manage or reset their digital footprint, as most of thead-tracking companies hide behind faceless URLS so even identifying who has the digit footprint is an onerous task.
The machine is very locked down which additional checks performed on a lot of thinsg which will slow file access and did on Windows 10. The latency doubled (or possibly tripled) after the upgrade to Windows 11. thi is all down to some "clever" drive mapping that uses a legacy low level windows command to which hs clearly been broken by the Windows 11 upgrade - there is no solution from IT despite it affecting 100s of machines.
I am a developer - compilation has gone from under 5 minutes to over 20 minutes since the windows 11 upgrade.
For non corporate / home users the BIG issue is the use of the TPM module as a way to allow Microsoft/Advertisers/Scammers/Iranians etc to determine a permenent id for your device - this is a privacy nightmare, allowing advertisers to bypass and local cookie settings.
Unlike cookies, which can be rejected, cleared or blocked, hardware-level identifiers are not easily changed. This makes it nigh on impossible for users to manage or reset their digital footprint, as most of thead-tracking companies hide behind faceless URLS so even identifying who has the digit footprint is an onerous task.
My problems with it:
- The codebase has gone to s
t (looks like muppets are vibe coding it), and they keep fiddling with stuff that doesn't matter while leaving annoyances that do. Useful features evaporate for unclear reasons.
- Having to fiddle to put stuff like context menus back to the traditional behaviour instead of the 'improved' things someone decided were better. Or the bastardised Start menu. It's all just so awkward when it was OK before it was msssed about.
I can make things a bit better than the consumer versions by running Enterprise or Pro Workstation or Server 2025 instead but mostly it's just annoying.
Not like Linux isn't either though, and that has done horrible 'design' in some parts. I use that all the time with Windows 11.
Depends how your using it though, get it mostly sorted and once you've launched the apps you just don't notice it any more.
Performance - my first experience was that it was very stuttery even on mega hardware, but that seems to have mostly settled down now. Never really did work out why it did it.
- The codebase has gone to s
t (looks like muppets are vibe coding it), and they keep fiddling with stuff that doesn't matter while leaving annoyances that do. Useful features evaporate for unclear reasons.- Having to fiddle to put stuff like context menus back to the traditional behaviour instead of the 'improved' things someone decided were better. Or the bastardised Start menu. It's all just so awkward when it was OK before it was msssed about.
I can make things a bit better than the consumer versions by running Enterprise or Pro Workstation or Server 2025 instead but mostly it's just annoying.
Not like Linux isn't either though, and that has done horrible 'design' in some parts. I use that all the time with Windows 11.
Depends how your using it though, get it mostly sorted and once you've launched the apps you just don't notice it any more.
Performance - my first experience was that it was very stuttery even on mega hardware, but that seems to have mostly settled down now. Never really did work out why it did it.
Rubbish. A vanilla install of Windows 11 is fine. Probably very likely your HP additional software is to blame.
There is no plausible Linux desktop alternative. None. Twenty five years since the twits started claiming "this is the year". And more like 35 since the Unix vendors were punting their (ste) offerings.
And MacOS has it's issues too.
There is no plausible Linux desktop alternative. None. Twenty five years since the twits started claiming "this is the year". And more like 35 since the Unix vendors were punting their (s
te) offerings.And MacOS has it's issues too.
I manage a fleet of Dell laptops in our environment, including some developers who have no issues with build times over Windows 10. The first thing I do when I get a new laptop in is put a fresh install of Windows 11 as Dell are as bad as HP with loading so much bloat on the system. It definitely feels like your issue is deeper than simply blaming it on Windows 11, which is mostly just Windows 10 with a new frock and AI tools (which suck, but that's another matter).
jesusbuiltmycar said:
Just to address some isues. This is a client supplied machine. Wolf Security is mandated. I cannot adjust many of the settings on the machine so it is defintely not me!
The machine is very locked down which additional checks performed on a lot of thinsg which will slow file access and did on Windows 10. The latency doubled (or possibly tripled) after the upgrade to Windows 11. thi is all down to some "clever" drive mapping that uses a legacy low level windows command to which hs clearly been broken by the Windows 11 upgrade - there is no solution from IT despite it affecting 100s of machines.
I am a developer - compilation has gone from under 5 minutes to over 20 minutes since the windows 11 upgrade.
For non corporate / home users the BIG issue is the use of the TPM module as a way to allow Microsoft/Advertisers/Scammers/Iranians etc to determine a permenent id for your device - this is a privacy nightmare, allowing advertisers to bypass and local cookie settings.
Unlike cookies, which can be rejected, cleared or blocked, hardware-level identifiers are not easily changed. This makes it nigh on impossible for users to manage or reset their digital footprint, as most of thead-tracking companies hide behind faceless URLS so even identifying who has the digit footprint is an onerous task.
If you've been a developer anywhere near as long as me you'll know that "clever" actually means "dodgy as fThe machine is very locked down which additional checks performed on a lot of thinsg which will slow file access and did on Windows 10. The latency doubled (or possibly tripled) after the upgrade to Windows 11. thi is all down to some "clever" drive mapping that uses a legacy low level windows command to which hs clearly been broken by the Windows 11 upgrade - there is no solution from IT despite it affecting 100s of machines.
I am a developer - compilation has gone from under 5 minutes to over 20 minutes since the windows 11 upgrade.
For non corporate / home users the BIG issue is the use of the TPM module as a way to allow Microsoft/Advertisers/Scammers/Iranians etc to determine a permenent id for your device - this is a privacy nightmare, allowing advertisers to bypass and local cookie settings.
Unlike cookies, which can be rejected, cleared or blocked, hardware-level identifiers are not easily changed. This makes it nigh on impossible for users to manage or reset their digital footprint, as most of thead-tracking companies hide behind faceless URLS so even identifying who has the digit footprint is an onerous task.
k" (which i suspect you know, hence the quotation marks).Secondly it appears the error is fairly obvious and widespread, meaning your IT guys seem to have rolled out an untested update to 100s of users.
Sounds like you should be directing your ire to your IT team rather than Microsoft.
grumbledoak said:
Rubbish. A vanilla install of Windows 11 is fine. Probably very likely your HP additional software is to blame.
As I have stated - this is a corporate machine that I have no control over w.r.t. Wolf Security etc, so yes the HP is some of the issue, that said the last client supplied a very high end Dell (£4500 cost in 2023) and it also had issues when compared with a 2021 macbook pro.There are still numerous software and hardware bugs that have affected windows since the 90s but haven't been an issue on MacOS / Linux for 25+ years (ghost battery draining is a common gripe).
grumbledoak said:
There is no plausible Linux desktop alternative. None. Twenty five years since the twits started claiming "this is the year". And more like 35 since the Unix vendors were punting their (ste) offerings.
And MacOS has it's issues too.te) offerings.The only reason I can see to use Windows is for gaming - and most gamers are still using Windows10 thanks to issue (one update broke NVidia support).
As for a vanilla install - it does address the privacy concerns - they are still there. Take a vanilla install and run wireshark - you will see that it default connects to loads of faceless tracking companies (probably owned by microsoft).
A vanilla install also does not address the 100% failure rate Microsoft has had this year with installing the monthly update. - Take a look at TheRegister if you don't believe me
Jan 2026 - NVidia GPU frame rate drop to 15FPS, black screen of death
Jan 2026 - Shutdown failure - emergency patch rushed out
Feb 2026 - many users could not install the update, freezes during boot, task bar broken, search bar broken
March 2026 - C: access denied (probably a clever ploy to increase One-Drive subscriptions
Basically its a s
t show - Microsoft stopped caring about home users because profit wise they are a rounding errorAnd Zippyx3 - I do direct ire at the IT department - their policies are not developer friendly ... with any luck i will retire after once this contract completes.
This guy sums a lot of the issues (he wrote the original task manager).
Edited by jesusbuiltmycar on Friday 20th March 12:18
I run Windows 11 Pro across several machines and Virtual Machines and haven't had a single meaningful problem with it since it was released.
I can write a list of complaints about it for sure, they mostly come back to Microsoft trying to decide how every user should do the same things in the same way rather than giving the user choice - Eg the greatest Start Menu was the Windows 8 one that was full screen with App tiles rather than icons/ Why am I forced to look at the bottom left of my screen at a small subset of my apps now, a decade later?
I had a load of complaints about how it manages multiple screens and keeping apps where you want them, but they've mostly fixed that and Power Toys adds some great options for getting that where it needs to be.
Mostly Microsoft need to get into the mindset that the OS is just there to run apps and they need to just give users the flexibility to setup things so they work how the users wants and the OS can just broadly keep out of the way.
I also have a work laptop and it is full of absolute crap because IT haven't followed Microsoft's guidance on how to do x, y and z they've asked a contractor to create a build and they don't really care how it performs, then everything gets piped through the most intrusive Firewall imaginable so that even Microsoft->Microsoft traffic that should never need to leave the MS datacentre is pulled through the Firewall and back. Of course the laptop is a complete piece of junk and working on 'Windows 11' there is horrific, but I don't see what more Microsoft can do to fix all that stupidity.
I can write a list of complaints about it for sure, they mostly come back to Microsoft trying to decide how every user should do the same things in the same way rather than giving the user choice - Eg the greatest Start Menu was the Windows 8 one that was full screen with App tiles rather than icons/ Why am I forced to look at the bottom left of my screen at a small subset of my apps now, a decade later?
I had a load of complaints about how it manages multiple screens and keeping apps where you want them, but they've mostly fixed that and Power Toys adds some great options for getting that where it needs to be.
Mostly Microsoft need to get into the mindset that the OS is just there to run apps and they need to just give users the flexibility to setup things so they work how the users wants and the OS can just broadly keep out of the way.
I also have a work laptop and it is full of absolute crap because IT haven't followed Microsoft's guidance on how to do x, y and z they've asked a contractor to create a build and they don't really care how it performs, then everything gets piped through the most intrusive Firewall imaginable so that even Microsoft->Microsoft traffic that should never need to leave the MS datacentre is pulled through the Firewall and back. Of course the laptop is a complete piece of junk and working on 'Windows 11' there is horrific, but I don't see what more Microsoft can do to fix all that stupidity.
Windows 11 was okay-ish on a few machines, but also pretty st on occasion, and clearly sub-optimal in most cases compared to what came before.
All now installed with Windows 10 IOT LTSC which has been absolutely bulletproof since day one.
No forced updates or crapware, far quicker than anything else including Linux, and fully supported until 2032.
It even flies on a Macbook 12 Core M3 from 2017 when MacOS updates became too sluggish for it years ago.
Idk why anyone puts up with this W11 nonsense when there are plenty of alternatives, outside the enforced corporate world at least.
t on occasion, and clearly sub-optimal in most cases compared to what came before.All now installed with Windows 10 IOT LTSC which has been absolutely bulletproof since day one.
No forced updates or crapware, far quicker than anything else including Linux, and fully supported until 2032.
It even flies on a Macbook 12 Core M3 from 2017 when MacOS updates became too sluggish for it years ago.
Idk why anyone puts up with this W11 nonsense when there are plenty of alternatives, outside the enforced corporate world at least.
Any issues I've had with slow performance or instability on Windows 11 across my user base have all been down to pre-installed software, and, in the case of several of my CAD guys, because Dell put all the fan vents underneath the laptops, so unless on a riser, the laptops overheat and start displaying weird symptoms, and crashes.
Clean installations without vendor pre-installed bloatware, and ensuring that laptops (especially the CAD beasties) are used on a riser to ensure good airflow, and it runs solid as a rock with no issues.
Clean installations without vendor pre-installed bloatware, and ensuring that laptops (especially the CAD beasties) are used on a riser to ensure good airflow, and it runs solid as a rock with no issues.
paulrockliffe said:
I can write a list of complaints about it for sure, they mostly come back to Microsoft trying to decide how every user should do the same things in the same way rather than giving the user choice - Eg the greatest Start Menu was the Windows 8 one that was full screen with App tiles rather than icons. Why am I forced to look at the bottom left of my screen at a small subset of my apps now, a decade later?
Have you looked at Start11 from Stardock?https://www.stardock.com/products/start11/
snuffy said:
There is nothing wrong with Windows 11 at all.
There's plenty wrong with it, especially with certain releases. It's regularly seriously borked for swathes of users in areas that have no reason to be so, sometimes to the point of being unrecoverable.Obviously you're happy with it but that doesn't make it perfect.
11 has been a total dud IMO. I've had to fix machines at work, my company has done consultancy to fix it for other companies (a large biotech firm for example, whose own IT dept were unable to fix it themselves), and my own personal machines at home have had problems with it. All different issues.
It's been a Vista level stshow.
I've switched my home machines to Fedora and Ubuntu, and been very happy with that. Only my kid's gaming PC remains on 11 because some of the games need kernel level anti-cheat.
It's a shame because I like that they've added virtual desktops and window snapping, but the bugs outweigh the benefits. What's more, they keep breaking new stuff in the updates, and you can't turn off the updates any more.
It's been a Vista level s
tshow.I've switched my home machines to Fedora and Ubuntu, and been very happy with that. Only my kid's gaming PC remains on 11 because some of the games need kernel level anti-cheat.
It's a shame because I like that they've added virtual desktops and window snapping, but the bugs outweigh the benefits. What's more, they keep breaking new stuff in the updates, and you can't turn off the updates any more.
Edited by budgie smuggler on Friday 20th March 16:15
JoshSm said:
snuffy said:
There is nothing wrong with Windows 11 at all.
There's plenty wrong with it, especially with certain releases. It's regularly seriously borked for swathes of users in areas that have no reason to be so, sometimes to the point of being unrecoverable.Obviously you're happy with it but that doesn't make it perfect.
Work laptop is Enterprise locked down version of Windows 11, seems OK, but with everything on OneDrive I'm not too worried if it bricked it self. If I was running a personal computer/laptop with important data on it and no cloud backup, I would be more than a little bit annoyed to encounter the 'Black screen with cursor' issue, especially if the only fix was to reinstall the whole OS.
Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 21st March 06:10
Bit surprised reading the thread tbh.
We look after thousands of Win 11 machines and I don't honestly recognise the scenario many of you are painting.
Is it perfect? Oh hell no.
But should a clean build on decent hardware without tons of third party add-ons do all the things described? Not in my experience.
Perhaps we've been very lucky but I do wonder how some people have been so unlucky
We look after thousands of Win 11 machines and I don't honestly recognise the scenario many of you are painting.
Is it perfect? Oh hell no.
But should a clean build on decent hardware without tons of third party add-ons do all the things described? Not in my experience.
Perhaps we've been very lucky but I do wonder how some people have been so unlucky
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