Windows 11 has been out for about 9 months now. In this post, I am going to discuss the things I absolutely hate about Windows 11, and why I would advise switching to Linux instead of using Windows 11.

 

Windows 11s Hardware Requirements are INSANE

Windows 11 has really insane hardware requirements. It’s already bad enough that they’re dropping all CPUs released before 2018, but they’re making it worse with some of the other requirements like TPM 2.0. As if that weren’t enough, laptop manufacturers are now required to provide high definition webcams that can never be turned off if they want to receive the Windows 11 badge. Excuse me, but why do you want this? This doesn’t make any practical sense. Windows Hello functions just fine with other authentication methods, and I don’t even see why one should use Windows Hello in the first place. Windows 11s hardware requirements are going to cause a massive surplus in perfectly usable ewaste, and ultimately be WORSE for the environment than allowing older hardware to run the latest OS.

And don’t get started with “well you can just bypass the restrictions” because that’s laughable. Windows 11 performs like absolute and utter crap on a system that uses an unsupported CPU. I know from personal experience.

 

Windows 11 DOESN’T ALLOW A LOCAL ACCOUNT ON HOME EDITION

On Windows 11 Home Edition, you MUST use a Microsoft account to be able to sign into your PC at ALL. There is NO (easy) way to create a local account on Windows 11 Home Edition. (There are ways to do so, but they’re way too complex for the average user, plus Microsoft will likely patch these exploits in the future.) This is a very serious cause for alarm. As a repair technician, you could be repairing a persons PC and need to install a new hard drive and then reinstall the OS. If you cannot create a local account, you are unable to finish the setup process. Now you could say that you could just have the user finish the setup process, which could work, but usually if I’m working on someone’s PC, I’d rather just install a local account for them and tell them that if they want to upgrade to a Microsoft account, that is their choice.

 

Windows 11 doesn’t support 32-bit

Now, don’t get me wrong. In the modern era, 32-bit hardware really should be deprecated. We have the Year 2038 problem to prove why 32-bit hardware is a bad idea. But regardless of that, dropping 32-bit support is ALSO a bad idea from an environmental standpoint. This leaves a lot of machines that are perfectly capable of running Windows 11 in the dust, and seen as ewaste in the eyes of the average consumer. This goes back to the insane hardware requirements creating more problems for the environment rather than helping it. There is no reason that a modern 32-bit bay trail like system isn’t capable of running Windows 11.

 

Spyware is rampant on Windows 11

Windows 11s spyware is 10s but on steroids. Microsoft requires you to have all of these insane hardware requirements and then some, because they have Windows 11 phoning home to tell them what their users are doing. There has been proof that Windows 10 takes screenshots of your PC at random times and sends them back to Microsoft. Windows 11 likely does this too, and probably more frequently. What would happen if Microsoft were to be hacked and have a massive data leak? You say that may never happen? Are you sure? Try telling that to the NHS in 2017 when Wannacry got all their data and destroyed it. Microsoft HAS been hacked before as well. If Microsoft gets hacked and all the user data from Windows 10 and Windows 11 gets leaked, that will have HUGE impacts. Especially if the screenshots of what you have been doing on your screen get leaked. Are you ready for that? Are you ready for the shame and heartache it would bring your grandma if those screenshots got leaked to your Facebook account by some script kiddies from 4chan? Because script kiddies from 4chan have hacked Microsoft before, and you bet your ass they will do it again.

 

Conclusion

Now is a great time to get invested in Linux if you have not yet done so. Linux gaming has come a long long way thanks to Valve’s and Wine’s efforts. The Steam Deck is a shining example of Linux gaming for the future. The future of the PC depends heavily on what the users want. Do we want locked down devices running locked down OSes that we rent? Or do we want devices that we can use well past what corporations deem to be “useful”, devices that we the people own and can do what we want with, and will therefore be more helpful for the environment than Big Tech Corpos will ever do? Break free of big tech, use your 12 year old laptop if it still works. Use your devices until they are no longer usable for your needs, or until they fail, whichever comes first. We have the power. Use it or lose it.

 

Ewaste is real btw. “Recycled” PCs only ever are sent to rot in a Chinese landfill anyways.