If you are in a business environment, I’ll cut right to the chase – no… well, not yet, anyway. Windows 11 promises to be faster and more secure, which may be true in the long run, but not right away as the core of the operating system isn’t significantly changed.
The good:
Windows 11 provides a fresh Mac-like (yes I said that) new look with the taskbar shortcuts centered along the bottom of the screen… much like the dock on a Mac. Although most users will not have trouble using this, I’m not really sure what benefit there was to changing this feature. Were people complaining about the taskbar in Windows 10? Are they going after the Mac users that make up less than 5% of the total business market? Whatever the reason, it will take a bit of time to adjust, but isn’t really a deal-breaker. Expect some of your ‘not-tech-savvy’ users to be a bit annoyed…
The Windows update does incorporate some productivity benefits like the ability to arrange open Windows apps by hovering over the ‘maximize’ icon instead of manually moving and resizing windows to match the layout you want. This is particularly helpful when comparing spreadsheets or reports. Arranging 2 or more apps on the screen is very efficient. Another feature, though available for some time on Macs (and not really a high use feature), creates separate ‘Desktops’ to isolate groupings. You can have CRM and email on one desktop, and personal email and Spotify on another. This separation of work groupings is supposed to ‘unclutter’ your mind and allow you to focus on the ‘desktop’ in front of you (I wonder how they’ll clean up the 10 sticky notes I have on my monitors… but I digress). It is a useful feature for those that use it.
The focus on Widgets is an improvement in Windows 11, as well, and is accessible from the taskbar. No more minimizing applications so you can see the weather widget. Just click the Widget shortcut on the taskbar. You will, however, have to sign in with your Microsoft account to see them… The new Operating system will also support Android apps (yea?), but won’t be available for some time. I’ve seen this discussed quite a bit and heralded as a great new feature. I can honestly say, I’ve never needed to run an Android app on my Windows PC.. but now I can if I want to! Just like iPhone users can seamlessly integrate their phone apps/experience into their MacBooks, Android users will be able to utilize apps that will create a similar experience.
And, Microsoft is thinking of your mental well-being by offering different sounds in ‘dark mode’ that aim to keep you calmer. The new sounds are ‘softer’ according to Microsoft in sharp contrast to the literal ‘sharp’ sounds of Windows 10.
Windows 11 also will have a more intuitive table mode, for those that use tablets for work. Microsoft Surface users will benefit from this change! Apps developers can now focus even more on designing applications that will be streamlined on tablets.
Overall, like most new versions of Windows, the new look of Windows 11 is very nice. The colors, icons,
and sounds are an improvement to Windows 10. And, the most important take of all, is that Windows
11 is familiar…enough.
The ‘not as good’:
If the rollout of this version of Windows is anything like the previous ones, we can be sure of one thing: Bugs, bugs, and more bugs… As with all new Microsoft products, Windows 11 is sure to ship with plenty of new issues. You can confidently expect to encounter strange things. One early version that shipped would cover the entire screen, including the taskbar, when Microsoft Edge was maximized. Another had issues with accessing links on a web page. Placing a bet on ‘Right-click menu fails’ will most likely pay off handsomely as well as bets for Printer and Video driver issues.
For business owners, the biggest ‘not as good’ aspect is that LOTS of programs are not going to be compatible. For example, one program that is being removed is Internet Explorer. Although Microsoft had previously deemed IE as a ‘compatibility tool’ and not an Internet Browser, many programs still use IE under the hood. Quickbooks is a prime example and it may cause older versions to just flat out fail on Windows 11.
Early versions and testing of Windows 11 on AMD Ryzen processors have shown performance issues, as well as issues with VirtualBox and Killer Networking. This won’t affect everyone, but will certainly cause downtime for others.
With that being said, Windows 10 was a massive leap in compatibility compared to previous rollouts, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Microsoft learned its lesson during previous version rollouts and will minimize incompatibilities.
Hardware-wise, most computers sold in the last few years will be fine, but MS did put a requirement that a TPM 2.0 chip is part of the minimum system requirements to install the upgrade. That little chip on the motherboard provides hardware-based security functions and isn’t something you can ‘swap out’ or ‘upgrade’. So, older computers will just have to live with Windows 10.
Conclusion:
Windows 11 is a free upgrade that has already started to be pushed out to some current Windows users (at least, Windows 10 users). After it has had time to mature and developers have had ample time to evaluate and test their programs for compatibility, it will be the mainstream operating system of choice. However, for the majority of businesses that are using their computers as business tools, delaying the upgrade will provide for less downtime and a smoother, more fruitful migration in the future… in short, stick with Windows 10 for now.
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