Microsoft started rolling out Windows 11 on October 5 and the users have started to report bugs in the new operating system. According to a Reddit thread, the update is suffering from memory leak issues as caused by a bug in File Explorer. When the computer is allocating too much RAM for a program and then doesn't release the unused cache memory, it is referred to as memory leak. The bug was first spotted by Reddit user Gyrohan269 two months ago on a beta version of Windows 11. Now that post is getting attention slowly as other users who are facing similar issues after installing the new operating system are sharing their experiences.
Minor complaints aside, we like to see Microsoft giving its marquee software some attention. For the last few years, the company has focused more on its Azure cloud computing services—justifiably given that business's profitability. Windows 11 brings slick new looks, useful new tools, updated default apps, extra capabilities, and performance advances. Perhaps that's enough to lure away some Chrome OS users or Mac users. Regardless, it's still early days for the desktop OS that's used on 1.3 billion PCs, so we look forward to Microsoft fine-tuning and perfecting Windows 11's design in future updates.
The Windows system upgrade has been released for select PC models but will be pre-loaded in some new gaming PCs, like the Razer Blade 15 Advanced. This new operating system will have some security features enabled by default, which could hinder gaming performance by up to 28%. But this isn't the only issue the new operating system is having.
AMD announced performance issues with Windows 11 and their processors, which the two companies are working to resolve with updates later this month. From poor gaming performance to software bugs like the taskbar disappearing, Microsoft has a lot of issues to fix. Even after fixing all of these bugs, Microsoft still has features to add. For instance, the promised support for Android apps is still not here. The stable release of Windows 11 is quite good, and unlike the insider preview builds, does not have issues like a half-rendered context menu. I remember facing graphical issues with Chromium browsers , which would fail to display the pop-up windows that show up when you click on the close button, or install an add-on, etc.
I had to disable hardware acceleration in the browser to fix the problem. This is no longer an issue with Windows 11's stable version, everything seems to work well so far. I've been running Windows 11 on my laptop and I enjoy the experience there, but on my desktop with three monitors, I'm holding off on upgrading. The way I use my laptop is very different from my desktop PC, so Windows 11 fits just fine in my lap. I regularly use full-screen apps and games on my main PC, so not being able to see the time and date across multiple monitors is annoying.
Coupled with the taskbar changes that prevent drag and drop, I feel less productive using Windows 11 on my main PC. I haven't noticed any big performance improvements or problems running games on Windows 11. It feels exactly the same as Windows 10 for gaming, as far as I can tell. PC Gamer has noticed that Windows 11's new Virtualization-Based Security can impact gaming performance by as much as a 28 percent drop in frame rates.
It's a setting that Microsoft wants PC builders to enable by default on new Windows 11 PCs, so while it won't impact people upgrading or clean installs, new gaming PCs could ship with VBS enabled. Windows 11, unfortunately, ditches a couple of its best tablet- and touch-friendly features. Most importantly, you can no longer swipe in from the left to open the task-switching view, a gesture I use all the time on my Surface Go tablet. You can no longer swipe down from the top to close an app, either. This omission is less of a big deal because you can still hit the X in the window's upper right corner as you'd do in desktop mode. Again, though, for a handheld device, the down-swipe is more direct and requires less dexterity.
There are, however, new three-finger swipe gestures to show the Task View and to minimize and app on the desktop. A sideways three-finger swipe switches you between running apps. And you can, of course, use the Task View button in the Taskbar, but that's not as immediate as a swipe of the thumb. I'd argue that switching tasks is more important to tablet users than accessing Widgets, the new result of that gesture, too.
This community is dedicated to Windows 10 which is a personal computer operating system released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. Troubleshooting/support posts will be removed, these posts would be a better fit in /r/WindowsHelp or /r/TechSupport. This includes error messages, blue screens of death, software failing to install, and so on. This community is dedicated to Windows 11 which is a personal computer operating system to be released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. Windows is a personal computer operating system released by Microsoft as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. However, I need to address the elephant in the room here - I guess the main reason why people would dislike Windows 11 is...
Microsoft has been touting a "universal" approach to its devices on Xbox for a while now. For example, an Xbox One controller can be used when playing Xbox Series X/S games and several peripherals like headsets also carry over between the two systems. Regardless of your hardware, be it keyboards, gaming mice, the Xbox Series X/S and Adaptive Controllers, or external GPUs, Microsoft is promising support for "millions" of gaming peripherals and accessories. It may be one of the more expected features but being able have one's dedicated gaming controllers work without any hiccups going into the next generation is nice. Hover your mouse pointer over the maximize window icon and you get a choice to snap the window to the left or right of the screen, or a variety of different configurations. These screen configurations are available in Windows 10, but they are now much easier to find and makes working with multiple windows much easier.
So even if you want to upgrade, you'll need to check Microsoft's PC Health Check app to see if your PC will even support Windows 11. You may need to enable TPM 2.0 from your PC's BIOS settings to get Secure Boot working, or perhaps even switch how Windows is installed on your storage if you manually installed the OS. The hardware requirements have changed a lot here, but the PC Health Check app should guide you on anything that needs addressing.
While a lot of users got their hands on the beta version of Windows 11, Microsoft has officially launched the Windows 11 operating system for users around the world. Systems that are running on a licensed version of Windows 10 and meet the minimal hardware requirements can upgrade to the new operating system by Microsoft for free. However, some users who have downloaded and installed the Windows 11 update are reporting a bug.
Microsoft has created beautiful new context menus in Windows 11, but they don't appear everywhere. You can right-click in the File Explorer and see a new context menu, but inside apps and elsewhere in Windows 11, you'll find the old context menu regularly. They not only look different, but the options for renaming or copying files have moved so your muscle memory has to adjust accordingly. It's hard to get used to a new method if the old method still randomly appears, though.
I believe this and the dark mode inconsistencies will eventually be addressed in Windows 11, but it's still surprising it's not finished for launch. On the touchscreen, you can slide from the left on the desktop to have widgets appear. If you have a Surface device or a new device from one of Microsoft's partners, you'll get Windows 11 when it releases on October 5. New devices that still have Windows 10 installed will be able to upgrade to the new version through Windows Update. After that, Microsoft says it's taking a phased approach, and it expects to have updates out to all compatible PCs by the middle of 2022. File Explorer is a good example of Windows 11's new look, particularly its updated left panel controls and folder icons.
Note the simplified ribbon along the top, which is far less busy and distracting than the previous File Explorer's. The New button at the top left works for new folders or documents supported by your apps, and the same viewing options for files are available. The overflow menu offers file compression, selection, and Properties options, as well as the old Folder Options dialog. The right-click context menus, which have grown longer and longer over the years, get shorter, smarter, and clearer in Windows 11. Anyone with one of the newer chips should have no trouble installing Windows 11 via Windows Update. Microsoft made a downloadable ISO disk image file for the beta Insider version available for installing Windows 11, allowing in-place upgrades or clean installations on a PC or in a virtual machine.
A similar installation option is now available for the release version of Windows 11 via the Microsoft's Download Windows 11 page. Windows 11 ditched the simpler Windows 10 default browser switcher, which let users click on the default browser option and select a different browser from a list of installed browsers. Instead, Windows 11 makes users pick a browser from a list of all apps and then set it as the default for each individual file type the browser can open . The Windows 11 process is more tedious and confusing than it was on Windows 10 — the change was generally met with backlash from users and rival browser makers. Some, like Firefox, added new buttons to help streamline the process. That said, take the time during this holiday season to review your passwords and especially stop reusing passwords.
One of the best proactive things you can do this holiday season is to make yourself a big mug of hot chocolate, sit down in front of your computer or iPad and review the passwords on ALL of your sites. Ensure that you change passwords to much longer and stronger versions of what you are currently using. Do not reuse passwords over and over again on different web sites, as all it takes is an attacker to gain access to one password in an account and the attacker will attempt to reuse it on other accounts.
Even if you don't reuse passwords over and over again, if you haven't changed passwords in a while, it's wise to update and revise them. Next look to see if you can add multi-factor authentication on sensitive accounts such as banking as well as email. Often you can set up services to trust a browser you use all the time and to send multi-factor prompts when you – or an attacker – tries to log in from a new location. Microsoft's new app store is another welcome improvement in Windows 11.
The Microsoft Store has sucked for years on Windows, and it barely listed any of the apps you actually wanted to install on a PC. That's starting to change in Windows 11, thanks to Microsoft making some big alterations. Microsoft is finally allowing developers to submit any application to the store, enabling third-party browsers and regular traditional desktop apps to appear in search results.
If the Microsoft Surface family of products isn't your style though, other brands like Dell, Asus and HP have all released pages online that specify what devices are Windows 11 ready. Note that many won't come with the new operating system installed, but as they all meet the minimum system requirements, you can simply buy the laptop or 2-in-1 as normal and then update it yourself. For example, Windows 11 has new Contrast themes, redesigned closed caption themes, and AI-powered Windows Voice Typing. The new OS also adds APIs for programming assistive apps, and even the Windows Subsystem for Linux now has accessibility options. In addition to apps you can get in the Store, you also get all the standard apps like Photos , the FLAC-capable Groove Music player, Voice Recorder, two Paint apps , Mail, Calendar, and so on.
We can hope for the last two mentioned to be greatly improved as Windows 11 development progresses. In the initial release, we still have the existing apps, albeit with rounded corners, but new versions will be based on the excellent Progressive Web App versions of Outlook.com. Microsoft has already teased an updated Paint app (though I've started to enjoy the modern Paint 3D), as well as new versions of Notepad and the Calculator.
One of the more irksome things about Windows 10 is its inconsistent settings windows and dialogs. Sometimes you uninstall a program in the new Settings app, sometimes in the antiquated Control Panel. For some detailed controls, such as sound devices, you still see the content in the old style, though the window uses the new design. Don't upgrade for a couple of months at least or until there is a feature you will really want like DirectStorage or android apps when they release. To be honest windows 10 has more features at the moment like drag and drop into taskbar and is significantly more stable the only nice feature is that it looks slightly nicer and is more secure.
The new operating system is not a critical download, with Microsoft planning to slowly offer the update to all devices by mid-2022, according to its website. If you have a computer with unsupported hardware, you should not try to upgrade to Windows 11. Although there are workarounds to bypass the TPM 2.0 and other checks, if you manage to install version 21H2, the device will state in an unsupported state. According to Microsoft, devices are likely to experience more crashes, you won't get the support of any kind, and updates are not guaranteed. Windows 11 is now available as a free upgrade for computers already running Windows 10 that meet the minimum system requirements, and it is also available pre-installed on many branded devices.
However, the rollout will be phased and controlled to provide a good upgrade experience, which means that it'll take months before the new version reaches every device. A few companies, such as Shadow, a cloud-based gaming service, discourage users from updating their systems until there is a solution to prevent these issues. However, gamers who upgraded to Windows 11 will not have this feature automatically enabled and don't have to worry about disabling it.
Others who are getting pre-built gaming PCs with Windows 11 will need to go into the registry to disable the VBS feature and system settings to turn off the Memory Integrity option. When it comes to computer upgrades, an NVMe SSDs is one of the most noticeable changes you can make in terms of raw speed. However, some users notice a loss of speed with their drives after installing Windows 11. Between Reddit threads and Microsoft support forum posts (h/t Neowin), there's no shortage of users complaining about NVMe issues.
Windows 11 is once again being causing some issues for users, this time with numerous reports of slower performance of NVMe SSDs using the operating system. The reports can be found on multiple Reddit threads, as well as on Microsoft's support forums , and they're actually not new. Reports on this problem go back a few months, when Windows 11 is still in preview, but the complaints persist two months after launch. Now along with a fresh install of Windows 10 and Windows 11, we've also included a configuration based on a Windows 10 fresh install that was then upgraded to Windows 11.
Any major operating system upgrade comes with an element of risk, and while I've not seen reports of any serious Windows 11 upgrade flaws yet, there's always the chance it will snag on your particular system. If you've got a stable Windows 10 installation and none of the new features are desperately appealing, why take the risk? Windows 10 will be supported with security updates until late 2025, so there's no rush to move. By the time 2025 rolls round, you'll likely be eyeing up a new PC anyway. Not finished is a running theme for Windows 11, unfortunately. Microsoft had promised a universal mute and unmute feature that lets you quickly mute your microphone across all apps, but it's missing at launch.
Microsoft also announced Android apps were coming to Windows 11, but those are also not ready for launch. Even a Dynamic Refresh Rate feature that's supposed to improve scrolling and inking on new 120Hz Windows 11 devices without hitting battery life is missing at launch. While a lot of Windows 11 users won't even notice the taskbar changes, the feedback in Microsoft's Windows Insider program is clear. Microsoft is aware and tells me it's in the process of better understanding the feedback and evaluating how some of the feedback fits into the company's Windows 11 plans. There's no guarantee that the taskbar will change, but I'm hopeful Microsoft will bring back some of the missing features here.
The Microsoft Store app itself also feels more simplified, with a library section that lists app updates and purchases, as well as individual sections for apps, gaming, and entertainment. Combined with Microsoft's Store revenue changes, it looks like we'll finally have a single location to reliably download Windows apps and avoid running into viruses by searching for .exe files on the web. I haven't really seen any other striking updates that have added any benefit to my workflow — and I do have some suggestions.
It'd be nice to get a Sticky Notes upgrade, allowing users to merge notes into organized groups. I'd also love it if Microsoft could make searched files "draggable" so that they can be easily dropped into Gmail, Slack and other apps. Overall, I can't in good conscience say that Windows 11 has enhanced my productivity. I'd even go as far as saying that it has negatively affected my workflow. Select users report that the context menu in Windows 11 is slow to open. This is the menu that appears when you right-click on an item.
