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I agree it's a hyperbolic piece, but at the same time Windows11 as an OS demanding an auxiliary hardware isn't looking very good.

by daxuak 5y ago

jsnell 5y ago
It is very unlikely to be W11 as an OS demanding that. It will be the OEM licensing agreement for pre-installing a cheap license on a laptop. This kind of thing is absolutely mandatory in this day and age. If you don't let commodity OS makers set any limits on the hardware to ensure a consistent experience, it will be very hard for them to compete with integrated solutions. If there was some kind of a suggestion of MS self-dealing here, then maybe the concerns would make sense. E.g. requiring the laptop to have a MS-manufactured camera. But there isn't. It is clearly just an attempt to set a consistent minimum bar on the UX.
- daxuak 5y ago
  My concern is that as other comments mentioned in this post, the majority of recent laptops already have webcams without OEM licensing pressure. Webcam is also a piece of hardware that doesn't require one to be tech literate to figure out - someone getting a laptop without a webcam very likely knows what they will get, unlike the slightly comfusing intel CPU namings etc. Additionally, the differentiation factor between W11 PCs and mac at the moment doesn't seem to be the prescence of webcams; a bunch of mac iterations actually had awful webcams, and I've never heard of anyone ditching mac just because of them. Combining these three factors, the direction W11 is heading to does not look as genuine as they describe it. And if so, the descend from OEM requirement to OS requirement could happen sooner or later. I wholeheartedly hope they do not though.
  - jsnell 5y ago
    Majority but not all is kind of the worst case. If 95% of laptops have a webcam, people will not think to look at whether the laptop has one. I certainly haven't checked the webcam / microphone specs of any laptop I've bought in the last 10 years, but just assumed they would be there.
layer8 5y ago
Windows 11 as an OS won’t require a camera. It’s a requirement for vendors to be allowed by Microsoft to put a "Designed for Windows 11" sticker on the hardware.

I agree it's a hyperbolic piece, but at the same time Windows11 as an OS demanding an auxiliary hardware isn't looking very good.

by daxuak 5y ago

I agree it's a hyperbolic piece, but at the same time Windows11 as an OS demanding an auxiliary hardware isn't looking very good.

jsnell 5y ago

It is very unlikely to be W11 as an OS demanding that. It will be the OEM licensing agreement for pre-installing a cheap license on a laptop. This kind of thing is absolutely mandatory in this day and age. If you don't let commodity OS makers set any limits on the hardware to ensure a consistent experience, it will be very hard for them to compete with integrated solutions. If there was some kind of a suggestion of MS self-dealing here, then maybe the concerns would make sense. E.g. requiring the laptop to have a MS-manufactured camera. But there isn't. It is clearly just an attempt to set a consistent minimum bar on the UX.

daxuak 5y ago
My concern is that as other comments mentioned in this post, the majority of recent laptops already have webcams without OEM licensing pressure. Webcam is also a piece of hardware that doesn't require one to be tech literate to figure out - someone getting a laptop without a webcam very likely knows what they will get, unlike the slightly comfusing intel CPU namings etc. Additionally, the differentiation factor between W11 PCs and mac at the moment doesn't seem to be the prescence of webcams; a bunch of mac iterations actually had awful webcams, and I've never heard of anyone ditching mac just because of them. Combining these three factors, the direction W11 is heading to does not look as genuine as they describe it. And if so, the descend from OEM requirement to OS requirement could happen sooner or later. I wholeheartedly hope they do not though.
- jsnell 5y ago
  Majority but not all is kind of the worst case. If 95% of laptops have a webcam, people will not think to look at whether the laptop has one. I certainly haven't checked the webcam / microphone specs of any laptop I've bought in the last 10 years, but just assumed they would be there.

layer8 5y ago

Windows 11 as an OS won’t require a camera. It’s a requirement for vendors to be allowed by Microsoft to put a "Designed for Windows 11" sticker on the hardware.