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I have to assume Windows 11 basically only exists because of pressure from OEMs who want to be able to slap a big mark on the box of their new laptops highlight

by hbn 5y ago

I have to assume Windows 11 basically only exists because of pressure from OEMs who want to be able to slap a big mark on the box of their new laptops highlighting that it runs a new OS that your old machine can't run. And this idea is supported by the fact that Windows 11 is only officially supported on the very latest CPUs for more or less arbitrary reasons.

dspillett 5y ago
> I have to assume Windows 11 basically only exists because of pressure from OEMs Maybe partly, but I suspect that is only a small piece of the puzzle. OSX and Android being at version 11 might make Windows 10 look old to the clueless (and there are a lot of clueless out there), and not having bumped up a version in over half a decade is something disreputable marketers (i.e. most marketers) could use to cast shade on it to make it look old-hat. It also frees them from IE11 a bit more. There were promises to support IE versions for as long as any OS version that was release with them included, so IE11 will need to be supported (not in online apps, it is already deprecated in many including Office365, but at least receive security updates) as long as Win10 if they are to keep their word. Win10 will be around for quite some time so they still have a bit of that ball & chain, but Win11 means they have some sort of exit strategy for the legacy browser other than simply saying “fuck it, people can try sue us if they really care about IE”. I'm sure there are other considerations that an officially clean dividing line (even though the difference between this and the usual Win10 feature updates may not be huge) makes better too, from marketing perspectives if not technical ones.
JohnTHaller 5y ago
I think moving away from supporting really low end hardware is a reason as well. They're ditching 32-bit processors entirely, so no need for a separate Windows 32-bit anymore. Dropped support for less than 4GB of RAM (which Windows runs badly on). Dropped support for sub 720p displays, which most software won't work properly on anyway. Etc
WorldMaker 5y ago
Certainly the OEMs (and retailers) have been having a field day with shareholders over this, but I think the obvious flaw with this conspiracy theory being the actual plan is that they could not have timed it worse. 2020 was one of the best years of PC sales (ever; one of the industries that did quite well with the shift in "safe at home" needs) and the OEMs weren't in that much need of another one just so soon. On top of that, the banner year of sales in 2020 created the largest semiconductor shortage in recent history, which we are still dealing with the repercussions of (the automobile industry almost entirely shut down and has huge stock of cars waiting for chips, for one big for instance; the continued lack of available supply of the Xbox Series X/S in stores despite Microsoft's promises to shareholders this year for another that should be obvious to Microsoft), and combined with the Great Logistics Crisis of 2021 every OEM should have a pretty good idea right now that Holiday sales are going to be extremely cramped right now in terms of possible supply.

by hbn 5y ago

dspillett 5y ago

> I have to assume Windows 11 basically only exists because of pressure from OEMs Maybe partly, but I suspect that is only a small piece of the puzzle. OSX and Android being at version 11 might make Windows 10 look old to the clueless (and there are a lot of clueless out there), and not having bumped up a version in over half a decade is something disreputable marketers (i.e. most marketers) could use to cast shade on it to make it look old-hat. It also frees them from IE11 a bit more. There were promises to support IE versions for as long as any OS version that was release with them included, so IE11 will need to be supported (not in online apps, it is already deprecated in many including Office365, but at least receive security updates) as long as Win10 if they are to keep their word. Win10 will be around for quite some time so they still have a bit of that ball & chain, but Win11 means they have some sort of exit strategy for the legacy browser other than simply saying “fuck it, people can try sue us if they really care about IE”. I'm sure there are other considerations that an officially clean dividing line (even though the difference between this and the usual Win10 feature updates may not be huge) makes better too, from marketing perspectives if not technical ones.

JohnTHaller 5y ago

I think moving away from supporting really low end hardware is a reason as well. They're ditching 32-bit processors entirely, so no need for a separate Windows 32-bit anymore. Dropped support for less than 4GB of RAM (which Windows runs badly on). Dropped support for sub 720p displays, which most software won't work properly on anyway. Etc

WorldMaker 5y ago

Certainly the OEMs (and retailers) have been having a field day with shareholders over this, but I think the obvious flaw with this conspiracy theory being the actual plan is that they could not have timed it worse. 2020 was one of the best years of PC sales (ever; one of the industries that did quite well with the shift in "safe at home" needs) and the OEMs weren't in that much need of another one just so soon. On top of that, the banner year of sales in 2020 created the largest semiconductor shortage in recent history, which we are still dealing with the repercussions of (the automobile industry almost entirely shut down and has huge stock of cars waiting for chips, for one big for instance; the continued lack of available supply of the Xbox Series X/S in stores despite Microsoft's promises to shareholders this year for another that should be obvious to Microsoft), and combined with the Great Logistics Crisis of 2021 every OEM should have a pretty good idea right now that Holiday sales are going to be extremely cramped right now in terms of possible supply.