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As I understand it, Windows 11's CPU limits are designed for CPU's that have specific hardware mtigiation for Spectre and Meltdown Given that we're still seein

As I understand it, Windows 11's CPU limits are designed for CPU's that have specific hardware mtigiation for Spectre and Meltdown Given that we're still seeing new variants of those today it doesn't feel like the most crushing requirement Plus there's frankly nothing "compelling" about Windows 11 yet. All the promised features like SSD <--> GPU data transfers (mimicing the Xbox One and PS5) are just "things we're going to add" at some indeterminate date Microsoft has by their own clock until 2025 to wow people over to Windows 11, and they've not even shown up to the race

tehbeard 5y ago
Didn't DirectStorage get it's Win11 exclusivity removed? and it'll be on Win10 as well?
NullPrefix 5y ago
They finally fully mitigated Spectre and Meltdown?
nightski 5y ago
This doesn't impact many people, but WiFi 6e support on the 6Ghz band is currently only in Win 11 (won't work on Win 10, I've tried). Otherwise I pretty much agree with you, nothing that compelling.
- ranger_danger 5y ago
  There is no technical reason a 6E driver for Win10 cannot be written by someone.
  - jasonjayr 5y ago
    If that's a selling point of Win11, I bet they refuse to sign the driver for Win10.
shaicoleman 5y ago
> As I understand it, Windows 11's CPU limits are designed for CPU's that have specific hardware mtigiation for Spectre and Meltdown "To run Windows 11, CPUs need to have the hardware virtualisation features to enable virtual secure mode for Virtualisation-Based Security and the Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity that underlies a range of protections that Microsoft has been building since Windows 8, like Application Guard, Control Flow Guard, Credential Guard, Device Guard and System Guard. Now they'll be on by default for all PCs, not just specially selected devices." https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-11-understanding-the-system-requirements-and-the-security-benefits/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-11-understandin...
- Lammy 5y ago
  Sounds like they want to turn my PC into something locked down like an iPhone and not risk me being able to “break in” to it via any of those class of vulnerabilities.
  - shaicoleman 5y ago
    As far as I can see, these are all legitimate security features that will help protect the users (e.g. from ransomware attacks) I don't see anything in Windows 11 that makes it more of a walled garden compared to Windows 10. All the security measures can be bypassed by a technical user if need be, e.g. running unsigned drivers [1], or installing on a machine without a TPM [2], or setting up an offline account on the Home edition. Satya Nadella sees Windows 11 being an open ecosystem as a selling point compared to alternatives [3] Along the launch of Windows, the Microsoft Store is more open now than before [4] For comparison, the current Linux boot security is very poor compared to other OSs, because it lacks similar features [5] I think Windows 11 is a step in the right direction, and I'm saying that as a happy Linux user. 1. https://gearupwindows.com/how-to-disable-driver-signature-enforcement-on-windows-11-10/ https://gearupwindows.com/how-to-disable-driver-signature-en... 2. https://www.howto-connect.com/install-windows-11-without-tpm-and-secure-boot/ https://www.howto-connect.com/install-windows-11-without-tpm... 3. https://www.windowscentral.com/satya-nadella-wants-windows-11-be-center-open-tech-ecosystem https://www.windowscentral.com/satya-nadella-wants-windows-1... 4. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2021/09/28/microsoft-store-more-apps-more-open/ https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2021/09/28/micros... 5. https://0pointer.net/blog/authenticated-boot-and-disk-encryption-on-linux.html https://0pointer.net/blog/authenticated-boot-and-disk-encryp...
ikiris 5y ago
there wasn't really anything compelling past windows 7 except "continues to receive drivers and security updates"
- squarefoot 5y ago
  Admittedly, there's a light version of Windows 10 that runs pretty snappy on 2GB RAM tablets. I migrated one of those tablets (Asus Transformer of a few years ago) to Linux+Gnome because it was the only desktop manager to properly address screen rotation out of the box (again, it was a few years back) and I found it fairly slower on 2GB RAM than its original Windows 10. Agree completely on everything else: Microsoft totally borked the user interface from Win 8 onward, then decided it wasn't enough and added telemetry, then ads.
wolpoli 5y ago
For sure, Windows 11's CPU requirement has effectively ensure that CPUs going forward have some Specture/Meltdown mitigation in hardware. However, I would argue that the line wasn't drawn purely on technical reasons, but with non-technical considerations as well. Initially, Windows 11 requires an Intel 8th gen or above CPU, but they went back to add the Core i7-7820HQ CPUs to ensure that the Surface Studio 2 currently in-market could receive the upgrade. Or consider that some 7th gen and 8th gen CPUs are based on Kaby Lake, but only 8th gen CPUs are supported. The OEMs are also quite excited about getting people to replace their computers[1]. I am sure that's part of the consideration. [1]: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/05/microsofts-panos-panay-explains-balancing-surface-keeping-oems-happy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/05/microsofts-panos-panay-expla...

tehbeard 5y ago

Didn't DirectStorage get it's Win11 exclusivity removed? and it'll be on Win10 as well?

NullPrefix 5y ago

They finally fully mitigated Spectre and Meltdown?

nightski 5y ago

This doesn't impact many people, but WiFi 6e support on the 6Ghz band is currently only in Win 11 (won't work on Win 10, I've tried). Otherwise I pretty much agree with you, nothing that compelling.

ranger_danger 5y ago
There is no technical reason a 6E driver for Win10 cannot be written by someone.
- jasonjayr 5y ago
  If that's a selling point of Win11, I bet they refuse to sign the driver for Win10.

shaicoleman 5y ago

> As I understand it, Windows 11's CPU limits are designed for CPU's that have specific hardware mtigiation for Spectre and Meltdown "To run Windows 11, CPUs need to have the hardware virtualisation features to enable virtual secure mode for Virtualisation-Based Security and the Hypervisor-Protected Code Integrity that underlies a range of protections that Microsoft has been building since Windows 8, like Application Guard, Control Flow Guard, Credential Guard, Device Guard and System Guard. Now they'll be on by default for all PCs, not just specially selected devices." https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-11-understanding-the-system-requirements-and-the-security-benefits/ https://www.techrepublic.com/article/windows-11-understandin...

Lammy 5y ago
Sounds like they want to turn my PC into something locked down like an iPhone and not risk me being able to “break in” to it via any of those class of vulnerabilities.
- shaicoleman 5y ago
  As far as I can see, these are all legitimate security features that will help protect the users (e.g. from ransomware attacks) I don't see anything in Windows 11 that makes it more of a walled garden compared to Windows 10. All the security measures can be bypassed by a technical user if need be, e.g. running unsigned drivers [1], or installing on a machine without a TPM [2], or setting up an offline account on the Home edition. Satya Nadella sees Windows 11 being an open ecosystem as a selling point compared to alternatives [3] Along the launch of Windows, the Microsoft Store is more open now than before [4] For comparison, the current Linux boot security is very poor compared to other OSs, because it lacks similar features [5] I think Windows 11 is a step in the right direction, and I'm saying that as a happy Linux user. 1. https://gearupwindows.com/how-to-disable-driver-signature-enforcement-on-windows-11-10/ https://gearupwindows.com/how-to-disable-driver-signature-en... 2. https://www.howto-connect.com/install-windows-11-without-tpm-and-secure-boot/ https://www.howto-connect.com/install-windows-11-without-tpm... 3. https://www.windowscentral.com/satya-nadella-wants-windows-11-be-center-open-tech-ecosystem https://www.windowscentral.com/satya-nadella-wants-windows-1... 4. https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2021/09/28/microsoft-store-more-apps-more-open/ https://blogs.windows.com/windowsdeveloper/2021/09/28/micros... 5. https://0pointer.net/blog/authenticated-boot-and-disk-encryption-on-linux.html https://0pointer.net/blog/authenticated-boot-and-disk-encryp...

ikiris 5y ago

there wasn't really anything compelling past windows 7 except "continues to receive drivers and security updates"

squarefoot 5y ago
Admittedly, there's a light version of Windows 10 that runs pretty snappy on 2GB RAM tablets. I migrated one of those tablets (Asus Transformer of a few years ago) to Linux+Gnome because it was the only desktop manager to properly address screen rotation out of the box (again, it was a few years back) and I found it fairly slower on 2GB RAM than its original Windows 10. Agree completely on everything else: Microsoft totally borked the user interface from Win 8 onward, then decided it wasn't enough and added telemetry, then ads.

wolpoli 5y ago

For sure, Windows 11's CPU requirement has effectively ensure that CPUs going forward have some Specture/Meltdown mitigation in hardware. However, I would argue that the line wasn't drawn purely on technical reasons, but with non-technical considerations as well. Initially, Windows 11 requires an Intel 8th gen or above CPU, but they went back to add the Core i7-7820HQ CPUs to ensure that the Surface Studio 2 currently in-market could receive the upgrade. Or consider that some 7th gen and 8th gen CPUs are based on Kaby Lake, but only 8th gen CPUs are supported. The OEMs are also quite excited about getting people to replace their computers[1]. I am sure that's part of the consideration. [1]: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/05/microsofts-panos-panay-explains-balancing-surface-keeping-oems-happy.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/05/microsofts-panos-panay-expla...