Still waiting for some new cables to arrive, but right now i am running 3 SSDs on my Rig, the first is my main go to SSD with the latest Build Win 11 Enterprise (local account with as much as i need removed from spying), the second is my Win 10 SSD with WB10 (same as above) and the third is my Experimental SSD on which i did all the testing of ExplorerPatcher settings, then changed this to a MSI Dragon Gaming Theme (Black and Vivid Red) with a clean Image of Win 11 Ent, also a local account with as many backdoors closed as needed. Until those cables arrive (should have been yesterday) i am running without any Blu-ray Writers (i have two), but has been a while since i did any X265 Encodes for the collection so no great loss.

Windows 11 Market share will increase as more and more peeps systems are updated, this is a new OS so not surprised as it's only been with us a few months, i think we will see it's ranking jump in a couple of stages. I am starting to see more and more Privacy Tools for Windows 11 hitting the net, more will follow as they always do.

Too bad to hear one of your systems has gone down jafo, were i live power outages never seem to be an issue, but i have always used surge protector Power leads anyway just in case to prevent that, pity you never used one of these , may have saved you some time in recovery and the headache, oh well you live and learn, something for the future maybe.

Nah, I think it was coincidental re Terry's.  It's about 12 or 13 years old....and until its replacement was also on 24/7/365 ....and in dog years that makes it about 30 or 40 ...

My rig is on a UPS so is entirely isolated.  When it had 'issues' a year ago that was down to me inadvertently having the sound system amp plugged direct....not through the UPS.  It was 'telling' that one channel of the amp was fried....along with computer bits...

So, how many times have you actually used Windows 11 jafo, or will this be your first time.

I am very surprised you are even bothering after your opinions in this Topic, i thought your mind was already made up, for you to say " so i can see first hand" makes me think you have never used it.

Gave up waiting for the Sata III cables to arrive so picked up a couple in town today, at least now i can have 3 SSDs and the Blu-ray Writer fully up and running a multi boot system, 2 drives running Win 11 customised using Themes, and the Original Windows 10 drive using WB10, i say using, but right now i seldom use the Win 10 OS, as i would and need to be current for work, but having it Multi Boot Available i can keep it updated easily. In time(when the cables actually get here) the Win 10 SSD will be the least used as i am doing a lot of testing of Win 10 themes that have been updated for beta testing on Win 11 machines, this is something i do not recommend for the novice user as they carry a warning using that immortal line  "May Brick Your System" so most peeps panic and do not even try beta testing. Seeing as we all love to customize our Windows OS, the line May Brick Your System is usually smoke and mirrors if you have a multi boot system, if anyone finds themselves in this situation, it is easy to re boot into your second OS and access and remove the offending theme files from the Windows folder. Once they are deleted, you can re boot into "The Bricked Drive" like nothing has happened, even with this Tip, Beta testing is not for everyone but can be very rewarding.

It'll be the first time....tho I do pick up 'second hand' just how iffy the MS direction is....as I've seen the 'fails' in a row....3 of them.  First time in their computing history they did 3 fails together....usually the next OS after a fail is a 'recovery'.

My history with computers [might have been simplistic] but it started on Fortran in the '60s.  You ain't lived till you've punched a punch card wrong.....

The most impressed I've ever been with any OS was QNX ...when it fitted on a single bootable floppy and was pretty much entirely virtual.  These days people will have no idea what a floppy is/was ....

DaveRI -

I get that there is an inevitable ratchet in one direction.  But in many cases, we're not talking trivial ancillary cost.  One case in particular our tech shared was of an architectural firm whose perfectly functioning application required a $24k upgrade to work in Win 11.

I am not sure I would call Windows 10 a fail though. For the most part it was pretty successful as its market share were high and it fixed the weirdness of windows 8 with a top notch start menu. Sure it wasn't the last release ever, but did we really expect that?

What exactly did you not like about Windows 10?

PhoenixRising1

"I love the way you are willing to dive into new technology without fear. We definitely need people like that. Obviously Windows 11 is not perfect but if you listen to people on just this forum alone you will have a pretty good roadmap on how to fine tune it and make it into a really good OS."

Always been this type of person my friend, i like to do things others say i shouldn't as i like to walk my own path and make decisions and commitments based on those experience's. That is not to say, i do not listen to others, I have to be a Team player and can also work well as part of a team, but i never base things on what i am told before some actual hands on work myself.

My Journey into experimenting with Customization of my Computer, was for a long time Windowblinds based, and why not as it is a first class piece of work. My involvement in Themes and were i am right now is also due to Stardock but not in the same way, more to do with the wait for a working WB11 or a lack of it, so i felt i had no choice but to look for other ways of customizing my setup.

I mentioned in earlier posts about my need to work with Win 11 and due to the time i spend online with both my site and my online job, i needed to have a desktop looking and feeling the way my eyes worked best, so bought some cheap SSDs, installed them and decided to become a Beta Tester for Theme sites and i am loving it to bits. When you keep your primarily Hard Drive safe from those changes, and have several secure back up drives you do get bolder stepping into the unknown, safe in the knowledge of having an Image ready to go should i run into issues. You too are this kind of person i think.

Jafo Wrote "It'll be the first time."   when asked if you have used Win 11 before considering your strong Opinions about Win 11.

That is what i thought, as you are basing everything on second hand sources. No hands on experience of Win 11 yourself.

Reminds me of a saying  "When a man is convinced he's going to die tomorrow, he'll probably find a way to make it happen"

Sounds like you have already decided about how crap Win 11 will be , without using it once. Even after testing it out and closing down those backdoors, how could you possibly come back into this Topic and criticize yourself and your previous comments if you actually found something you like about it, but after what you have wrote in many answers previously, that will not happen, your mind is already decided.

I would say it is very important for our members to at least try things themselves, yes move forward with what second hand sources inform you, yes listen to others who are actually using the OS good and bad BUT , your own personal hands on testing is Vital to make an informed decision, and as most peeps will receive Win 11 through an Update (not my own method as i prefer Clean Installs, but that is just me), if you test it and do not like it, you can roll back to what you had before.

EDIT  The Cables Finally Arrived"

I am surprised that people here did not realize that Windows 10 was a free upgrade if you had windows 7 or above. It was like that for around 5 years and I upgraded many pc's to windows 10 without spending a dime. All you had to do was to visit a special offer site created by Microsoft. I think they recently closed that though because they want people to use windows 11 now.

Oh, trust me, we did.   

There were many lengthy discussions then that looked very similar to the discussions now regarding Win11. 

Jafo - Even Windows 7 hardly escapes the "price" of having tech in the modern world though. If you use Facebook, Google or Bing search engines, gmail, chrome or edge web browser or any smart phone whatsoever. Then you are already plugged in to a greater data skimming machine. Most of which are even harder to disconnect then in Windows 11 which has switches that pretty much turn off the "price". At what point are you just being over cautious... And how much of the modern world must we avoid?

Just to frame this discussion.

Windows 11 / modern tech have privacy concerns because there are switches that are on by default but are able to be turned off.

(Verdict is a bit of a wash since modern phones also require gmail to be deactivated over privacy concerns) 

Windows 10 / 11 are beta releases and are not fully developed on release

(Verdict. Fully agree with you windows 10 and 11 were both released with bugs. But the part about myself being a lemming for being an early adopter... Not so much. I had no disillusionment with what I was in)

MS 'New' model is sleazy

Uh. Their old model is just as sleazy. I have no pretension that Microsoft's model has not always had the foundation of sleaze. I do not own a, "i love microsoft" shirt or anything.

Are there current models more sleazy with what we are seeing in this modern day compared to other companies. Not that I can see. I think I would need an example.

As with all pre-set op[tions where people often [almost always] omit to change settings....no different to bundled ad-ware preset to 'fund' supposedly free software....

Oh, wait....Win 10 is 'free software'.

It looks like we are in agreement about some of the problems. The way I see it we also have two very equal solutions.

1. Stay with Windows 7

2. Upgrade to Windows 11 and turn off the privacy switches and disconnect your Microsoft id.

I guess it all comes down to taste preference as to whether you like the old school look of Windows 7 or the more modern look of Windows 11. But, I guess we will have to agree the window seveners are window seveners and us window eleveners are us window eleveners. (haha 7eleven debate)

I do not think that the privacy concerns should scare people away from trying Windows 11 as there are plenty of ways to still protect your privacy.