Has anyone downloaded or got Windows 11 yet?

[abacus]

I don't understand what you mean by prepared to put the work in though if you wish to go beyond the basics? Mint would be easier to use than OS than Windows to anyone new to using a computer as their fist OS especially if they want to go beyond the basics and learn more about computers. I use Mint as my main OS on my laptop and I've never one had a problem when using it to go beyond the basics. Again it's a far easier OS to use than Windows especially for going beyond the basics.
Zorin is an good OS one you remove the Windows training wheels.

I tried Linux in 1998 (You really had to know your stuff then) and always have a copy on Mint as dual boot and virtual machine, and I can assure you that whereas the basics are good, if you want to use specialist software (Including industry standard hardware and software) you are still stuffed with Linux unless you want to spend days trying to sort things out, (Something a new user would not have a cat in hells chance of doing) so unless you wish to be tied to an OS (The same applies to Apple OS) then Windows is still your best bet, (Plus it supports more specialist programs (Particularly Music software/hardware) than Apple or Linux, not forgetting that if you run in to problems there is always a local friend that can help. (You try finding somebody local who even knows what Linux is)
BTW. Although limited Apple OS is the easiest computer OS to get into if you are a new user that doesn't even know what an OS is. (And if you are happy joining the Apple ecosystem your in heaven, as everything just plugs in and works)

Bill

Have a look at these videos here

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0506yDSgU7M

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E8IGy6I9Wo

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtsglXhbxno

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlg4K16ujFw

 

[Friesiansam]

I've worked in IT for over 21 years and I've built my own PCs and installed some really exotic stuff. I'm not bothered now, with the faffing around so I just bought a prebuilt bargain from Currys and it has Windows 11 Home installed. I love it. It's intuitive and most things are only 2 or 3 clicks away. Driver support is spot on and it's stable. There was a free trial of Mcafee and now it's expired, I've uninstalled it. Windows has all the software, to avoid hacks and ransomware etc. If you keep your PC up to date, with the security patches, then 3rd party antivirus software is a waste of money and I feel is marketed at the paranoid. Just don't click on weird stuff, or download random files from strange sites. I don't like Edge, due to the news and social media content, so I run Firefox (version 109 now, crikey the time flies) Not having nested menus, or difficult navigation is ideal and I don't understand why some people want the 'professional developer box' environment. You can turn your PC into that, if you feel aloof, but most people want to switch on their PC or laptop and just get on with it. I've installed every Windows O/S since 95 and even tried Sun's Solaris (also as a VM) and various Linux flavours, but I don't like hard work, or struggling to find drivers etc. I get annoyed sometimes, using a Windows O/S and there can be niggles to overcome. If the people that hate Microsoft think they can write a better O/S than MS, then give it a go! I have work colleagues that resent using Windows and others that hate Apple, for some strange and irrational reason. There's a great choice these days.

I've used most flavours of Windows since 3.11 for workgroups, when I worked for a laptop servicing firm in Bristol in the 90s. Using Windows 10 now and, finding it to be reliable but, sometimes feel like trying something new. Several times I have considered Linux but, never actually got round to it. As I said in an earlier post, I might try a dual boot, to see how I get on with Linux while retaining W10 for everyday use.

As for browsers, I use Vivaldi as my main browser with Opera and Firefox as back-up, when a site won't work properly in Vivaldi. Edge is only the fourth choice and, very, very rarely used. Opera was my first choice back in the Presto days.

 

[MrReaper182]

I tried Linux in 1998 (You really had to know your stuff then) and always have a copy on Mint as dual boot and virtual machine, and I can assure you that whereas the basics are good, if you want to use specialist software (Including industry standard hardware and software) you are still stuffed with Linux unless you want to spend days trying to sort things out, (Something a new user would not have a cat in hells chance of doing) so unless you wish to be tied to an OS (The same applies to Apple OS) then Windows is still your best bet, (Plus it supports more specialist programs (Particularly Music software/hardware) than Apple or Linux, not forgetting that if you run in to problems there is always a local friend that can help. (You try finding somebody local who even knows what Linux is)
BTW. Although limited Apple OS is the easiest computer OS to get into if you are a new user that doesn't even know what an OS is. (And if you are happy joining the Apple ecosystem your in heaven, as everything just plugs in and works)

Bill

Have a look at these videos here

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0506yDSgU7M

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E8IGy6I9Wo

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtsglXhbxno

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlg4K16ujFw

Firstly I really dislike the Linus tech tips youtube channel so I'm not going to be watching those videos, not even for 100,000000 quid.
Secondly in 1998 I'm pretty certain a lot of the more popular Linux distros were using Gnome (they were in 2001 when I started using Linux) which is super easy to use as it's very basic (more basic than Windows hence why I say non computer literature people would find it easier to use than Windows) so I find it hard to believe you had any problems using a Linux distro that ran Gnome. If you could not get a windows program to run on a Linux distro that you liked (that's what Wine is for, if it was around in 1998) but that would be your only big problem. If you needed help learning how to use something in Linux like the command prompt then you asked the geeks online, that's what I did three years later when I started learning to use Linux for the first time and they were always very helpful.
Thirdly distros like Linux Mint come with everything a new computer user would need preinstalled (that's why it's the most popular one Linux distro these days) and it's a million times easier to customize and figure out what gone wrong when something gone wrong than it is in Windows. I have gotten all my non computer literature family members and non computer literature friends using Linux Mint over Windows and non of them want to go back to Windows.

 

[abacus]

Firstly I really dislike the Linus tech tips youtube channel so I'm not going to be watching those videos, not even for 100,000000 quid.
Secondly in 1998 I'm pretty certain a lot of the more popular Linux distros were using Gnome (they were in 2001 when I started using Linux) which is super easy to use as it's very basic (more basic than Windows hence why I say non computer literature people would find it easier to use than Windows) so I find it hard to believe you had any problems using a Linux distro that ran Gnome. If you could not get a windows program to run on a Linux distro that you liked (that's what Wine is for, if it was around in 1998) but that would be your only big problem. If you needed help learning how to use something in Linux like the command prompt then you asked the geeks online, that's what I did three years later when I started learning to use Linux for the first time and they were always very helpful.
Thirdly distros like Linux Mint come with everything a new computer user would need preinstalled (that's why it's the most popular one Linux distro these days) and it's a million times easier to customize and figure out what gone wrong when something gone wrong than it is in Windows. I have gotten all my non computer literature family members and non computer literature friends using Linux Mint over Windows and non of them want to go back to Windows.

I suggest you do look at the videos as they were supported by Linux users to help them along, and by and large they went down well, (Apart from the Linux Nut Jobs who believe that whether your 2 or 92 you should be able to use the terminal from the off (They really do give Linux a bad rap)
BTW: What is problem with the Linus Tech Channel as while it is geared as a media channel most of the stuff on there is pretty relevant? (It’s also put over in an interesting way rather than the usual bore)
Being born that late you missed all the fun of computers where you had to program to get what you wanted, (Pretty much every UK school had BBC Micros and programming was part of the curriculum) nowadays they are just taught how to use dumb software packages.

Bill

 

[Friesiansam]

Pretty much every UK school had BBC Micros and programming was part of the curriculum

My old school got their first computers the year after I left…

 

[WayneKerr]

My old school got their first computers the year after I left…

Wasn't even that lucky... slide rules were the order of the day when I was at school Think I bought my first calculator during my first year at work.