The surprises that Windows 11 brings (good and bad).

New year, new operating system. Yes, Apparently I mean Windows 11. The release of this genre has inspired millions of marketing campaigns and veterans will remember the days that filled us with excitement. This, as it weighs us down, is no longer so. Everything happens, I’m not just telling Windows. Operating systems are gone without a title, a subject, a message. Well, awesome, why are we talking about this?

Simple: Microsoft still has a complete monopoly (almost 75%) in the PC operating system market, and PCs work for everything we are excited about today., From applications to series, from artificial intelligence Currently uninhabited but mediocre most visited mediocre these days. So even if we are not as excited as before, whether or not Microsoft makes a new system affects all of us directly or indirectly.

On Tuesday, in the middle of the lockout, I got some good news (aham) Windows 11 was ready to install on my main computer (Oh!). I finished with the completion (one learns to be patient with the beats), then went to the main profile of that computer to start the installation. There will be good news and bad news from here, but, above all, this is the history of the first meeting of a productivity team we will use over the next few years to encrypt, write, animate and edit audio. And video, composing, composition, design houses, buildings, bridges and cars, and the list goes on and on.

The first bad news is that when starting the main profile two options appeared: Start or discard the installation. Do not put it off. Discard it. OK. At that point I rejected the installation and was sure it might come up later, but my plan was to test the system, so I clicked install. The first good news was that it was quick (about twenty minutes). System download (about 4GB) does not need to stop working with the system, it depends (mostly) on the available bandwidth, so it makes no sense to consider it. Now the installation was quick Good brand solid state drive and very fast. If your computer has a mechanical main drive, you need to be more patient with the weapon. If it’s slow, drive it and go on vacation.

The second good news and the reverse of what has generally been the case since 1995: When Windows 11 was launched, almost everything was the same as before with Windows 10 (except for the various features of Microsoft’s unexplained 10). In other words, there is a small learning curve, which is significant.

For the average user, Windows 11 desktop and boot up something is not right. Instead of that classic (1995, again), reliable, intuitive and well-known alignment to the left of the Start Button, there is now a bar of icons in the center of the screen – not easy to identify. It looks like Doc, Mac style or Linux. But no. That’s what happens The Start menu and taskbar now come to the center of the screen by default. When you left-click for more than 25 years, the new location is pretty disgusting. So my first step with 11 is to right click on that bar and open it Taskbar settings, Search Behavior And select the traditional order.

That’s where I felt In my toolbar, all the shortcuts for my favorite programs (single click start) are gone. What’s worse, Placing toolbars is no longer possible, Which caused a stir in Microsoft forums and the system in general. This is no less; Everyone who uses these toolbars, humble and all, speeds up the work more or less with any skill (except for keyboard shortcuts, which were removed a long time ago, unfortunately). I asked Microsoft if they plan to reintroduce that feature, which is one of the best features in Windows; At the end of this version they have not yet responded to me. I will update this article when they do. For now, let’s read the lengthy discussions in the forums Here, Here Y Here, Among others.

Yes, of course there are third-party applications with taskbars and stuff, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We are talking about Windows. A great functionality that was in Windows and that means everything is gone. Option to hover over the taskbar, resize its icons and display labels.

More about the new taskbar, it looks like a removed and often useless version of the traditional one: Its size cannot be changed. At least, as far as I can see. Which in itself is remarkable. It has to be very intuitive. This is one of the things that always works well in Windows; If you want more space in the taskbar, you have raised it to one line. It’s great that we have great supervisors. What was needed to align the functions?

In general, newer Windows (unlike some of the worst versions of the system, such as Vista) Runs faster or faster than 10 with the same hardware. Some programs, such as the application, need to be reinstalled Wave, But after that they left without incident. Some hardware features have been changed to default values ​​such as audio. This computer has at least three sound sources, including an external synthesizer that I use as a sound card, and Windows resets that option. But I have to say that I found everything except the location of the icons on the desktop in general (which is understandable, we did not even hear the magic).

The optimal performance of Windows 11 suffers, however, due to a series of incomprehensible errors in the design of the interface (yes, this happens every time, and not just with Windows). For example, on the front, with 10, by clicking on the small speaker at the bottom right, you can choose between several audio interfaces. Two clicks, you’re done. Three, if you wish. Now a dialog opens with one click, among other things, multimedia controls (any keyboard comes from the factory) and activation buttons, for example, night light (what does this have to do with audio?). To change the interface, you need to click on the configuration gear, click Sound Another click to change the interface and close the dialog box. Five clicks. Guys, do not take this for granted, I tell you cool, but there is one basic rule UX Says to increase Much The number of clicks to perform the same action is not positive.

But do you want to install it? This is a tricky question that has been around since 1995. (Did he already say that?). I will deal with that in future columns, but in short, because Windows has a limited life cycle, updates will expire when it expires (for example, this is what happens today in Windows XP and 7, and what happens in October 2025 with Windows 10), and more Over time, the license will expire and you will have to repay the system (approximately 30,000 pesos and taxes). Renewal is the most rational. However, despite the dangerous Decline button, it may take some time to find out if your important applications and hardware (not just printers, but printers) work on the latest version of Windows.

Of course, there is still a lot of fabric to cut. The idea of ​​having Android on Windows is good, and it’s one of the biggest differences between 10 and 11. It would have been nice if I hadn’t signed in to a Microsoft account to activate it; This happens with many of 11’s new functions. Aside from Linux, the non-privacy loop also closes on PCs, the last of which we controlled a bit.

Overall the first impression in terms of productivity, video games and equipment currently 99% used for content is that these applications (as far as I can see) do not detect problems. No problem with virtual machines (VirtualBox Y VMWare), VPN and gaming. Aside from the important taskbar on a computer, for now, it does not seem to be affected.