OS PLATFORMS

Maybe sometimes users know best

OPINION On June 24, 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 11, unveiling a new and controversial operating system. Five years on, how has that worked out for you, Redmond?

Windows 11 has always been a problem child for Microsoft. It was announced in June 2021 and became generally available on October 5 that year, while much of its customer base was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, The Register called it pointless rather than a point release of Microsoft's flagship operating system.

Why? Because Windows 10 was more than adequate. Microsoft's apology for the Windows 8.x era was… fine. It mostly worked without difficulty. It lacked the user-experience missteps of its predecessors and was an architectural step up from Windows 7. And, most importantly, the operating system didn't trip up a user's workflow.

There is an old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but Microsoft set to work fixing Windows 10 regardless, and the result was Windows 11.

The user experience has irked users ever since. Did you like being able to move the taskbar around in Windows 10? Tough – in Windows 11, you'll have to learn to love where Microsoft stuck it. How about the Start Menu? Again, Microsoft knew best and redesigned it.

In the last year, Microsoft appears to have realized that its actions have alienated users and promised to restore eliminated user interface elements, such as the movable taskbar. It hasn't, however, gone back on another Windows 11 feature – the infamous hardware requirements.

While Windows 11 contained plenty of software elements to annoy users, it was the company's decision, on security grounds, to render hardware perfectly capable of running the operating system obsolete at a stroke that really angered users. Even hardware (including some of the company's own) that was still on sale at the time wouldn't work. The company demanded TPM 2.0 and warned that anything older than an eighth generation Intel CPU (or equivalent) would not make the cut.

Then and now, the decision carries an arbitrary air, particularly as several workarounds emerged, revealing the requirements to be the technically unnecessary decisions they were.

More than anything, Microsoft's hardware requirements slowed the operating system's adoption, as hardware that ran Windows 10 perfectly well was rendered obsolete overnight.

In the end, it took until 2025 for Windows 11 to overtake its predecessor in market share, and until 2026 for the gap to widen. Much of the change in market share is likely due to hardware replacement cycles and the end of mainstream support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025.

Microsoft's operating systems have followed a set pattern over the years. Windows XP was good, Windows Vista was not. Windows 7 was good, Windows 8.x was not. Windows 10 – good. Windows 11 – oh dear, it seems it was always destined to be a bit of a duffer, even without Microsoft loading it with ads and AI.

While hindsight has made Windows 10 seem rather good, retrospectives are unlikely to be so kind to Windows 11, which marked an era in which Microsoft took its eye off the desktop to focus on shinier, AI-related things. Microsoft has already dropped Copilot branding from products like Notepad, an acknowledgment that the assistant is not the welcome pal in every place it is forced into. The same could be said for Windows 11, which has become a byword for iffy quality and bad management decisions.

Based on the last five years of Windows 11, Windows 12 should be a beacon of light. Right? ®