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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2021 14:45:29 GMT
Do they emulate W10 and if so how is it ? There are three versions: Windows 11, Windows 10 and a hybrid Windows 7/10 for decreasing machine spec. I'm still installing the full emulation as it takes an age to download Wine and all the .Net packages. It's getting there. I shall then try the ultimate test: Office 365. If it runs that, it should run most things. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 2, 2021 14:52:00 GMT
Very interested to hear how you get on
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Post by Slinger on Oct 2, 2021 15:09:43 GMT
I can see that it would be fine for cloud-based software, but most of my stuff is fairly specialised, and runs in Windoze itself. I'm wondering how it would cope with the huge numbers of drivers required, and whether it would run things like my VPN software. Keep us informed, Martin.  |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2021 15:13:18 GMT
This is windowsfx in Windows 11 mode running on my old Dell tablet. Very nice it is, too.  |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2021 17:27:23 GMT
windowsfx won't install the Office 365 apps because they're not offered as it sees my device as a tablet (it is) and already has the browser icons installed. No matter, and they work fine. I'm having trouble getting it to recognise my OneDrive authentication URL and will keep trying as that is where my files are.
My Microsoft Wedge Bluetooth keyboard is working fine, as is my Lenovo mouse. Touch screen also works fine and that's a good test as touch drivers can be a pain.
I've just seen that my Edge extensions of uBlock (ad blocker) and Grammarly have auto-installed after I sync'd everything. Nice.
Now to try some stiffer tests. Hmm, Netflix beckons.
I typed this post from windowsfx.
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Post by Slinger on Oct 2, 2021 18:27:42 GMT
What's the install package like, Martin? Is it a simple click 'n' go istallation, bootable USB stick, or would I be looking at buggering about with VMWare or something similar?
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2021 18:48:10 GMT
Create a bootable USB drive from the ISO download using, e.g. Rufus, then boot from it. You need a machine with secure boot turned off and legacy (non-UEFI) BIOS. Otherwise, the installed windowsfx doesn't boot.
The USB boots into a pseudo Windows 11 environment and features the installer on the desktop. Run this and be prepared for lots of coffee as it takes an age to download the Wine emulator, various .Net and service packs. Unfortunately it needs attendance to move each installation on and some popups tend to popunder and you're fooled into thinking it's crashed. It all works reliably enough but took a couple of hours on my Dell.
Finally, boot into windowsfx and run updates from Settings where it brings itself up to date. Be prepared to be wowed by the pseudo Windows with Linux peeking from behind. Oh, and remember to set the Wine emulation to Windows 10 as it defaults to XP.
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 2, 2021 19:07:56 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2021 19:26:57 GMT
Please don't try it, Mike. I couldn't stand the pain!
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 3, 2021 9:22:03 GMT
I have good mate who can sort it all for me He loves doing free support work  |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 8, 2021 14:34:34 GMT
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 8, 2021 14:43:57 GMT
Let me know if you need any technical help setting it up  |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 9, 2021 11:50:10 GMT
I've just ordered a Minisforum X400 so that I can fire up Windows 11 and start getting to know it. It's arrived and I've fired it up. It came with Windows 10 2004 but that's soon going to be blasted away. I have the Windows 11 Installation Assistant downloaded and ready to go. |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 9, 2021 21:02:59 GMT
Well, that was an interesting and fairly positive experience.
The hardest part was preparing my X400 to receive Windows 11, which required an updated BIOS to provide the Trusted Platform and Secure Boot functionality. It's going to vary from machine to machine, but in general, unless the BIOS is dated late 2021, you're going to need to do this (My X400 is brand new but the factory BIOS was dated January 2021 and was not compatible). Tread with care as you could brick your computer if you do it wrong. Some vendors have an easy Windows-based BIOS updater, others (like mine) require creating a bootable USB drive to perform the update.
Using the Windows 11 Update Assistant was straightforward and it took about an hour to download and install Windows 11 from Windows 10. You will need to reinstall your apps so be prepared for a lengthy install process - in my case Office 365 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 followed by many smaller utilities such as Netflix, Now TV, Spotify, Qobuz, work VPN etc.
The interface needs some learning, so watch a couple of videos on how to optimise the desktop and icons as you wish and uninstall the unnecessary clutter.
Performance-wise, it's very swift in starting up and opening apps, although I've just touched the surface so far.
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 10, 2021 10:36:45 GMT
One for patient and thorough experts !
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Post by MartinT on Oct 14, 2021 21:05:23 GMT
I've got to say that the W11 implementation of virtual desktops is very good indeed. I have now split my home things and my work things on different desktops and can switch easily with Ctrl-Win-Right and Ctrl-Win-Left with different backgrounds to make it easy to recognise where I am. Really cool for working from home.
I'm also somewhat wowed with overall performance. Yes, admittedly I have 6 cores and 12 threads with 16GB RAM now, but even so, task switching between apps and desktops and opening speed is lightning fast, and it never slows down.
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 15, 2021 9:10:21 GMT
One for me sometime in the future then
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Post by MartinT on Nov 26, 2021 21:11:36 GMT
This guy, Thio Joe, has the best Windows resources (both 10 and 11) on YouTube. He has extensive knowledge but also a pleasant presentation style. Well worth subscribing to.
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Post by MartinT on Jan 2, 2022 16:47:47 GMT
I've just run UserBenchmark software to get an overall impression of my Minisforum X400 mini PC's performance. It's a useful rating although it probably favours gaming performance a little too much. I'm quite pleased as it rated mine exactly at what I do most of the time: Gaming: 24% surfboard
Desktop: 92% nuclear submarine
Workstation: 24% surfboardComponent breakdown: AMD Ryzen 5 Pro CPU: 87.7% excellent
AMD RX Vega 8 GPU: 17.4% very poor
Samsung 980 Pro SSD: 383% outstanding
Kingston 16GB DDR4 RAM: 78.9% very goodssd.userbenchmark.com/Software |
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Post by MartinT on Jan 22, 2022 22:51:54 GMT
I've just followed this method to further secure Windows 11 from attack by enabling Virtualisation and Core Security. It's worth the trouble, although - you guessed it - I had one incompatible driver that took some time to get rid of. This (plus the other two below) is what takes W11 to a whole new level above W10 in security and makes it much harder to penetrate. After this, you should have the complete trio of protection enabled: - Core Security - TPM (Trusted Platform Module) or Security Processor - Secure Boot  |
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