Windows 11

[Vince]

Folks, I've been closely following the new Windows 11 operating system, and I've seen that a lot of emotions have clouded the issues.

The simple truth is that Windows 11 is a massive upgrade to Windows 10 that will only work on new, powerful computers. Windows 10 will continue to work fine on the rest of them.

 

[Vince]

A few months ago, a cyber-gang encrypted the computers of a major US gasoline supplier. After weeks of refusal, the company paid the ransom because America's east coast was endangered by a gasoline shortage.

On a happier note, a gang managed to seize about 40 business computers, but the company rapidly fell back onto an alternate plan, with no harm done. But those forty computers would ultimately have affected about 1,000 businesses. And those businesses, with their customers, would have affected almost 1 million computers.

Windows 11 will include Microsoft's painful and controversial defense against these attacks. And painful as it is, I'm on Microsoft's side.

 

[Vince]

In 2009, scientists invented the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip. It encrypts the hardware on a computer so that extortioners cannot seize physical control of a computer. In 2016, Microsoft demanded that all new Windows 10 computers include the TPM 2.0 chip. The chip contains its own software program and costs less than $15 US. (Tech companies have raised the price now that they are in demand by people who don't realize that they already have one).

Unfortunately, no computer could use them. The first CPU chip able to use TPM was released in July 2017--most new computers didn't have that chip, and a lot of the other hardware in the computer couldn't use it. And Windows 10 cannot operate the chip. Since it did nothing, most manufacturers installed it but did not turn it on.

Windows 11 is designed for new, powerful computers, and it operates the TPM chip. However, TPM cannot operate on a lot of hardware manufactured before 2020.

 

[Vince]

Okay, on the bottom left side of your monitor is a search bar. Type tpm.msc into it. If it tells you that it can't locate your TPM chip, it hasn't been turned on. If it describes your TPM chip, it is turned on.

Don't worry--Windows 10 can't operate the chip anyway, but you'll need it turned on in order to install Windows 11.

 

[Michael74]

Josh has an article on how to turn on the chip.


I'm wondering if Microsoft will be able to automatically turn on that chip, or if people will have to do it manually. Anyway, Windows 11 doesn't come out till next year. Microsoft should give us more information as the update date gets nearer.

 

[Vince]

Michael, the chip has to be turned on manually. Windows 11 can't turn it on, because you can't install 11 until the chip is turned on.

 

[Michael74]

Thank you.

 

[Vince]

Microsoft released their second Windows Preview yesterday.

It corrects about fifty minor glitches in the first Preview. It offers one major improvement: there will be a Search bar on the Start page. There are also some minor improvements.

And you cannot install it if your TPM chip is not turned on, unless you have the first Preview already installed. There was some hope that MS would releaser two versions of Windows 11, with one of them not requiring the TPM chip; apparently, this won't be happening. The new Preview cannot operate the TPM chip, however; that will take a lot of power and cause problems that MS cannot yet solve.

 

[tdidymas]

Michael, the chip has to be turned on manually. Windows 11 can't turn it on, because you can't install 11 until the chip is turned on.

If you are talking about a user activating TPM on his own computer, then it has to be rebooted and manually activated in BIOS utility.

But if you are talking about administrators on company computers and factory diagnostics, they can manipulate BIOS to activate modules (or inactivate) on the next boot; therefore, it can be done remotely by an administrator, or if a hacker can penetrate the BIOS copy in RAM. The only way to require a manual activation (or inactivation) is if it has a physical jumper that must be moved manually. Does the new TPM module have that?

 

[Vince]

Tdidymas, that is an informative post. I have not seen anything at all about activating TPM chips on company networks.

I am only talking about TPMs on individual computers. I enabled my TPM chip through BIOS, without physically touching the chip, and it worked.

 

[Michael74]

...if a hacker can penetrate the BIOS copy in RAM. The only way to require a manual activation (or inactivation) is if it has a physical jumper that must be moved manually. Does the new TPM module have that?

That was my thought. There are no physical jumpers. Its all BIOS changes. If hackers can get into BIOS, maybe Microsoft can do likewise to make the change. They will be aware that many people won't want to monkey with things they don't understand, and thus many won't make the change manually.

Microsoft is not doing this with current insider previews of Windows 11. People have to make the change manually for those.

 

[Vince]

The Terrible Truth About Windows Upgrades

Windows XP, the queen of 32-bit systems, was built from the ground up to run on single-core 32-bit systems.

When MS introduced Vista, they neglected to mention that it was designed for dual-core 64-bit systems. They made it backwards-compatible and produced a disaster. As the internet raged over what a bad system Vista was, an off-brand company produced a low-powered budget laptop with Vista installed--and it ran great. Built from the ground up for Vista, its low-end dual-core CPU ran Vista just fine.

Requiring less power than Vista, Windows 7 ran even better. Requiring less power still, Windows 8 ran even better. And requiring even less power than any of them, Windows 10 ran the best of all.

But Windows 11 will require more power than any of them. Designed for new, powerful computers, it should run well on them. Otherwise, you will get an operating system that is not as good as Windows 10.

 

[Michael74]

Maybe its not the best time to force people to buy a new computer. There seems to be a global shortage of chips.

 

[Michael74]

The preview builds of Windows 11 aren't enforcing the minimum hardware standards and can be installed on an array of PCs, in part to test how the operating system performs on older chips.

So people won't know for sure if their computer will run Windows 11 regular edition even if it runs the preview version. I guess we will just have to wait to find out. They are still making changes to it.

 

[Serving Zion]

Requiring less power than Vista, Windows 7 ran even better. Requiring less power still, Windows 8 ran even better. And requiring even less power than any of them, Windows 10 ran the best of all.

But Windows 11 will require more power than any of them.

If it's taking more power it must be doing something with it. Do you know what it's doing with all that power?

 

[Michael74]

After much confusion last week, Microsoft attempted to explain its hardware requirements again yesterday, and it sounds like the main driver behind these changes is security...You obviously need modern hardware to enable all these protections...

Hackers seem to be slowly winning the battle versus current software. With hackers holding companies for millions in ransom, MSFT may be under pressure from officials to do something.

 

[Vince]

Serving Zion asked what Windows 11 is doing with all that power:

It will be operating the TPM chip. This will encrypt your computer's hardware to make it difficult for hackers to seize physical control of your rig.

 

[tdidymas]

Serving Zion asked what Windows 11 is doing with all that power:

It will be operating the TPM chip. This will encrypt your computer's hardware to make it difficult for hackers to seize physical control of your rig.

Will it require legacy virus signatures to keep downloading every week?

 

[Vince]

No. It doesn't affect viruses. It defends your rig against malware that seizes physical control of your computer.

 

[tdidymas]

No. It doesn't affect viruses. It defends your rig against malware that seizes physical control of your computer.

Then the answer would be "Yes," since it doesn't affect viruses. We'll still have to download the massive virus signatures.

Ok, so it defends computers against malware like trojans and the like, but is that all it will do in regard to major changes (disregarding bells and whistles that most people don't care about)? If so, then individuals likely won't need it for a long time, IMO, because hackers won't waste their time trying to hack into a computer that contains a few pennies worth of information (ID info, bank accounts worth $200, etc).

In my 30 years of experience of using computers, I have never been hacked (or got malware) on a personal PC. But then, I've used precautions for most of that time, too. The only time I got malware on a computer was at work. And that was only because I indiscriminately clicked on a link in an email that a coworker sent. And that was way back when malware was relatively new, and I wasn't yet aware of it. Since then I'm wary of links in emails.

I guess my point is, if we still have to pay attention to antivirus s/w, then what do we need Win11 for? It seems like only corporations will need it. Are there any other reasons why individuals would need to upgrade (other than W10 will eventually have a support expiration, or other than people are lazy and don't want to deal with precautions)?