Microsoft’s latest operating system gets praise for its clean design and improved performance, but some users are finding fault with its feature limitations. Here’s what people hate most about Windows 11.
Although it has received a mostly positive response, Windows 11 has also been the target of quite a few barbs—including several from PCMag. Some may disagree with the complaints listed below or consider them insignificant. Others will feel righteous indignation and outrage when they try the new operating system. Some of these qualms have gotten lots of noise, especially on social media and tech news sites. Some are personal peeves. Where appropriate, we debunk complaints that are unjustified or insignificant. But others seem like genuine gripes. With that said, below is our selection of the top complaints users have about Windows 11.1. Windows 11’s Hardware Requirements Are Too Stringent At launch, much was made of Windows 11’s demanding hardware requirements. This complaint mostly affects those who want to upgrade their current PC to Windows 11. I’ve made the case that that’s not a scenario of great interest to Microsoft. The company doesn’t want you to upgrade to Windows 11 —it wants you to buy a new computer running Windows 11. Nor does Microsoft seem interested in DIY PC builders. There’s still no option to buy a standalone license for Windows 11 as there is for Windows 10, so those looking to upgrade from Windows 7 or build a new PC themselves must first install Windows 10 and then go through the free upgrade procedure. To be fair, many of the hardware requirements for Windows 11 are actually surprisingly low —a 1GHz CPU,4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. Those sound like specs from 10 years ago. The real blockers are three specific hardware requirements. The CPU must be recent, from about the last three years. The PC must have a TPM security chip. The computer’s firmware must be capable of using Secure Boot. Those last two requirements have long come standard on PCs. I would contend that the recent CPU requirement is the stumbling block for most thwarted upgraders—it’s what has prevented me from upgrading several of my PCs.2. Changing Default Apps in Windows 11 Is Too Hard To set a default app in Windows 11, you have to individually assign each file type to the app you want to use for it. This means that, instead of one setting to change, for example, CyberLink PhotoDirector to your default photo app for all photographs, you have to go through all the file types and protocols a web browser deals with: BMP, DNG, JPG, PNG, TIFF, NEF, and on and on. There’s no reason for default app settings to be so complicated. Luckily, Microsoft is reportedly working on updates to Windows 11 that would allow you to more easily set default browser; hopefully that will be extended to photos and other media types.3. You Have to Sign in to a Microsoft Account to Use Windows 11 Running the Windows 11 Home Edition requires users to sign in to a Microsoft account, which confers several benefits, such as single sign-in for Office, backup to OneDrive, syncing setting among multiple devices, full-disk encryption for the system drive, and the ability to reinstall Windows without a serial number. I challenge you to find a single Mac user who doesn’t sign into an Apple account to use their computer, and forget using a Chromebook without signing in to a Google account.
