Jumping from Win 7 to Win 11

[#1]

I'm using an old pc with Win 7 (and even older Office). I'm thinking of buying a new pc with Win 11. I have never used any of the MS operating systems since Win 7. How different are 7 and 11? Am I going to have to relearn a lot, or are they reasonably similar at user level (same or similar icons, same way of doing things, etc)?

Does it force me to use the cloud? The pc I'm interested in has a 1TB hard drive (not SSD), which is a lot more than the hard drive on my present pc, so in-pc-storage should be no problem. Will I be able to partition the hard drive?

Also, am I going to have to find different versions of all the other software I have added over the years? Am I going to be able to transfer my old Office across or will MS stop me?

Thankyou for any help you are able to offer

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@penneck 

Win 7 is so old I can't remember what it's like but don't be frightened of Win 11, it doesn't bite.

You are not forced to use the cloud, simply set up a local account. Keep clear of OneDrive and Office 365 and you will find the transfer easy. You can still partition the hard drive but personally I would go for a computer with a small (246/512GB) SSD on which to install Win 11 and other programs then use a separate SSD or HDD for your data.

Whilst they will more than likely still run, I would think twice before installing Office Suites etc. of similar age as Win 7 if they are now unsupported.

[#3]

Many thanks @Baldrick1 

[#4]

I'd just add that setting up with a local account, which I ALWAYS do, is probably quite well hidden and you may have to be persistent and read all the prompts carefully.

I know that on one PC that I upgraded to w11 I could see no way to do it and set it up initially logging in using a Microsoft account. Fortunately it's pretty simple to revert to a local account once you're up and running.

I'd almost say that it's MORE like Windows 7 than Windows 10, but it's still rather different, hopefully you'll soon get used to it. Settings is (mostly) quite different to Control Panel which it largely replaces - you still find "legacy" stuff popping up though. 😂

As for older software, I run quite a lot of it though some I've had to give up on, Internet Explorer included. The W10 earlier versions of Edge were way too simplified and I stuck with IE. The W11 version of Edge is "tolerable" and even has some nice touches! IE seems to have been obliterated anyway in a recent update. Office 2007 works perfectly well for example.

The Start menu has been changed again so jumping W10 may be a bonus as you miss out on the way that worked and only have one new design to learn.

And Windows Update works properly, whereas in W7 I found all sorts of issues on different machines. Though the regular (monthly or so) big updates are almost a version upgrade or upgrade install and can take a while.

I'd definitely go for SSD though, I've now upgraded all my systems and use the old hard drives (mounted in suitable enclosures) as backup drives.

[#5]

On Win11 Home its now a requirement to use an online login (hotmail/msn etc). There`s probably a work around for this. For 11 Pro you can still activate and login with a local account

[#6]

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@notcloud wrote:

On Win11 Home its now a requirement to use an online login ... ... There`s probably a work around for this.

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Here are a couple of workarounds - Youtube : JayzTwoCents - Don't let Microsoft get away with this! 

[#7]

a bit late to the party Dear Boris,  but   Windows 11 Pro is pretty good if you tweak/add/delete certain  things.

Personally i think Windows 7 Enterprise (for me) was the best,

Mind you i used N-lite to create a custom lightweight fast Windows, no printing no office suites etc blah. Lean fast stable with lots of **disabled services. **This can get really complicated as there are dependancies ( not here now life too short haha )

back to your needs

the 1st should be OPENSHELL 4.4.170 or newer, this basically allows you to have a Windows 7 bottom left start switch and menu WHICH EVERTYTHING hinges off, importasnt because it was/used gto be Windows 11 has a diferent layout for programs or apps and can be confusing.

So long story  having things look like Windows 7 gets you to find/see immediately where you are,  once you get it looking like Windows 7 which imo was pretty darn intuitive,   my kids went [-Censored-] when seeing i think cant recall Windows 8. in plain english not intuitive.

As i said  Open Shell allows one to customise the start menu as well/

also Winaero Tweaker  allows very many mods not easily or possible to Tray, Windows, Reboot/Hibernation,reboot etc etc very many great tweaks old Paint old volume/speaker buttons so on and so forth. these 2 programs allow one to have clarity over the new look/feel/ everthing in a different place scenario.

USE Microsoft Edge it is great, i have used everything there is they truly have down a wonderfull job,

PS ......................................................CORTANA goes out first 

[#8]

@baldrick 

I've still got a Win7 install on a PC. It was a new build when Win7 was the active version of Windows. It even has a SSD for the OS and 'mirrored' HDDs for the data. It has never been connected to the Internet. File transfers onto and off it are (have been) via removeable media. It has no need of things like Orifice (of any version). It serves a purpose.

If only MS hadn't removed the option of LAN (non-IP, unrouted) networking it would have made life easier in certain cases.

I may be back to ask current opinions on available *ix versions/flavours/installs before Win11 is forced down my throat. I think I still remember an *ix flavour used in connection with the National Lottery.

[OS path. MVS. TIMAP (pre-Internet era). VMS. IBM-RT Aix, Ultrix. Windows, Windows 95, Windows 98 -> NT (VMS sourcecode borged into MS-Win) -> XP -> 7 -> 10. etc. Network path. DECnet, X.25, LAT, ISDN, ATM, IP (plus stuff that has faded from memory). I don't remember much RACF. But I still remember punchcards. And dropping a stack of them. And unmanaged L1 devices]

[#9]

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