When will windows 11 become worth upgrading to?

Dynentan said:

I'm going to stay with windows 7 because i prefer stability, but some day i might upgrade to windows 11. Is it worth upgrading to at this point?

I still use a variety of machines with a mix of Windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows 11. On the whole I find 10/11 to be as stable, if not more so, than 7.

You need to be aware that you cannot upgrade directly from Windows 7 to Windows 11, you will not be able to keep your files and installed programs, and your windows 11 will not be able to use the W7 activation to get a digital license to activate W11. I tested that here:

Eleven Forum| To activate Win 11, what types of older license are good? - post #46

You can however upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, keeping you files and apps and gaining a digital license for Windows 10. This digital license is valid for Windows 11 too, so you could then upgrade from 10 to 11.

skuddle said:

I doubt that the OP can "upgrade" his Windows 7 system to Windows 11 because any hardware manufactured during the W7 era will most likely hold him back.

I agree. You can upgrade a computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10. If the hardware is capable enough it should work OK. Even so a computer made for Windows 10 will work even better. Upgrading a computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and then to Windows 11 although technically possible will probably not be very satisfactory. Since the Windows 7 computer is probably over ten years it is better to just buy or build a new computer with hardware compatible with Windows 11 from the start. Just make sure it is at least not low end so it will easily last another ten years.

skuddle said:

I doubt that the OP can "upgrade" his Windows 7 system to Windows 11 because any hardware manufactured during the W7 era will most likely hold him back.

MisterEd said:

I agree. You can upgrade a computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10. If the hardware is capable enough it should work OK. Even so a computer made for Windows 10 will work even better. Upgrading a computer from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and then to Windows 11 although technically possible will probably not be very satisfactory. Since the Windows 7 computer is probably over ten years it is better to just buy or build a new computer with hardware compatible with Windows 11 from the start. Just make sure it is at least not low end so it will easily last another ten years.

A new computer, or one only a few years old, will almost certainly be a supported device for Windows 11 and meet the minimum hardware remeasurements: UEFI secure boot, at least 4GB RAM, TPM 2.0, Intel 8th gen or later processor (or equivalent from AMD).

However, the kernel for Windows 11 is little different from that of Windows 10. If an older PC can run W10 well, then it should run W11 just as well. While my main W11 laptops are relatively new machines, I do have one 13 year old Dell Latitude E4310 that runs W11 well on its 1st gen i5. You just have to jump through some workaround hoops to get W11 to install on an old machine.

Bree said:

A new computer, or one only a few years old, will almost certainly be a supported device for Windows 11 and meet the minimum hardware remeasurements: UEFI secure boot, at least 4GB RAM, TPM 2.0, Intel 8th gen or later processor (or equivalent from AMD).

However, the kernel for Windows 11 is little different from that of Windows 10. If an older PC can run W10 well, then it should run W11 just as well. While my main W11 laptops are relatively new machines, I do have one 13 year old Dell Latitude E4310 that runs W11 well on its 1st gen i5. You just have to jump through some workaround hoops to get W11 to install on an old machine.

Here are the default specs for the E4310:
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU: Core i5-540M Dual-Core (2.53GHz)
RAM: 4GB
HDD: 250GB

Did you make any upgrades to the Dell Latitude E4310? Did you increased the RAM and replaced the HDD with an SSD? I would be surprised if it ran Windows 11 very well with the stock configuration .

I have a 13 year old Dell Latitude E6410 that is similar (a little slower) to your Dell Latitude E4310. Here are its specs:
Dell Latitude E6410
CPU: Intel Core i5-450M Dual-Core (2.4GHz)
RAM: 4GB
HDD: 250GB

It is dual-boot with Windows 7 Pro 32-bit and Windows 10 Pro 32-bit. I find it rather sluggish with Windows 10. I wouldn't even think about upgrading it to Windows 11.

MisterEd said:

Here are the default specs for the E4310:
It is dual-boot with Windows 7 Pro 32-bit and Windows 10 Pro 32-bit. I find it rather sluggish with Windows 10. I wouldn't even think about upgrading it to Windows 11.

If you upgrade that slow HDD to an SSD you'd probably find it will run fairly well even with only 4 GB of memory. I'm curious if that Dell E6410 is 64 bit vs 32 bit?

MisterEd said:

Did you make any upgrades to the Dell Latitude E4310? Did you increased the RAM and replaced the HDD with an SSD? I would be surprised if it ran Windows 11 very well with the stock configuration....

No, it was just the stock spec. It may be slow to boot, but once it has settled down after a few minutes it's quite responsive enough for my needs. I have now given it another 4GB Ram making 8GB in total, but that was only so that it would have enough spare memory to run VirtualBox VMs.

I find 4GB is sufficient to run any 64 bit OS well. I recently upgraded my Win7 System One below from 2GB to 4GB and it positively sings now

BamaInArk said:

If you upgrade that slow HDD to an SSD you'd probably find it will run fairly well even with only 4 GB of memory. I'm curious if that Dell E6410 is 64 bit vs 32 bit?

The Dell E6410 was bought used from the Dell Outlet store for about $400. It was manufactured in 2010 but was maybe 3 or 4 years old when we bought it. It came with Windows 7 Pro 32-bit and 4GB RAM. The RAM is in one slot with the other empty. One time I asked Dell for a copy of the system restore CD and got one with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

The laptop belongs to a small non-profit who at best meets once a month. I keep it at my home so I can keep up with updates and maintain it. I can only make changes to it if I can justify it. As a 501(C)(3) we were able to buy the following from TechSoup, a Microsoft Volume License Distributor:
Windows 8 Pro 32-Bit (inc. Software Assurance) $12.00
Office Professional Plus 2010 (inc. Software Assurance) $32.00

I could have used Windows 8 Pro to upgrade Windows 7 Pro but instead decided to do a dual-boot with Windows 7 Pro. I did the free update of Windows 8 to 8.1 Pro and then Windows 10 Pro. I did a free upgrade to MS Office Pro Plus 2013 because I was entitled to as part of Software Assurance.

At one time I might have been able to justify upgrading the RAM to 8GB and Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. I could have also replaced the HDD with an SSD. That time has passed. We have another even older laptop whose HDD failed recently. If we were to spend any money now I would recommend buying a new laptop instead of spending any more money on the ones we have now.