Windows 11 is the latest operating system from Microsoft, but is it the greatest? Seemingly not, at least to a specific group of users. We recently reached out on Twitter asking, “what are the things you dislike the most about Windows 11?” The replies include comparisons to Windows 10, complaints about how certain features work (or don’t work), and the removal of some options.
We’ve sifted through the hundreds of replies to find some of the most common complaints about Windows 11.
Performance
While not the most common complaint, some pointed toward the performance of Windows 11.
its slower on older pcs that were super-fast on Windows 10. Like Surface Book/Pro/Laptop etc but hey thats life just sucks its so resource intensive on PCs that ran completely fine on 10.November 21, 2022
Missing features
Quite a few people highlighted missing features on Windows 11. Microsoft took away some Taskbar features and other options when it jumped from Windows 10 to Windows 11. Some of those features will return to the OS, but others will not.
1) Not able to click on date & time on taskbar on secondary monitor in order to open calendar.2) Can’t dock taskbar to the left or right side of monitorNovember 21, 2022
Taskbar lacking the option to show labels and never group. They removed this option in w11 and then decided to add tabs to File Explorer (completely bizarre decision).Also new shiny Task Manager is much slower than the old one. Nice to look at, ugly to useNovember 21, 2022
Can’t place taskbar at top of screenCan’t ungroup taskbar items (thankfully being fixed).More UI inconsistencies than 10Noticably slower file manager (from 7 > 10 > 11).Required MS accountNew context menus are slower and less have power user optionsNovember 21, 2022
User interface
Windows 11 received quite a bit of criticism for its user interface. Both inconsistencies and poor choices filled the replies to our tweet asking about the operating system.
These aren’t new complaints either. Our senior editor Zac Bowden recently highlighted how incomplete dark mode is on Windows 11.
everything feels different from each other. start menu feels like some web UI, apps feel modern but then the file explorer feels like a legacy component with fake skin on it. other more deeper parts of the UI feel nothing like windows 11.November 21, 2022
I will add forcing taskbar icons on all screens and not just running screens is not useful.I have 3 screens to run different apps not to have the same ones show up on all 3.November 21, 2022
– The taskbar’s size that uncustomizable- The taskbar’s search bar- The new start menu (I don’t use the live tiles on Windows 10 though, just bring back the all apps list, I don’t need the pinned and recent apps list)November 21, 2022
Ads
Many pointed their anger toward ads within Windows 11. Microsoft has continued to increase its advertising efforts within the Start menu and other elements of the OS. Suggested apps launched as a feature for Windows 11 and then Microsoft started testing suggested websites in a recent Insider build.
Unsolicited recommendations in menu, tip popups, ads, anything that disturbs my workflow and makes me feel like I’m not in full control of my machine.Microsoft updates resetting my changes to config/privacy settings. (Changing my PDF viewer back to Edge from Acrobat recently)November 21, 2022
Lack of support for older hardware
When Microsoft first announced Windows 11, the controversial minimum requirements of the OS drew the ire of many. Similar complaints were shared to us on Twitter in our recent thread.
its slower on older pcs that were super-fast on Windows 10. Like Surface Book/Pro/Laptop etc but hey thats life just sucks its so resource intensive on PCs that ran completely fine on 10.November 21, 2022
Most people won’t be able to use window 11 because of hardware incompatibility.Even 4th or 5th generation system are not supported.Not all countries and their people have enough resources to get latest hardware that fulfill the requirements.November 21, 2022
Not all bad news
Of course, the responses to this question were going to be mostly negative, since it specifically asked about things people dislike. There are many aspects of Windows 11 that people do like, so we’ll have to visit the flip side of things in the future. But even in response to our tweet, some people took time to compliment Windows 11.
I actually cant find much of anything to complain about! Im flying with my workflow right now…every since they added folders to start and cleaned things up UI wise…im a happy camper.November 21, 2022
