Windowsrepelransomwareand
othermalwareattacks;thestringent
CPUrequirementsmoveprocessors
pastmodelsthatcould sufferfrom
theSpectreandMeltdownbugs.
Thesefactorscombinedgo some way
tojustifyingMicrosoft’sclaimthat
Windows 11 is “themostsecure
Windows yet”.
ItalsotiesinwithMicrosoft’s
laudableaimtoridtheworldof
passwords.Bypushingusers- home
andbusiness- to WindowsHello,
whetherthroughfacerecognitionor
fingerprints,youcaneliminate
phishingattacks,forinstance,ata
stroke.DaveyWinder(seep 118 ) has
beentirelesslybangingthepassword
security drum fortwodecades,and
yetstill theproblemspersist.A step
changeisrequired.
Aftermixedmessages,someof
themcomingfromMicrosoft’s
partnersratherthanMicrosoftitself,
itexplainedthatTPM2 ratherthan
TPM1.2wasnecessarybecauseofits
“supportfornewerand stronger
cryptographicalgorithms”.That
statementishazierthanwe would
like,butifthe endresultisfewer
Windows PCsbeingsubjecttoattack,
thensobeit.
Thefinalquestionover
compatibilityconcernsWindows 11
inVMs,andinparticularwhether
MacownerscouldrunitinParallels.
Theanswer is yes,butyoumust
enablea “virtualTPM”first.This
virtualchipcanthenbetransferred
betweensystems,forpeoplewho
liketoruntheirVMsondifferent
systems.Wewaittoseehowwellit
worksinpractice.
Startinthemiddle
IfyourWindows 10 PCsarefitfor
upgrade,oryou’reinvestinginnew
Windows 11 systems,themost
immediatechanges you’llnoticeare
onthe desktop.TheTaskbarliterally
takescentrestage,withicons
(including theStartbutton)now
centred insteadofsproutingfrom
theirtraditionalpositionontheleft.
ItbringstheWindows 11 Taskbar
muchmore in linewith themacOS
DockandChromeOS,butifyou
can’tshakethemusclememoryof
clicking Startinthebottom-left
corner,Microsofthassensibly
allowed userstoreverttothatlayout.
TheStartmenu– whichhasbeen
endlessly tweakedsinceWindows 8
- hasalsobeenreplaced.Gonearethe
awkwardlivetiles,whichnever
tessellatedproperlyandwere
randomlyjumbledwhenyoumoved
betweendisplays with differing
resolutions.In itsplacecomesa
muchsimplerapplauncher,which
allowsyoutopinfavouriteappsin
fixedpositionsifyouhaven’talready
nailedthemtotheTaskbar.
The“Recommended”sectionatthe
bottomof theStartmenuisanoddity
andmerely seemstocontainrecently
openedappsandfilesatpresent.
That’shandyina way,althoughit
feelslikeitshould be in thesearch
menu,notStart.
Speakingofwhich,thesearch
menuhasalsobeenrevamped, with
Cortanadefinitivelydrummedoutof
existence.Fewwillmournher
passing.Searchstillfeelslikeit’s
tryingto be allthingstoallpeople,
however,combiningfiles,settings
andwebresults,whileoften
struggling to deliverthething
you’reactuallyseeking.Somethingnew,
somethingdropped
Ifthat thingyou wereseekingwasthe
spreadsheetyouwereworkingon
yesterday,youwon’tfindit in the
TaskViewTimelineeither:that
feature hasbeendropped.However,
virtualdesktopsupporthasbeen
improved,withtheoptiontoset
individualbackgroundsandthemes
fordifferentdesktops,allowingyou
tocreate a more obviousseparation
between“work”and“personal”
desktops,forinstance.Forhome
workerstryingtotakea mental
breakfromthedayjob,thatcouldbe
a very welcomemove.
Widgetsisthe otherstrangenew
iconyou’llfindlurkinginthe
Taskbar.Sproutingfroma
transparentpaneontheleft-hand
sideof thescreen,widgetsare
currentlynothingmorethan
weatherforecasts,sportsresults,
stocktickersandnewsheadlines
deliveredbyMicrosoft.These may
looksimilartothe“gadgets”found
inVistaandWindows7,butthose
wereindividualelementsthatcouldbe placed anywhereonthe
screen,ratherthanbeinglockedto
a specific pane.
Ifthird-partyAPIsaremade
available, widgetscould become
moreuseful– maybe even as a means
ofputtingcompanynewsorbusiness
dataunder employees’noses.Intheir
currentstate,however,we’dbemore
temptedtosimplyswitchthemoffvia
theTaskbarsettings
menu.
Manymighttake a
lookatthenewTaskbar,
therevampedStartMenu
andother newcomers
andconcludethere’s a lot@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO“Themostimmediate
changesyou’llnoticeareon
thedesktop.TheTaskbar
literallytakescentrestage,
withiconsnowcentred”ReviewsCLOCKWISEFROM
TOPTheOShasa
morecoherentlook,
fromthesettings
menutotheTaskbar
tovirtualdesktops