HACKER Q&A
📣 Phileosopher

What is Windows 11 under the hood?


I know this may be a premature hope, but I sincerely wish Windows would eventually become a Unix-like already, just to make the consumer PC world more streamlined. WSL was a good step, and now I'm getting an Android-like Play-But-Amazon Store vibe.

So, does anyone have any hard facts about this rollover? I have so many questions:

- Are Windows services still going to be the elaborate mechanism they've always been, or is this going to merge into being like Linux as well?

- What about the folder tree structure? Will it still be Windows-like (ProgramFiles+Windows+Users) or the Linux style?

- Are we expecting any Win8 UX abominations where things aren't where the users expect, or is this going to go like WinME-from-98 back in the day where it's functionally similar but the insides are different?

- How backwards-compatible will this be? Can I still run x86 Win98-era stuff, or will this have to become another VM experience? For that matter, is there any baked-in VM-like capability now for Home edition yet (i.e., like Wine)?

- I'm sure I'm missing some questions, so please ask them as well.

EDIT: first post, forgot to parse bullets


  👤 tonyedgecombe Accepted Answer ✓
>Are Windows services still going to be the elaborate mechanism they've always been

I quite like the way Windows services work, it's a well defined API and I've always been able to do what I needed. Most importantly it has been consistent for twenty five years now.


👤 yyyk
>I sincerely wish Windows would eventually become a Unix-like already

Why? Unix is rather flawed. We've learnt a great deal in the last 30 years, we can do better rather than get stuck on an ancient standard.


👤 wmf
Windows 11 is just reskinned Windows 10.

👤 legrande
The only surface-level changes seem to be:

- Rounded corners

- The start menu is centered now

- A few new wallpapers

- Some things like calc.exe have a new skin

I'm still not certain what the Unique Selling Point of Windows 11 is. They haven't stressed what it is in their marketing. Guess I'll just download a Windows11 ISO and find out


👤 vimy
Why do you think they would throw away years of work to start over?