old Windows 11 versions: bad?

[VJ]

Hello,

How bad is it to run older Windows 11 versions?

I have an old laptop (Core2Duo) on which I can install Windows 11 23H2 - it is of course not officially supported, but works. It is the last version that works on those CPUs, due to the fact that the next versions requires some CPU instructions to be supported (SSE 4.2, POPCNT) which those older ones do not have.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window...ersion_history , 23H2 is also end of support. Does this mean they won't bet any security updates (e.g. just like Windows 10)? If that is the case, which is the better option: Windows 11 or Windows 10 (assuming drivers work and exist)? There does not seem to be much in performance.

I also have an Atom on which I tried to install Windows 11 but failed (only later I learned I should have tried 23H2, so I'll have to try again). One issue I have on the Atom is that - in Windows 10 - there are very large number of interrupts (in task manager, taking up over 90% of the CPU), and I cannot seem to pinpoint the cause - I've switched off all onboard hardware but it does not change it. These interrupts drop when the task manager is open for a longer time. It makes Windows 10 rather unusable on this system. I've tried installing Linux, but the system is quite critical what it boots from and I have problems creating a bootable disk from which it installs linux. Now that I learned about the 23H2 supporting older CPUs, I'll give that one a go. I will also try more to install Linux. I know the Atom is very low powered, but it could be enough to work as a terminal to connect to a more or less headless computer (my htpc which is only connected to a projector that makes it only usable in darker circumstances), or to my work.

Thanks

[VJ]

I've found online that Win 11 23H2 end of support puts in the same situation as Windows 10: no more security updates.
I'll pursue the installation of Linux on that Atom more, as it presently is not really usable (too slow Windows due to those interrupts).
I'll try Win 11 23H2 on the core 2 duo, as I would like to run some windows programs on it.

[UtwigMU]

I've kept two Core2Duo boxes with DVD drives around in case I need to read DVD collection. The operating system on both is Debian.

Really depends what you want to do with those.

While you can access single web page and look up stuff on mostly text webpages, browsing modern net and youtube is overkill for C2Duo. Too old for netsurfers.
Then to use late XP / Windows 7 era software or games, install that. Something like Sandy Bridge running XP with Parhelia PCIe would theoretically be the fastest Matrox GPU rig

Keep on separate VLAN that has no internet access, use dual homed workstation or NAS to share files.

Install Win10 IOT Enterprise LTS - good till 2035.

Install Linux with XFCE. KDE is not that heavier than XFCE. Latest Ubuntu server and RHEL clones want Haswell, Fedora is considering compiling for x64 v3. Debian is probably your best choice - long term updates and many deb packages. You can also try Mint (has codecs and closed source drivers and is Ubuntu based - lots of guides).

To create bootable disk and experiment, try Ventoy - there you can just copy ISO files and select them from boot menu. I've also seen a case of an atom tablet where CPU was 64-bit but BIOS only supported 32-bit bootloader. If all else fails write USB using dd from Linux.

The way I run legacy Windows (all Windows is legacy to me):

Windows laptop with WiFi disabled. Dock connects directly to PCIe NIC on my Linux workstation. Both have static IPs in same subnet with no gateway and then I use samba to transfer files and input switching on the monitor.

Over the weekend I fixed someone's PC. Windows 11 on newish Ryzen laptop with 6 cores, 16GB and NVMe. Because the retarded bing web search is enabled out of box it takes 30+ seconds from pressing start key and typing until some icons appear in the start menu. Never since Windows 95 has start menu been as slow. Now if you want that on the Atom I don't know, you must be a masochist.

[VJ]

I'll give Ventoy a go... I was using Rufus to make the bootable disks...

For the Atom, I would not mind trying a linux, but I could not get it to boot from a USB bootdisk prepared with Linux, even though I managed with Windows. A quick test yesterday showed that it can run Win11 23H2 (before I tried with a later version). I don't know why it is so critical, maybe it is the same issue as you saw with the Atom tablet (my Atom has an nVidia ION chipset). Its use would be limited, some simple server functionalities for testing or as remote viewer. But I think I more want to have it up and running because it should be possible.

The Core2Duo is a Sony VAIO laptop with a nice big display (16.4") and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650. I have used it with Fusion 360 on Windows 10, which worked well enough for my simple designs. I would like to use it again for that purpose (it started using my normal laptop, but am a bit annoyed by the smaller screen - I don't always sit at the desk where I have a big monitor), and the also to monitor my ongoing 3D prints. Remote administration of my HTPC should also be no issue for that machine. So I don't expect complicated webbrowsing, but would need Windows to run Fusion 360. I'll give a clean Win 11 23H2 a go and see how it compares to Windows 10. From security point of view, both will be similar. If it works well enough, I may upgrade its SATA hdd to a SATA SSD.

[VJ]

Over the weekend I fixed someone's PC. Windows 11 on newish Ryzen laptop with 6 cores, 16GB and NVMe. Because the retarded bing web search is enabled out of box it takes 30+ seconds from pressing start key and typing until some icons appear in the start menu. Never since Windows 95 has start menu been as slow. Now if you want that on the Atom I don't know, you must be a masochist.

I installed the Windows 11 (23H2) on the Atom as I had that bootdisk already prepared. Cold boot to login-screen takes about 1 minute, from logging in to the ability to open the start menu takes another minute. After that, it runs quite smooth for such an old system (opening settings, explorer, ... takes less than 10s). Of course I've disabled widgets, postponed updates, ... anything that could help. Not too bad for an Atom 330 with 4 GB, and potentially usable for my purpose.
There is still the issue of high system interrupts, but less than on Windows 10, and I may have identified the culprit (USB connection of an Eizo monitor - but I need to test if more). Still, it is not permanently at 100% of system interrupts (which was the case in Windows 10), so that is an improvement. Surprisingly, it considers the next-to last nVidia driver for the video card the most suitable, so I did not force an update.
I also installed Ultimaker Cura, as I'd love to use the Atom for general monitoring devices (which includes slicing for a 3d printer). Haven't run it yet to see how it goes. I also installed Fusion360 - which took almost 2 hours. I don't expect it to be usable, but I'm curious if it would be sufficient to export my designs - would allow me to have a full 3d printing workflow on the Atom.
Next I may try the linux, to see if it performs better (but then I won't be able to run Fusion - there is a github project that helps to run it with running it on Wine - but if it is not usable than that is no difference with the Windows). I'm not looking at other Windows specific software, so at least it is an easy test.

Haven't started yet on the Core2Duo, but I expect that one to run better than the Atom.

I'm thinking of getting 2 Sata SSD disks (one for the Atom, one for the Core2Duo). Either they will speed them up and make them somewhat usable, or not, in which case I can always use them for extra backup storage using a simple usb-sata interface.