Windows 11 first preview out but controversy heats up, and more

Microsoft’s first preview build for Windows 11 is now available (Windows.com) to download from Microsoft for Windows Insider.

• The new Insider build includes all the major changes to the user interface. Some key features aren’t yet available – this very first preview version of Windows 11, for example, doesn’t yet include support for Android apps (Android authority).
• Called Build 22000.51 and is a beta version. There are known issues including system tray issues on multiple monitors and a number of minor issues. So please be careful and you might not install it on your only computer.
• To get it: first confirm that your PC is compatible, then sign up as a Windows Insider – you can do that in your Windows System Preferences or use this link (Windows.com). (Or run it on a virtual machine.)
• By the way, Microsoft is dropping hints that Windows 11 will launch on October 20th, although other details indicate that upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11 won’t happen until 2022.

But:

Microsoft dropped the ball in communicating which PCs and platforms will be compatible with Windows 11, why some modern systems have been left out, and so on.

• A great deal of chatter on forums and social media led people to find out if their still decent computer was capable of upgrading.
• In response, Microsoft published a post yesterday attempting to explain and defend the updated minimum requirements.
• The company said CPUs, including Intel Skylake 6th generation and earlier, along with pre-Zen AMD processors did not meet the “Principles of Security and Reliability and Minimum System Requirements for Windows 11”.
• Importantly, it is indirectly referring to the fact that 7th generation Intel CPUs and first generation AMD Zen 1 processors may still be eligible even though they were not originally included.
• Windows 11’s initial preview bypasses the CPU and TPM checks for later versions. In doing so, Microsoft uses data to track performance and reliability in order to evaluate the options in advance.

It is a problem:

My colleague Gary Sims has published a video on his YouTube channel Gary Explains in which the current problems when upgrading systems to Windows 11 are described in detail: the necessary TPM 2.0 parts, lack of support for Intel 7. means that even systems from 2018 cannot be upgraded.

• Gary says in his video that out of seven PCs he owns, none can upgrade to Windows 11. None!
• Unfortunately, I’m in the same boat: my trusty Dell XPS, which I use for most of my daily tasks, including writing this newsletter, cannot be updated *.
• * Microsoft’s PC health check app says “it’s not supported”, but that’s different from actually being able to upgrade. It can work, but it may not be supported. Unless Intel 7th generation CPUs are supported?
• As you can see, everything is very chaotic.

⌚ Samsung unveiled its Wear OS collaboration at MWC in Barcelona yesterday. It’s called One UI Watch, a new experience on a smartwatch and basically a skin from Wear OS 3.0. However, we did not receive a Galaxy Watch 4 version – Samsung said the new smartwatch will be released in “summer” as part of a Samsung Unpacked event. (Android authority).

🔥 Google may release the Pixel 5a in late summer (Android authority).

🎧 Sony WF-1000XM4 review: the only real AirPods killer (Android authority).

🔜 Three new Motorola 2021 phones leak, one with an SD870 chipset (Android authority).

🤷‍♂️ Why you shouldn’t wait for a Snapdragon 888 Plus smartphone (Android authority).

🎮 Xbox Cloud Gaming now available through browsers on PCs and Apple devices if you are an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber (Polygon).

⚖ Richter dismisses FTC’s first antitrust complaint against Facebook that results in Facebook surpassing a trillion dollar market valuation on the same day (Engage).

💸 YouTube TV now supports 4K streaming, but it comes at a price, as does cable (Engage).

📺 LGs C1 and G1 OLEDs are played with 120Hz Dolby Vision (The edge).

🦉 Duolingo has applied for an IPO and is actually profitable (on an adjusted basis) (TechCrunch). Here is the S-1 – the incredibly concise CEO letter (p. 108) from Luis von Ahn (the inventor of CAPTCHA / reCAPTCHA) alone is worth it. (SEK).

😬 Amazon uses no human intervention algorithms to fire Flex employees (Ars-Technica).

📺 All of a sudden, cellular operators everywhere are excited: A South Korean court ruled that Netflix has to pay network usage fees to cellular operators, with the streaming service accounting for up to 4.8% of the country’s traffic at the end of last year. That could mean paying up to $ 88 million a year in Korea alone … (Korea Herald).

👗 The silk race in almost everything: healthcare, food and clothing (Wired).

🥗 I’m hungry for lunch today, so: 10 of the best cheap and healthy cold lunches according to Reddit (Life hacker). (The random cold boiled potatoes could be awesome, according to Amelia Earhart?)

♨️ Venus clouds too dry, sour for life (as we know it) (Ars-Technica).

🐶😻 “Reddit Vets, What Can Most Pet Owners Do To Make Their Pets Lives Better?” (r / askreddit).

The Tour de France continues with some nasty falls and injuries, with target speeds in excess of 70 km / h that sometimes lead to quick, scary falls.

But while sprinters appear faster than ever at the finish, the average speed of the race remains high amid the controversies of cycling, but a little slower than the doping era: