Unfortunately, the system won't let me update to Windows 11. 
The reason is not specified. I guess, my hardware may be a bit dated. Anyways, it says that it will notify me somehow when the working build is ready. Will update.
I'm OK with Windows, unlike Linux (small strain) and Mac M1 (very bad). So I may not be an ideal tester.
I tried the "leaked iso" of Wondows 11, only for a few moments, but it does seem a little better than 10. The colors are MUCH softer and the border edges are softer as well.
Great to hear! Could you specify what build of 10 you are referring to?
Win10 20H2 I think. I'm not hip to Win10 versions
If my dwm.exe hypothesis is correct, Win 11 has a different dwm.exe than Win 10 (which makes sense since it has a ton more visual effects) so it might be better for us
I downloaded the official Microsoft Insider Windows 11 iso last night I am going to set that up in a VM and see how it feels. It would be amazing if Win11 solved the Win 10 issue and all we had to do was wait out Win10 until Win11 gets rolled out
I've just installed Win11 on a second partition. The first impression is…it feels safe! At least on par with my safe 1903 Win10 build. It may be too prematurely to judge tho, just initial impressions right after the setup. This could be a breakthrough. The system is very fast and looks great. Will update!
I've been staring at the installer for a bit, and I can say it is definitely a noticeable improvement over Win10. If I had to grade it on a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being unusable and 10 being perfect, Windows 7 is a 10, Windows 10 is a 1 or 2, this feels like a 6-7 so far out of the box. But I haven't been using it very long and it is in a VM.
I've been doing what limited testing I can in a virtual machine environment, but so far Windows 11 seems to be causing far less symptoms than Windows 10. It's still the same awful Win 10 user interface, but it is causing almost no symptoms, eye strain, or migraine when looking at it.
Oddly enough, when you disable the visual performance settings in Windows 11, the display actually seems worse, where in Windows 10 that helped. That would lend some credence to my dwm.exe theory since those settings are all directly routed through the dwm.exe
I took a snapshot of the dwm executable in Windows 10 and Windows 11 and it is certainly different, almost 20% larger and a build date of 6 months later. And it makes sense since Windows 11 has many more visual effects and they all would be controlled by dwm.exe
Windows 10 DWM.exe
Windows 11 DWM.exe
I should mention that the version of Windows 11 I am running, while advertised as the latest Insider Preview build, does not seem to be using a lot of the new graphic interface features besides the start menu. For example my Settings menu look exactly like Windows 10 not like the new one all the screenshots say Windows 1 should have.
Looking forward to the full release in a few months - exciting if it actually improves things
Microsoft released a new developer preview 2 days ago that I downloaded, and it's even better for my eyes than the earlier preview release. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being perfect Windows 7 classic mode with zero strain, and 10 being Windows 10 which triggers me in an instant, out of the box on default settings with no customization options set, Windows 11 seems to be around an 2-3. And I am doing side by side comparisons in identical virtual machines on the same host, to eliminate variables between the 2 OS's
I am definitely hopeful for the OS if this trend holds/continues. IT's a big difference, and it would lean towards my dwm.exe being the cause of our issue theory (for Windows at least)
So good to hear that. I was actually hesitating to update to new release afraid to ruin the current safe setup (21996.1 = out of the box). Will give it a try now.
Kind of suspicious of the Intel driver.
The new build is installed. It's difficult to judge whether it is better than the previous one without side-by-side comparison. But I'm absolutely comfortable with the new one.
I hate to be negative, but don't get too attached to Win 11 as a possibility just yet. It's going to require a new computer for most people at release. MS set the floor at requiring TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot on, etc. This means a lot of computers no longer qualify for 11 even though they are not "old". So officially, 8th gen Coffee Lake and up. 10 will be supported to 2025.
It is true you can get past the TPM, etc. thing by switching the install file from this and a Windows 10 iso, but this is MS we're talking about here. How long is that really going to last if they want to enforce the purchase of new hardware?
Well, this is the most viable possibility we've had for years now.
I understand your concern. However, TPM is easily skipped now and if you truly want this new OS in the future as a safe option for eyes, you will undoubtedly get it from, I dare say, mostly safe places. As far as hardware is concerned, Win11 is much better optimized. My 8th gen system works much better than it did under Win10. From what I've read on tech forums, some guys have installed it on 2012-2013 macs, and it works.
Sunspark I hate to be negative, but don't get too attached to Win 11 as a possibility just yet. It's going to require a new computer for most people at release. MS set the floor at requiring TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot on, etc. This means a lot of computers no longer qualify for 11 even though they are not "old". So officially, 8th gen Coffee Lake and up. 10 will be supported to 2025.
It is true you can get past the TPM, etc. thing by switching the install file from this and a Windows 10 iso, but this is MS we're talking about here. How long is that really going to last if they want to enforce the purchase of new hardware?
I'm not leaving Windows 7 until I have to, I will be running it for many many years to come. I'm not worried about installing Windows 11 at home. What Windows 11 does is open the possibility of work PC's that are more tolerable for us.
How's it going 6 days later? Still worth the upgrade to Win11 preview?
It's not hard to try it if you have a partition available and do a custom install. It would just become a second or third boot option. I might give it a shot later this week for the heck of it.
It does require a WDDM 2.0 and up graphics driver, so that means a lot of older GPUs are out.
I would recommend installing it on a Virtual machine. VM's are the greatest thing since sliced bread. VirtualBox is free software, the ISO is freely downloadable, so there's no cost to try it.
I've been doing testing with .65 and so far it is noticeably better than Windows 10
It does require a WDDM 2.0 and up graphics driver, so that means a lot of older GPUs are out.
I have a positively ANCIENT video card (and a similarly ancient motherboard without TPM or SecureBoot) and 11 installs and runs fine in a VM. You don't need to invest in any new hardware to try it out.
For best performance and for testing you need to install it on the metal.. installing it into a VM just uses the VM's driver which in turn is running inside another driver, perhaps on W7. To really know how it might be, you need to install it on a partition.
Very well, I would say. I'm on .65 and not going to update for a while because it is the safest build in years.