Unsurprisingly, despite stating multiple times that Windows 10 will be the last release, here is Windows 11. I guess that since Apple bumped Mac OS up to 11 that now it was no longer "hip" to stay on 10 forever.

In practical terms, Windows 11 isn't that much different from Windows 10 (and it shares the same NT version number, 10.0). Still, it is different in the following ways:

• Windows 11 is now 64-bit only. No 32-bit version, which means there is no more support for old 16-bit applications that had sensible user interfaces.
• Windows 11 now requires UEFI and Secure Boot to be turned on. Thankfully these days Linux has caught on and caught up with that scheme so it's not as crippling as before.
• Windows 11 now requires a TPM 2.0 chip. Not really sure why.
• Windows 11 now requires an 8th gen Intel CPU or newer, or a Ryzen 2000 series chip or newer on the AMD side. Again, not really sure why. Allegedly it's because the older CPUs have too many hardware vulnerabilities. Not like we haven't patched those out.
• Due to the above, Windows 11 threatens to produce even more e-waste than ever before as most people running Windows 10 can't upgrade.
• Windows 11 changes the user interface again, because it's fun.
• Windows 11 now includes yet more AI bullshit.
• Windows 11 now includes yet more Micro$oft account bullshit.
• Windows 11 now includes yet more bullshit in general.

Sounds like a typical software release these days, really. I'm not sure when it became acceptable to push all this nonsense onto end users, just that I guess it did because no one seems to care except for a small and not vocal enough minority.

Windows setup now asks you for a product key front and center. Windows Vista used to do this too, they removed it in Windows 7. At some point Windows 10 also started doing it again too. Whatever, not like you can't get around it.

If you don't meet the nonsense minimum requirements for the operating system, you can not proceed with installation. This is a change, in the past you used to be able to install anyway "at your own risk". Upgrading is affected in exactly the same way.

A lot of cheap consumer grade hardware (especially those tablet things people bought en-masse in the mid-2010s) ended up running 32-bit Windows 10, despite being 64-bit hardware. All these users are in for a shock when they cannot upgrade to Windows 11 and have to erase all their data and start again.
Just the same are all the people who bought new hardware in 2018-2019 and now have to buy all new hardware because it's not new "enough". As if this planet doesn't have enough of an e-waste problem. And now that countries overseas have wised up to our dumping all our e-waste over there and letting them deal with it, now we have a REAL problem.

Fortunately, at least for fresh installs, there is a way to bypass all the BS:

This is of course not for the faint of heart, and Microsoft says that doing so is "unsupported" and you won't receive updates. Yeah, well, whatever. At least I don't have to blow hundreds or thousands of dollars on new crap for no technical reason.