No surprise that Windows 7 users have ignored W11

I detected an element of surprise in your news story that the vast majority of Windows 7 users have upgraded to Windows 10, and not 11 (Issue 653, page 6). But this is exactly what I would have expected. If you’ve waited this long to switch from Windows 7, it’s likely you don’t take chances with technology, and stick with what you’ve got for as long as it’s reasonably safe to do so.

I have a lot of sympathy with this ‘wait until the last minute’ approach because upgrading too early can be just as big a mistake as upgrading too late. I can think of several occasions where I updated software eager to use the new tools, only to regret the decision when they proved to be unstable and prone to crashing.

It follows, therefore, that Windows 7 loyalists will prefer the relatively small step of upgrading to Windows 10, rather than leaping into the unknown with 11. I think they should be braver though. The difference between 10 and 11 is the smallest ever between two successive versions of Windows. Jumping from 7 to 11 may seem daunting, but most users will be fine.

Of course, the other reason why Windows 7 users have rejected 11 is that their ageing computers don’t meet Microsoft’s stringent technical specifications. Microsoft has only got itself to blame. Frank Clarkson

We think Frank’s right that many Windows 7 users have been prevented from upgrading because of Microsoft’s requirement that computers need a TPM 2.0 processor. He’s also right that the leap from Windows 10 to 11 is smaller than between previous versions. If you are given the option of upgrading from 7 to 11, we’d advise you to take it.