Changes made to any UI can be cosmetic, functional or both. In Windows 11 most of the changes are cosmetic and appreciated as a nice change from the Windows 8 days, but the functional changes that came about DO NOT make this an easier to use or more intuitive OS.

Talk to any seasoned Windows user and they’ll tell you that the Win11 taskbar, for instance, is a clear step backward and that most of the stuff that was removed will have to be added back in at some point, even as optional settings. I get e.g. the simplification of certain parts of the OS but this approach is useful to new Windows users. Millions upon millions upon millions of experienced users had their life made harder by that choice. This shouldn’t be happening. Streamlining an OS does not mean that it has to be crippled in order to be more usable by beginners.

To be honest, I think that the most important reason behind Win11’s launch is, or should be, the stronger security we were promised. But Microsoft never explained adequately how and why those hardware specifications achieve that, so it not only is an “unsexy” reason to upgrade an OS, it’s also an “invisible” one. Very few people seem to care about that and I do not blame them.