It will be one thing, say, later this year or in 2022, to buy a new PC with Windows 11. We can be reasonably certain that Windows 11 will run on your new Dell, HP, or Lenovo PC. Maybe some of your drivers and programs won’t run, but Windows 11 itself? No problem.

But, if you want to update your existing computers, especially those that have a few years on them — that’s another story. It’s difficult to know whether any given computer will run Windows 11, which arrives Oct. 5. Yes, there’s Microsoft’s PC Health Check app and other programs to determine whether you can run Windows 11. But Microsoft pulled it the first time around and I’m none too sure how reliable it is this time around.[ Related: What enterprise needs to know about Windows 11 ]

There are other “Can I run Windows 11?” programs. (I like the free and open-source WhyNotWin11.) But the only way you can really know if your PC will run Windows 11 is to, well, try to run Windows 11 on your PC.

That can be an expensive and annoying experiment. Sure, the upgrade itself is free. But no one’s going to be paying you — unless you’re someone like me who writes about this stuff — to upgrade your Windows 10 machine and then find out it doesn’t work right or it doesn’t support an essential application. In fact, Computerworld’s own Microsoft Patch Lady, Susan Bradley, recommends you hold off on moving to Windows 11.https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.480.1_en.html#goog_410769075Volume 0% 

Microsoft remains confused as ever about what can, and can’t, run Windows 11. For example, and I’m not making this up: Microsoft has relaxed its Windows 11 Insider Program beta rules so you can run Windows 11 beta releases on PCs that won’t be able to run Windows 11 when it ships Oct. 5.

Why would the company do this? Doesn’t it know it’s going to tick off some of their most loyal users who want an early jump at Windows 11 when those users discover — surprise! — they can’t run Windows 11 after all? That makes no sense.

I’ve been running the Windows 11 Beta Channel 22000.184 release on a new computer — a Beelink GTR7 Mini PC  —  bought just so I could check out the new OS. This PC is powered by a 4GHz AMD Ryzen 7 3750H processor. The CPU is backed by 16GB DDR4 RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD for storage.

In short, it’s a decent PC. And after fooling around with Windows 11 for six weeks now, I can safely say I see no point in “upgrading” to it.

I do think there’s one good reason to move to Windows 11. It has better security, presuming your hardware can support it. But, and pay attention now, it turns out you can turn on most of Windows 11’s security goodness in Windows 10.

As Jason Perlow recently pointed out: “If you are running the 20H2 release (Windows 10 October 2020 Update) as a consumer, small business, or enterprise, you can take advantage of these [“new” security features] if you deploy Group Policy or simply click into Windows 10’s Device Security menu to switch them on.

He’s right. You can. The tools are already there. I’ve done it myself on three of my older Windows PCs. All of which, I might add, probably won’t run the final version of Windows 11.

Perlow goes into detail about how to do this, so I don’t need to repeat him here. My point is that since you can lock down Windows 10 on newer PCs just as well as Windows 11 — without any danger or trouble — there’s really no good reason to upgrade.

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting-edge PC operating system, 300bps was a fast Internet connection, WordStar was the state-of-the-art word processor, and we liked it!

Modern laptops are more powerful than ever before, and thanks to advancements in mobile technology, they are also more efficient as well, giving them ever greater battery lives.

However, they still need to be plugged in a juiced up throughout the day.  While laptop battery life is a chief cause of mobile moans, it’s possible to get significant improvements by good practice and a few software tweaks. To help you get a longer laptop battery life, here are 10 easy ways to improve it. 

1. Dim your screen

The screen is one of the most power-hungry parts of the laptop. It takes serious amounts of battery power to keep your display looking clear and bright. Saving this power is simply a question of turning the brightness down. 

The screen brightness button is usually located as a second function of one of the F keys, and is represented by a little sun symbol with up and down icons. To use it, just hold down the correct function key and then choose up or down.RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…CLOSEhttps://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.480.1_en.html#goog_1113833299https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.480.1_en.html#goog_296936476Volume 0%Advertisement PLAY SOUND

2. Change power settings

Windows 10 comes with some great power features, which enable you to eke out the best performance when you’re plugged into the mains, and optimise battery life when on the move. 

Type ‘power options’ into the Start Search box and choose ‘Power saver’ from the list. Windows 10 also has more methods for saving battery life. These include settings for powering off the monitor and kicking into sleep mode more quickly.

3. Switch off Wi-Fi

One of the biggest battery sappers is the wireless networking capabilities built into most laptops. Wi-Fi drains the battery by constantly drawing power from the battery and, when not connected, looking for networks. 

When you’re using your laptop away from the grid, the likelihood is you’re away from wireless networks, so you can turn this device off. Many laptops have a function button that enables you to turn off the wireless adaptor manually to save yourself the unnecessary waste, but older laptops often don’t have this.

If this is the case, open up the Notification Center by clicking the speech bubble icon on the far-right side of the taskbar, and click on ‘Wi-Fi’ to turn it off.

4. Turn off peripherals

Using USB peripherals can put a drain on your system, because your motherboard has to power them, so unplugging everything saves juice. USB sticks, mice and webcams are common offenders, so copy all your information across and eject your devices as soon as possible, and put up with laptop track pads over your USB mouse.

Many laptops have function buttons to turn off the built-in webcam, which drains the battery if given the chance. And switch your speakers to mute if you’ve no need for sound – your laptop beeping every time it gets an email or boots Windows can be a drain.

5. Eject your disc drives

Having a disc spinning in the drive is a huge drain on resources, and many programs constantly do this. Simply eject your discs before you switch to battery power to gain vital extra minutes from your working day.

Most modern laptops don’t come with disc drives installed these days, but if yours does, it’s worth making sure it’s empty when you’re on the move.

6. Invest in some hardware

Advertisement

Good practice can go some way to extending your battery life, but if you need to use your laptop throughout your working day, you’re going to need some help. 

Most laptops come with a six-cell battery, but many manufacturers offer eight- or even 12-cell optional upgrades, which can double your power. 

The alternative to expensive laptop batteries are portable laptop battery chargers, which give you valuable extra hours for all your devices. These are usually compact battery units that have adapters for most laptops and mobile phones, which is portable enough to be placed in a bag and has enough capacity to double the length of your charge.

Check out our list of the best portable laptop battery chargers and power banks for our pick of the best devices to keep your laptop charged.

7. Disable features

Windows 10 has some handy built-in features, but many put demands on your system that are unnecessary when working on the move. Take the simple measure of turning off graphical effects when you’re on the move to make your laptop more efficient.

8. Battery care

Lithium-Ion batteries don’t need a complete discharge (contrary to popular belief) but also you should use a battery once you’ve charged it. 

If you have a spare you keep topped up, use that instead of your main regularly. If you have an older non-Lithium-Ion battery, you’ll need to regularly discharge it.

•  Looking for a new laptop? Check out the best laptops of 2018 

Matt Hanson

Senior Computing editor

Matt (Twitter) is TechRadar’s Senior Computing editor. Having written for a number of magazines and websites, there’s no aspect of technology that Matt isn’t passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. If you’re encountering a problem or need some advice with your PC or Mac, drop him a line on Twitter.