Windows 11 23H2, new Windows Backup, & the need for a Microsoft-Account-Linked Win11 User Account

[britechguy]

If what Microsoft is touting,

• Windows Backup allows you to select your preferred backup options across most files, apps, settings, and credentials. When you move to a new Windows 11 PC, you’ll have the option to restore content from any of your backed up PCs, directly from the cloud, by logging in using your Microsoft account.

That will once and for all settle for me the value of using a Microsoft-Account-Linked Windows Account from the moment of initial setup, at least if you are either part of the M365 ecosystem or otherwise have enough cloud storage for your backups.

I'd absolutely love to have a cloud-based equivalent of a full system image, or mighty close to it, as part of what Windows can supply without any 3rd party backup software.

 

[timeshifter]

Sounds just like Migration Assistant, something Apple’s has had for about 20 years, no cloud login required.

 

[carmen617]

It actually looks more like a cloud-based version of FABS - backs up your files, preferences and settings, you then have to reinstall your applications. It's a good use of the 1TB of OneDrive you get included with a 365 subscription, but anybody who doesn't have that storage will have to pay for extra space if the backup is larger than 5GB.

How Does Windows 11's New Backup Feature Work?

Windows 11 has a revamped backup method, but is it better than Microsoft's previous backup systems?

www.makeuseof.com

 

[britechguy]

It actually looks more like a cloud-based version of FABS - backs up your files, preferences and settings, you then have to reinstall your applications. It's a good use of the 1TB of OneDrive you get included with a 365 subscription, but anybody who doesn't have that storage will have to pay for extra space if the backup is larger than 5GB.

How Does Windows 11's New Backup Feature Work?

Windows 11 has a revamped backup method, but is it better than Microsoft's previous backup systems?

www.makeuseof.com

It includes backing up of Apps, too, but I just don't know whether that's Store Apps or Desktop Apps or both.

 

[Markverhyden]

It includes backing up of Apps, too, but I just don't know whether that's Store Apps or Desktop Apps or both.

Looks like a more granular Time Machine to me. I'm sure that any licensing issues with the non-MSStore apps is on the end user to sort out with the vendor. Having the selective or restore all looks awesome. Apple only lets you restore one app at a time from their app store.

 

[carmen617]

It will only automatically reinstall Microsoft store apps - any other app you just get a link to the website, just like FABS. I'm sure it's impossible to have a link to the actual download.

I wonder if they will have a local disk storage option - that would make it more like Time Machine. My guess is no, as the ultimate goal is to get people more and more dependent on a 365 subscription. However, I will certainly use it for my own backup purposes, and most likely recommend it to anybody who is already on a subscription.

 

[britechguy]

Looks like a more granular Time Machine to me.

There have been a number of comparisons drawn to Time Machine.

Compared to what we get, backup-wise, for most folks in the residential market, if this gets enabled by default when sufficient cloud space availability is detected, it is a major leap forward.

It's also really nice that the vast majority of what you spent years setting up, with the exception of desktop apps, it appears, will automagically reappear on any new machine you set up. It seems very much like how Android devices can back themselves up, and if you get a new one and use the same Google account, *poof* almost your whole world reappears, like magic, on your new one when you set it up.

Anything, on any platform, that results in automatic backups, and of user data in particular, is an advance.

 

[Your PCMD]

The new Windows Backup is only good for individual accounts. Anyone who does manage backup will never use this. The loss of revenue let alone the loss of control for companies that require the sharing of files far exceeds the new backup. If you are one to just resell M365 and set it up for individual use, then yes, it's golden for you, otherwise, not so much.

I for one manage several dozen OpenDrive accounts because the companies I MSP for require the ability to use specific folders from specific employees as well as single dump folders for all employees to use. Yes, I know you can add MS OneDrive accounts to any other machine, but you cannot give or remove access to specific folders or files.

However, if you're doing residential, it doesn't matter. But for us who only do commercial clients, it's a huge deal. And no, sending a link to share is not the same.

 

[britechguy]

However, if you're doing residential, it doesn't matter.

Which is what I do, and have declared so repeatedly ever since I showed up. I also never implied or stated that this is the kind of tool that would be deployed for enterprises, because it isn't.

But it's a major step forward for the market I serve, and for what is a huge proportion of the Windows user base as a whole. That makes it valuable even if enterprises can't and won't use it. No one's saying it's universally applicable to all situations.

Tool to task, and all that.