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The Windows lighting experience will include the ability for PC gamers to configure accessories with RGB lighting without having to install third-party software.

The Windows lighting experience will include the ability for PC gamers to configure accessories with RGB lighting without having to install third-party software.

More seriously, in related news:

Whatever comes after those ellipses: No it won't, I won't be using Windows 11.

as expected. windows has fulfilled it's obligations as a operating system more than a decade ago, but they gotta add new features to keep selling and "engaging" the user base. it's all fluff and they were running out. now they have finally taken notice that this rgb idiocy is actually important for a quantitatively significant part of the consumer base, so they go for that. albeit coming half a decade too late this makes total sense, unless you don't understand what windows is.

Remember the bad old days when your OS didn't come with a TCP/IP stack, and even basic hardware support was missing so you had to install a driver just to make your mouse work?

..except we will also up the telemetry and put a few extra restrictions on you.

Whatever comes after those ellipses: No it won't, I won't be using Windows 11.

Whatever comes after those ellipses: No it won't, I won't be using Windows 11.

good for you, nobody cares, especially Microsoft

So let me preface this with the following disclaimer: RGB lighting of internal components is stupid, get off my lawn, etc.

That being said, all of the software involved in it, is a shit show, inside a train wreck, where the train was carrying dumpsters and tires, which are now on fire.

The software is universally terrible, wildly proprietary even when the hardware is mostly on a standard interface, buggy AF. They are usually things that only run inside of a Windows user session, so until login many components are just doing whatever the factory default is, and none of it synchronizes. And lord help you if you have light-up RAM from a different vendor than your light-up motherboard, your light-up GPU, your light-up fans, your light-up CPU cooler, and your light-up case - unless it all comes from the same manufacturer you'll NEVER get it all working together, and stay working together. And that's in the absolute best case, while running Windows.

Take Windows away, and it all just sits there in it's rainbow unicorn vomit defaults unless you figure out some way to turn it off through firmware, or physically unplug the lighting (if that's even an option) or pay more money to replace it with non-RGB lighting components, if you can actually find any.

So if Microsoft wants to embrace, extend, and eliminate this particular cesspool of money-grabbing "feature" development from hardware vendors, I say go for it, because it can't possibly be worse than it is right now, unless we just turn back the clock a couple years to when the hardware wasn't even standardized and each motherboard manufacturer had some different shitty pinout that didn't match any of your other shit.

I generally agree, however there is already something that works before Windows login, and that is the ecosystem from Aquacomputer. They were smart enough to have a hardware controller which saves its settings locally, and once configured, you can move it to another PC and it will work the same way, provided you connect wiring as before and to the same hardware components (probes, fans, pumps, RGB LED Strips). Some effects are software-dependent, though (e.g. sound-based effects), there is no way around that

So the solution to shitty software that comes with the hardware I already bought is to buy redundant hardware from a different manufacturer?

I'd rather we just get software that isn't completely inadequate and terrible.

Aquacomputer's hardware does support 3rd party LED strips. They even sell adapters for it. Of course, not all RGB solutions are supported, e.g. RGB memory which don't have a separate connector, but pretty much anything with an ARGB connector is supported. And their products also offer hardware fan controlling.

In the end, you have to pick your poison, but personally, I'd rather have a unique controller with an (optional after configuration) unique piece of software, rather than 5 bad software solutions which a

If someone really needs to rice out their computer like that, how about they install regular, dumb tri color LEDs for everything and wire it to a control board of their own making. Best if it's one with old fashioned knobs and switches and smart "nothing", or maybe a Raspberry PI if they want to get all disco and fancy.

Just a basic electronics course which can be done online through simply watching videos is all it takes.

But if instead they want the micro internet of shit to do it all for the

So again, we have someone suggesting that the fix to terrible software, is to spend more money on redundant hardware and / or spend a whole bunch of time soldering together components to do something that already-purchased hardware can do, except for the shitty software that prevents it from working properly.

Why not just fix the shitty non-functional software and skip the extra purchasing, soldering, etc.? And how will some hacked together shit you botched together in your garage be able to control the RGB

Der8auer over on YouTube recently gave away the "Worst RGB Software 2022" [youtu.be] awards, and the results fully support your conclusion about said software...

I always thought those lights for "gaming" were strange. I often want less light, not something distracting. Of course the OS has trouble with it, I doubt there's a standard for this sort of thing beyond USB HID, everyone's going to be different from each other.

Are you really thinking that a light-blinking program won't be as good if Microsoft makes it??

Are you really thinking that a light-blinking program won't be as good if Microsoft makes it??

This is Slashdot, M$ is bad and dumb and wrong at everything they do. Microsoft adds support for X: Embrace Extend Extinguish! M$ is evil! Microsoft does not support X: Vendor Lock in! M$ is evil!

So you don't think that this might be exactly the kind of problem Microsoft has tackled in the past, with some other very disparate hardware category where each manufacturer had to also write their own drivers and often API libraries for software developers to code against, and none of them shared with each other to the point of some software titles not being able to run on various hardware because shitty hardware manufacturer licensing and competitive interests?

Like, maybe how the GPU situation on Windows

Anything that distracts them from fucking around with the kernel is a good thing.

so you don't want the kernel to enjoy rgb. that's racist.

No no no. They already finished maiming the kernel ... and the Start menu, Explorer, Settings, etc. The RGB stuff is just a bonus, because they have so much spare time. Pray they do not change the icons and window decorations again.

Don't worry, I'm sure this will be tied into the kernel so that updating your CPU fan lights will require you to reboot

Unfortunately, Microsoft is capable of doing more than one thing at once. They can write garbage RGB light widgets to embed right in the start menu next to everything else you don't want to see, all at once, while ALSO fucking around with the kernel.

Shit, the kernel team might be the ones doing it because they got done with their kernel beshittification early and had an extra sprint or two.

native? as in something like directx? for it?

How much hardware will work with there native system?

native? as in something like directx? for it? How much hardware will work with there native system?

native? as in something like directx? for it?

How much hardware will work with there native system?

Why wouldn't you think that the hardware manufacturers wouldn't write a quick driver for currently supported stuff, with the promise of not having to ever write the universally shitty userland tools to control it?

The manufacturers will love this, because it will reduce their costs - no more shitty tool updates to release because they just sewed together 1400 different javascript packages without actually auditing any of it, so it's an endless firehose of updates for patched trashware just to make lights bli

Can we get the storage drive light back please? I kind of like knowing when my SSD is doing stuff.

B.O.T. I hope they call it Discotech or maybe Flashbox. Of course it won't work with Corsair products.

Can we get the storage drive light back please? I kind of like knowing when my SSD is doing stuff. B.O.T. I hope they call it Discotech or maybe Flashbox. Of course it won't work with Corsair products.

Can we get the storage drive light back please? I kind of like knowing when my SSD is doing stuff.

B.O.T. I hope they call it Discotech or maybe Flashbox. Of course it won't work with Corsair products.

Agreed. Having that flickering light allowed me to ask the question, "WTF are you doing? Nothing's being installed or downloaded. Why are you having a seizure?"

Of course. That's why they removed it. It tattles on Windows when it's rummaging around spying on your system.

No joke, I used to uninstall the specific patches to Windows 8.1 that added telemetry. One day I found it had been re-added by an update to my system when I noticed the hard disk light flashing while the system was idle and then I checked what the processes were doing and there is was.

I use Edge at work for some web sites that refuse to work with adblock/noscript. I think I had turned off all the sync options as useless and insecure. Today I get a "please restart Edge for updates" message, and once it came back I immediately got a "syncing to the cloud!" message which I don't recall seeing before. I looked, and every single syncing option had been turned on! No thank you, do not sync with my mythical other devices, this is proprietary and confidential work data.

Sounds like your system is signed onto a Microsoft Account in some way. Since you said this is a work machine maybe with Office 365 for your workplace perhaps? I set up my home PC as Local Account Only to avoid that.

I suspect Microsoft lobbied long and hard to have that LED hidden, they don't want customers to realize just how much computer resources they keep stealing.

When I used to see lots of disk activity I would open up Task Manager and then suddenly the flickering would stop. There's be a bit of Windows tasks with odd names using CPU but only for a second or two. I swear they designed something in Task Manager that says "shh, calm down, the user is watching!"

Sounds like Compatibility Telemetry. Any time my computer starts running like shit Compatibility Telemetry is running in Task Manager. It really sucks that it can't be disabled.

I the past I think this was the file indexer. I normally turn that off but Windows cries when it's off. Later when I ran Windows 10 in a VM on a Mac where performance was very slow, I did notice that after any update it would run a high CPU task making the system unusable for 5 to 10 minutes. Turns that that Windows recompiles ALL of the .NET applications to native binary for a "better customer experience" (dumping JIT and going with the same mentality that says to load all of Office into RAM when loggin

Hah, on my new PC they have the light for the storage drive. But... It's on the back of the case and not the front! (sigh)

I use Tray Status on my Windows machine for this purpose.

https://www.traystatus.com/ [traystatus.com]

It always seemed to me like all that blinking and flashing [youtube.com] would be somewhat distracting while you're trying to game.

My partner has a Razer Huntsman Elite, not for gaming but just because he wanted a mechanical keyboard with some weight to it and that old school clicky feeling. He keeps the lighting on because he thinks it looks cool, but if it was me I'd turn the lighting off. Personally, I think it looks better that way - all black, shrouded in darkness. That's what a gaming keyboard should be.

I started turning down lights way back when I played Thief, where seeing dark gray on darker gray was important. Quite a lot of atmospheric games even today have a setup option to "turn down brightness until you can't see the logo anymore".

A lot of these LEDs though are too bright. The backlight of the keyboard becomes more of an annoyance then a help.

I don't care what anyone says, in this the year 2023 if any keyboard is not backlit it's a hard pass for me. You can always turn it off but it's great when you need it.

I'm very happy with a Das Keyboard 4 Professional. [amazon.com] It has Cherry MX Brown switches which are "good enough" for me.

This thing is built like a tank and even has a detachable 16" plastic ruler on the underside.

It even supports NKRO (N-Key Rollover) so it can be used for gaming as well! I didn't realize my old keyboard didn't support N-KRO until I got the Das keyboard.

No stupid RGB lights either which I consider a bonus.

Only downside is it is a bit pricey but given how long it should last the price should amo

It always seemed to me like all that blinking and flashing would be somewhat distracting while you're trying to game.

I have a machine with RGB fans which I used it exclusively as a workstation. I bought it from a company more normally associated with gamer machines because they assemble well built, customised PCs with good GPUs using quality, standard parts. Comes with RGB because of course it does. Honestly I don't notice them while I'm working.

It can't be any worse than the native config tool for my Thermaltake stuff. I set it up. It works as desired for a few days. It reverts to default. I have to reboot to get the light working again.

If I had it all to do over again, I would have skipped the stupid lights, but I just wanted one of those fancy computers with the glass door and the pointless lights inside, just because.

It does look cool when it works. And yes, the lights are distracting as hell while gaming. I don't actually game much though. It

I just wanted one of those fancy computers with the glass door and the pointless lights inside

I just wanted one of those fancy computers with the glass door and the pointless lights inside

I had the opposite experience. When I built my machine the only case I could buy that was relatively cheap and didn't look like something from a bad Transformers movie knock off had a side window. And the RAM I picked because of the price point has LEDs on it. I had to install Corsair's stupid application to shut the lights of. It's a 1+ GB monster that did nothing but hog resources and turn the LEDs off, so it got removed. Now I have to choose between lights that I can't shut off, or an application ne

It kinda feels like they're really desperate to give Win11 some sort of reason to exist.

Haha, that got a good chuckle out of me. Sorry, no mod points today.

It's a good feature to add, though. Right now, I need to use three different lighting control panels to control the RGB on my PC:

MSI Mystic Light controls the GPU and case lighting ADATA has its own RGB control panel for its memory. Mystic Light is supposed to be able to control this, but couldn't do it reliably and it would reset itself to "rainbow mode" on reboots. Logitech has its own control panel for controlling the lighting on the mouse.

I love all my children equally. Which is what I say in public. But that Windows 11 child needs extra love. Just saying.

Funny thread, but this is the main one that still needs a Funny.

"I'm sorry Bob. You can't increase the luminoscity of your keyboard backlight because of the environmental restrictions."

I don't have any friends who'd come over and say "wow" if my keyboard looked like a nyan cat travelling across the sky. In fact, I don't have any friends at all.

Oh ya, a keyboard like that is just an invitation for the cats to jump up and try to have a nap on it.

I mean, I like standards for hardware communication, but this is not something that should be OS level (yet) because there is NO standard for communicating with RGB and other decorative elements.

These are also not things that are used by MOST of the computing world...

When the standards are established and it's more common than a niche of a niche of computer use; this particular feature should stay driver and userland software level.

I mean, I like standards for hardware communication, but this is not something that should be OS level (yet) because there is NO standard for communicating with RGB and other decorative elements.

I mean, I like standards for hardware communication, but this is not something that should be OS level (yet) because there is NO standard for communicating with RGB and other decorative elements.

I hate to say it, but my hope is that the Windows 11 control will be enough incentive for Corsair and MSI and everyone else to start improving their software. The current release of iCUE is 1.1GB. Yes...over a gigabyte to control some LEDs and record keystroke macros...that should be 10-20MB, not larger than the install media for Windows XP. That is a massive amount of software bloat, and everyone who does RGB control is guilty of it.

If Windows' capability to control Corsair LEDs means that some people use

"The current release of iCUE is 1.1GB. Yes...over a gigabyte to control some LEDs and record keystroke macros.."

I *REALLY* want to see the teardown of that software. I want to know what's hiding in all that bloat.

Maybe Microsoft will define some generic RGB controlling protocol? This will force manufacturers to implement the protocol, making life of OpenRGB easier.

Sadly Microsoft could not get any sharks to jump. They had to settle for ill-tempered sea bass.

Mark my words as 640Kb will not be enough.

My brand new build is pulsing like some 15 year old's fever dream - and there's no option in the BIOS to turn it all off. WTF. Now I have to either pull the plugs, or get some mdma, a couple of glowsticks, and cancel my plans for the next couple of days.

But when can I get my T-Rex Penis Enhancement?

It's common for the software to cause stutter in VR.

I used to feel that way and avoided lighting, but eventually everything was lit and all cases had windows. I kinda got used to having the lighting. I tried looking into doing things with the lighting, but couldn't find anything good to do.

I'd *love* it if I could tie the light color to CPU load though. Would be great to kick off a long compile, leave the room, and then just be able to peak in and tell if it's done by the color of the glow coming from my computer.

The Intel Skull Canyon NUC lets you do that and more. You can tie the color/intensity of different LEDs (including different parts of a glowing skull) to things like CPU, disk and network metrics. I think there's even a CLI tool to control it from userspace scripts. Not particularly useful but at least it's one of the more interesting uses of RGB lighting I've seen.

Some motherboard manufacturers actually do support doing that kind of thing, but it's all proprietary bullshit and there's a good chance it will only work with half the devices in the case, so the chances you could actually get it to work properly is almost slim-to-none.

If you really want that then it's a pretty simple Arduino project. You can buy everything as a module, don't even have to solder it if you don't want to, and all the software comes as easy to use libraries.

Soft backlighting, ok. But the keyboards I saw had annoying and distracting lighting. Better to light the letters on the keys if doable rather than have light come out from the gaps around the keys.

I got a controller awhile back (I know, I know, abandoning the pc master race for gaming, but I got curious, ok?) and it would turn on LEDs and it was amazingly distracting.

The annoying and distracting lighting is just a preloaded mode in most of those keyboards. The one I have supports all that bullshit, but also supports just having a soft red-to-orange gradient that does exactly what you describe - shows through the letters on the keycaps, and outlines the rest of the keys with a soft glow.

It's actually quite nice. And because this keyboard is a "gamer" keyboard it saves the profile information on-device so it will just stay that way forever until you go into the software

Oh, if only we were just talking about keyboards and mice.

No, this is light up fans. And light-up CPU coolers. And light-up RAM. And light-up GPUs. And light-up strips in the case. And light-up strips on the motherboard southbridge heat spreader. And lights on the motherboard voltage regulator.

And none of it works together properly, and sometimes the easiest way to disable it, is replacement with a different product.

I'd welcome a standard interface to all that shit, if not just to have a big "off" swit

until the marketeers and the lowest common denominator morons find another new word to latch on to.

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