Why is it that games that play perfectly on my old Windows 10 laptop refuse to play on my new 11? Is there anything I can do? Try Compatability Mode perhaps? I am so angry about this. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

Stop using it.

Start by listing the games and error messages along with system specs.

Any games that ran on Windows 10 should/will run on Windows 11

The most likely thing is that you've got a laptop with a fresh install on it that doesn't have DirectX 9.0c installed and doesn't have the C++ redistributables on, which are both available from the Microsoft website.

[Edit] Oh, and if you can't fix it yourself, raise a support ticket assuming they're GoG games.

Linux.

You're welcome.

use W10

What about using dx9.0c redistributable and activating direct play for older games

It is not necessarily the Windows version itself, but e.g. some setting that is different from your earlier installation, different driver version or whatever. For instance, in Windows 10 you might have enabled already years ago some "legacy feature" from the Windows options that some games need, and haven't remembered to enable it on Windows 11 yet. (E.g. what the earlier poster suggested, DX9 + DirectPlay?)

Just as an example, earlier on this laptop I had a persistent issue with the GOG version of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain + the Verok GL Patch where the character would constantly move towards upper left, making the game unplayable. Possibly it recognized some USB device as a gamepad or something, even though I didn't have any external USB devices connected. All other games worked fine, including Blood Omen without the GL patch.

Anyway when I reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch to the laptop, after that the game + patch didn't have that issue anymore. Absolutely no idea why not, but oh well.

I never used Windows 11 yet, but I do know that 99%+ of problems that people on the internet used to blame on Windows 10 supposedly causing games not to work any more...those problems weren't actually caused by Windows 10, and in fact those same games that some people on the internet complained about not working on Windows 10, they actually did work on Windows 10 just fine for most people.

Both OS stink (10+11)!!! Why are you using both of them? Could you explain yourself?

@Fran67
Haven't found anything that run on Win10, but not on Win11.

If you tell us what problems you encounter we might be able to find solutions.
"doesn't work" is not a valid error description.

Most likely you just didn't install the necessary runtimes (VC/C++), there are FAQ threads which list everything you might need.

Depends on how angry you are...

a) Are you only angry enough to switch back to Win10?

b) Are you going berserk and want to try Linux? :P

Get and install, X64 and x86. Old to new. If this wont solve your generic problem, come back with specifics.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170#visual-studio-2015-2017-2019-and-2022

PS- dont grab the Arm files. Chances are, if cant fix your own pc, then you dont have this kind of system.

This. 100%.
We're not psychics people, help us help you. List affected games. List errors. List details. I know for a fact that there are some games on GOG that require certain visual c++ redistributables that the setup does not install, meaning that you need to install them manually. It's not the fault of Windows, it's the fault of publishers/developers.

Also all these "Get Linux" tips are useless. Linux is far more complicated than Windows, requiring far more tinkering. If the OP is having trouble within Windows which is very easy to manage, you think they will fare any better in a completely alien OS, without any shred of standardisation, not even within the terminal syntax? Get real. Those missing dependencies will still be missing on Linux, but now the OP would have to deal with WINE or whatever on top, unless the game has a native Linux version.