>It would take a minuscule fraction of Microsoft's resources to fix this This isn't true, almost each thing would require at least a UI rewrite to get them up

>It would take a minuscule fraction of Microsoft's resources to fix this This isn't true, almost each thing would require at least a UI rewrite to get them up to consistency or you'd just have a task of trying to hack the ten or so UI frameworks to look the same but they wouldn't act or feel the same. I don't think it's impossible but you need a product focused exec who cares enough about it to basically demand a few of the apps or panels be rewritten each version and keep sending it back until it looks right. Has to come from the top because a designer going around and trying to get them to rewrite say Device Manager to make it feel up to date and stop flickering isn't ever going to convince anyone. Of course every step of the way reviewers and your own community are going to be shouting at you for changing 20 year old UIs. It'll be a thankless task until 10 years after it's done when they come to terms with the change and realize they finally have a consistent Windows.