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My switch to macOS coincided with Windows 8 starting to gain traction and most people still used 7 or even XP. My expectations are thus stuck where they were wi

My switch to macOS coincided with Windows 8 starting to gain traction and most people still used 7 or even XP. My expectations are thus stuck where they were with Windows 7, which is the last version I used a my main OS. Now imagine the horror every time I have to do something on modern Windows. There was a period when I worked on a cross-platform library, which I sometimes had to build and test on Windows. It took me quite much effort to get my Windows 10 VM into an annoyance-free configuration — that included uninstalling stuff like Microsoft Store and Edge, too. And that's me, a guy who knows what he's doing, most of the time. There are two things that blow my mind: how much user-hostile most of mainstream software products have become, and how much people are willing to tolerate that. "That's just what computers are like." And yes, I do know some people who still use Windows 7. And I also wonder if it's possible to run Windows 7 userspace on top of the Windows 10 kernel.

herbst 4y ago
The last time I actually used Windows without just experimenting or building in a VM was also 7. For the very same reasons. I was a Linux user as long as I understand computers, so doing the switch from Windows to MacOS for work gave me no relief either. Still a locked down OS with weird quirks. But something they really did right is building a distraction free working environment. Literally the one thing I want from a working computer.
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
I used to love 7 back in the day but Windows 11 is a much more polished and far superior experience for entertainment, productivity and development with WSL2 than 7 was and better than 10 is. Other than rose tinted nostalgia I can't imagine going back to a dated, insecure and inferior OS.
- grishka 4y ago
  Last time I checked, Windows 11's UI is as ruined by the existence of touchscreens as it's ever been since 8. There are also ads in the taskbar. There are also all the Edge shenanigans. There are also updates that know better than you do what you want (that "sane configuration" for that Windows 10 VM actually included disabling all update-related services). Windows 7 was the last properly-desktop version of Windows. Does Apple also ruin the UI on macOS? Yes, absolutely. But they still don't do it that much, and they actually officially acknowledge that someone might have reasons to stay on an old version — they provide security updates for 2 additional years for all old versions. They also understand that people use computers to get jobs done and thus are not to be interrupted with sudden "let's cross this one out of your list" modals. In an ideal world though, an OS doesn't need updating at all and has zero vulnerabilities. But I guess just hold the f up and stop with your endless feature creep and focus all your engineering on fixing your shit is too much to ask from the modern IT industry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
matheusmoreira 4y ago
> how much user-hostile most of mainstream software products have become, and how much people are willing to tolerate that Yeah. Software isn't about us users anymore. It's about corporations, their needs, their profits, their rights, their platforms, their everything. We're just incidental. It's getting worse every year and it feels like there's no end in sight. Stallman warned everyone about this and very few people cared. Free software exists to combat this but there's increasingly no point since the hardware itself is becoming hostile. What's the point of free software if we can't run it? I just feel so hopeless about all this. Computers had such potential. To see them reduced to advertising appliances is just sad.

herbst 4y ago

The last time I actually used Windows without just experimenting or building in a VM was also 7. For the very same reasons. I was a Linux user as long as I understand computers, so doing the switch from Windows to MacOS for work gave me no relief either. Still a locked down OS with weird quirks. But something they really did right is building a distraction free working environment. Literally the one thing I want from a working computer.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

I used to love 7 back in the day but Windows 11 is a much more polished and far superior experience for entertainment, productivity and development with WSL2 than 7 was and better than 10 is. Other than rose tinted nostalgia I can't imagine going back to a dated, insecure and inferior OS.

grishka 4y ago
Last time I checked, Windows 11's UI is as ruined by the existence of touchscreens as it's ever been since 8. There are also ads in the taskbar. There are also all the Edge shenanigans. There are also updates that know better than you do what you want (that "sane configuration" for that Windows 10 VM actually included disabling all update-related services). Windows 7 was the last properly-desktop version of Windows. Does Apple also ruin the UI on macOS? Yes, absolutely. But they still don't do it that much, and they actually officially acknowledge that someone might have reasons to stay on an old version — they provide security updates for 2 additional years for all old versions. They also understand that people use computers to get jobs done and thus are not to be interrupted with sudden "let's cross this one out of your list" modals. In an ideal world though, an OS doesn't need updating at all and has zero vulnerabilities. But I guess just hold the f up and stop with your endless feature creep and focus all your engineering on fixing your shit is too much to ask from the modern IT industry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

matheusmoreira 4y ago

> how much user-hostile most of mainstream software products have become, and how much people are willing to tolerate that Yeah. Software isn't about us users anymore. It's about corporations, their needs, their profits, their rights, their platforms, their everything. We're just incidental. It's getting worse every year and it feels like there's no end in sight. Stallman warned everyone about this and very few people cared. Free software exists to combat this but there's increasingly no point since the hardware itself is becoming hostile. What's the point of free software if we can't run it? I just feel so hopeless about all this. Computers had such potential. To see them reduced to advertising appliances is just sad.