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The article makes the statement that platforms has abandoned user empowerment, but have they really? Windows 11 certainly has more ads than Window 7 but as a us

The article makes the statement that platforms has abandoned user empowerment, but have they really? Windows 11 certainly has more ads than Window 7 but as a user, I can still do everything in Win 11 that I could in Windows 7. > I also believe another important step to user empowerment is making programming easier for casual users, and making it easier for casual users to contribute to open-source software In the history of Computer Science, it has never been easier to start programming than it is now. You have excellent support of WSL, access to Raspberry Pis, and $5 digital ocean cloud server to experiment with vast variety of technologies. Lastly, I think there is some selection bias going on or looking at the past from the rose tinted glasses. Before computers were democratized, only people who were passionate about them used them. It's no surprise that they did all sorts of innovative things with them. Now that computers are widely available, the blame is being put on platforms instead of accepting the fact that the majority of population does not care about programming or computer science.

userbinator 3y ago
but as a user, I can still do everything in Win 11 that I could in Windows 7. Have you tried moving the taskbar, customising the UI fonts/colours/sizes, or anything else in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Wi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Wi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Wi...
- SpacePortKnight 3y ago
  I made the comment in context to article i.e. innovation and not out of the box support for UI customization. For desktop customization, Linux provides the most flexibility, against which even Windows 7 wouldn't hold a candle.
jodrellblank 3y ago
Are you more empowered in Win 11 than you could in Win 7, appropriate for the thousands of person-years effort that have gone into the newer versions? > "In the history of Computer Science, it has never been easier to start programming than it is now." Sure it has, 8-bit computers which started into BASIC interpreters in an instant, Visual Basic and Delphi drag-and-drop, HyperCard style environment - having to install WSL or buy and learn to access a cloud server is much more up front effort.
tored 3y ago
> I can still do everything in Win 11 that I could in Windows 7. It is quite telling how far stagnation has gone when the latest and greatest operating system can basically do the same stuff as one from 13 years ago. In the end of the 90s on my Pentium machine I had Windows 98 with 10 mbit LAN, web browsing, instant messages, code editor, word processor, spreadsheet application, video player, music player, image processing, content streaming, 3D accelerated games etc (on slower hardware). The two major differences since then I can think of is that increased quality of media (images, videos, music etc) and interoperability, it is usually easier today to share documents and the like between different platforms. Sure, there has also been improvements with system security and system stability, but neither of them adds to user workflow and productivity. I tried Windows 11, but I had to go back to Windows 10, because I couldn't keep my old workflow, a workflow that has existed since Windows 95. My own first computer that I bought for my own money, a Commodore 64, on that you just powered it on and started coding in BASIC.

userbinator 3y ago

but as a user, I can still do everything in Win 11 that I could in Windows 7. Have you tried moving the taskbar, customising the UI fonts/colours/sizes, or anything else in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Wi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Wi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Windows_8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_features_removed_in_Wi...

SpacePortKnight 3y ago
I made the comment in context to article i.e. innovation and not out of the box support for UI customization. For desktop customization, Linux provides the most flexibility, against which even Windows 7 wouldn't hold a candle.

jodrellblank 3y ago

Are you more empowered in Win 11 than you could in Win 7, appropriate for the thousands of person-years effort that have gone into the newer versions? > "In the history of Computer Science, it has never been easier to start programming than it is now." Sure it has, 8-bit computers which started into BASIC interpreters in an instant, Visual Basic and Delphi drag-and-drop, HyperCard style environment - having to install WSL or buy and learn to access a cloud server is much more up front effort.

tored 3y ago

> I can still do everything in Win 11 that I could in Windows 7. It is quite telling how far stagnation has gone when the latest and greatest operating system can basically do the same stuff as one from 13 years ago. In the end of the 90s on my Pentium machine I had Windows 98 with 10 mbit LAN, web browsing, instant messages, code editor, word processor, spreadsheet application, video player, music player, image processing, content streaming, 3D accelerated games etc (on slower hardware). The two major differences since then I can think of is that increased quality of media (images, videos, music etc) and interoperability, it is usually easier today to share documents and the like between different platforms. Sure, there has also been improvements with system security and system stability, but neither of them adds to user workflow and productivity. I tried Windows 11, but I had to go back to Windows 10, because I couldn't keep my old workflow, a workflow that has existed since Windows 95. My own first computer that I bought for my own money, a Commodore 64, on that you just powered it on and started coding in BASIC.