There are a handful of times when the stars and planets aligned and the Microsoft desktop experience was consistent, coherent, and I dare say, pleasant: * 1999

There are a handful of times when the stars and planets aligned and the Microsoft desktop experience was consistent, coherent, and I dare say, pleasant: * 1999: Windows 98 + Office 97 + Internet Explorer 5.5 + Visual Studio 6.0 * 2005: Windows XP (with Themes disabled) + Office 2003 + Internet Explorer 6 + Visual Studio 2005 (and Windows Media Player 9 gets an honourable mention) * 2010: Windows 7 + Office 2010 + Visual Studio 2008 (but using Chrome instead of IE) But between 2012 and 2019 (i.e. the Windows 8, Metro, and UWP kool-aid in Windows 10) it was naught but an incoherent mess - and since 2013, all releases of Office have been mildly grating. I'll concede that, as far as superficial aesthetics are concerned, Office 2023 on Windows 11 looks nice, but that's honestly the only improvement I can cite; Windows 11 is a no-go for me so long as it has a lobotomized taskbar and start-menu - and I really don't think I'm missing out on anything except crows-feet on my face from constant frowning...