Or in this case (1994) Windows 3.1. I agree this story is a red herring. By and large 737s preceding the MAX variants had a rather amazing reputation, which is

Or in this case (1994) Windows 3.1. I agree this story is a red herring. By and large 737s preceding the MAX variants had a rather amazing reputation, which is part of the reason 737s are so ubiquitous. The issues today are that the MAX planes are enough different than the previous planes, that they should have likely been sold as a different product with different training. And the second issue is the erosion of Boeing's formerly engineer-led culture through various business / regulatory shenanigans such as outsourcing and self-oversight.