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In an alternative universe, Microsoft stayed on Windows 7, monetized the OS through trust and a really solid app store with a 10% transaction fee, and everyone

by brink 2y ago

In an alternative universe, Microsoft stayed on Windows 7, monetized the OS through trust and a really solid app store with a 10% transaction fee, and everyone lived happily ever after.

baxtr 2y ago
Is that the same universe, where corporate politics didn’t play a role at all and where Steve Ballmer was a very nice guy?
- ASalazarMX 2y ago
  I bet it's the same universe where companies weren't decreted to exist mainly to make money. I mean, people work for money, but money's a mean to satisfy our needs, few people work solely for it. If corporations are people, we raised them to be sociopaths.
schmidtleonard 2y ago
My oscilloscope runs Windows 7 so I get a daily reminder how beautiful unencumbered Windows is. No ads, no layers of pig lipstick, and it's still snappy and crisp even though the machine is 13 years old. If it weren't for weird compatibility issues (Chrome complains IIRC), I'd run Windows 7 at home in a heartbeat.
- conradfr 2y ago
  Chrome and Firefox are not updated anymore but Firefox has an ESR with updates.
- jwells89 2y ago
  Got that reminder a couple of months ago when doing a fresh 7 install on an old Core 2 Quad workstation laptop. It’s very clean and “quiet” compared to modern Windows, and though its visual style isn’t exactly fresh I don’t think it exactly looks dated either when used on good modern IPS panel monitor. It’s aged much better than XP did. Wouldn’t ever dare to take that machine online but there’s no reason why it couldn’t serve as a unitasker of some kind.
  - Brian_K_White 2y ago
    There is legacyupdate.net and 0patch.com
- segasaturn 2y ago
  7 really is the last relic from a lost time. I had to use an old 7 workstation and remembered how good it feels to search for a file in the Start Menu and not get a full page of bing search results, news and ads. Modern Windows has become a bizarre homunculus of all of the tech industry's worst instincts (adtech, endless scrolling news feeds, mass surveillance)
- wvenable 2y ago
  To this day I configure all my machines to look and act like Windows 7 with a combination of tweaks and 3rd party applications.
mathattack 2y ago
Doesn’t 7 have massive InfoSec issues? Or is that scare tactics to push through an upgrade?
- kasabali 2y ago
  Exactly.
mhuffman 2y ago
However, in this universe, Microsoft has the largest market cap on Earth. So I guess the choice between everyone living happily ever after and some people living happily ever after was clearly made.

by brink 2y ago

In an alternative universe, Microsoft stayed on Windows 7, monetized the OS through trust and a really solid app store with a 10% transaction fee, and everyone lived happily ever after.

baxtr 2y ago

Is that the same universe, where corporate politics didn’t play a role at all and where Steve Ballmer was a very nice guy?

ASalazarMX 2y ago
I bet it's the same universe where companies weren't decreted to exist mainly to make money. I mean, people work for money, but money's a mean to satisfy our needs, few people work solely for it. If corporations are people, we raised them to be sociopaths.

schmidtleonard 2y ago

My oscilloscope runs Windows 7 so I get a daily reminder how beautiful unencumbered Windows is. No ads, no layers of pig lipstick, and it's still snappy and crisp even though the machine is 13 years old. If it weren't for weird compatibility issues (Chrome complains IIRC), I'd run Windows 7 at home in a heartbeat.

conradfr 2y ago
Chrome and Firefox are not updated anymore but Firefox has an ESR with updates.
jwells89 2y ago
Got that reminder a couple of months ago when doing a fresh 7 install on an old Core 2 Quad workstation laptop. It’s very clean and “quiet” compared to modern Windows, and though its visual style isn’t exactly fresh I don’t think it exactly looks dated either when used on good modern IPS panel monitor. It’s aged much better than XP did. Wouldn’t ever dare to take that machine online but there’s no reason why it couldn’t serve as a unitasker of some kind.
- Brian_K_White 2y ago
  There is legacyupdate.net and 0patch.com
segasaturn 2y ago
7 really is the last relic from a lost time. I had to use an old 7 workstation and remembered how good it feels to search for a file in the Start Menu and not get a full page of bing search results, news and ads. Modern Windows has become a bizarre homunculus of all of the tech industry's worst instincts (adtech, endless scrolling news feeds, mass surveillance)
wvenable 2y ago
To this day I configure all my machines to look and act like Windows 7 with a combination of tweaks and 3rd party applications.

mathattack 2y ago

Doesn’t 7 have massive InfoSec issues? Or is that scare tactics to push through an upgrade?

kasabali 2y ago
Exactly.

mhuffman 2y ago

However, in this universe, Microsoft has the largest market cap on Earth. So I guess the choice between everyone living happily ever after and some people living happily ever after was clearly made.