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Why It's a Big Deal That No One Cares about the Next Version of Windows (deccanherald.com) 144

Posted by EditorDavid from the going-for-the-Win dept.
The New York Times' "On Tech" newsletter observes that Microsoft releasing a new version of Windows is now "basically a nonevent."

"This shows technology has evolved from a succession of Big Bang moments to something so meshed into our lives that we often don't notice it." The last version of Windows as we knew it was arguably released in 2012. I was a reporter at The Wall Street Journal at the time, and my professional life that year was dominated by the unveiling of Windows 8 — including the anticipation, the strategy around it, and its eventual reception. But that was basically the end of an era. New releases of Windows since then have become progressively less major. A significant reason is that personal computers are no longer the center of our digital lives. A new iPhone model gets a lot of attention — although it shouldn't get so much — but a refresher to Windows doesn't.

Still, the supremacy of smartphones is an insufficient explanation. Windows beginning around 2015 began to get regularly tweaked under the hood — just like Netflix, Facebook, and every app on your smartphone as well as the software that runs the phone itself. In other words, Windows just changes in dribs and drabs all of the time without most people noticing. Instead of waiting years to get a fresh computer, we're effectively getting a new PC with every tweak. The new edition of Windows will remodel the look of the software and improve features like reordering apps. But because Microsoft incrementally revises Windows, new versions of the software matter less to most people.

This shift for Windows was part of a remarkable transformation at Microsoft. The company's obsession with Windows threatened to relegate Microsoft to tech irrelevancy. Then Microsoft hired a new chief executive in 2014, and suddenly Windows wasn't the beating heart of the company anymore. That shows just how much institutions can change.

But more than that, a Windows launch morphing from a big thing to something a professional tech writer didn't see coming reflects what technology has become. It's no longer strictly the shiny new object that comes out of a box every once in a while. Technology is all around us all the time, and it's perfectly normal.
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Why It's a Big Deal That No One Cares about the Next Version of Windows More

Why It's a Big Deal That No One Cares about the Next Version of Windows

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  • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Vacuous FP with a vacuous subject.

      Or to reword the new Subject as a the question, when did you reach Peak OS? I'm tempted to answer CP/M for myself, but I have to be honest and say it was probably Windows 95. Network connectivity under CP/M and Novell and OS/2 was just too much of a hassle, and Winsock for pre-95 Windows was even worse. All of the insane cruft for features and stuff I will never use is just begging the hackers to pwn my machines.

      And yes, I use the latest Mac OS as well as Windows and Androi

      • OK, so you were a baby when VMS ruled the world, and can't tell BSD from System V.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by shanen ( 462549 )

          My own exposures to VMS and UNIX were later on. Quite sure I was already using PCs before those OSes, and I focused on the first PC OS that I found "sufficient" for most of my personal needs, which I think was Windows 95. But I might be projecting backwards, because my early exposures to networks were pretty well jumbled up and confusing. Looking back, "network support" definitely looks kind of essential, but at the time? Not so sure. However, I probably figured out most of TCP/IP from my struggles with Win

    • I love how the New York Times is regarded as a tabloid around here.

      • They lost me with the USMC patrolling opium fields. For decades the whole military is the one protecting the drug trade was a conspiracy now itâ(TM)s documented in colour but the mental gymnastics of why it was a good thing was just earth shattering.

        Tabloid is too good, itâ(TM)s a fringe blog that just reprints whatever they are told to print.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Z80a ( 971949 )

      Actually allowing you to choose how your windows looks like would be big improvement.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

        If I can get back the Win2K look&feel or at least the Windows 7 style I'd be happy.

        Since Windows 7 release there haven't been any anticipated Windows releases, all of them have been "meh" or disappointing since they haven't created any user interface improvements, rather degradation.

  • Improper word usage (Score:5, Funny)

    by quonset ( 4839537 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @05:43PM (#61458232)

    and improve features like reordering apps.

    Reordering "apps" should read, "hiding functionality behind a plethora of new menus buried even deeper in obscure places with no logic for this placement."

  • No one wants to be disappointed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bubblyceiling ( 7940768 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @05:49PM (#61458244)
    Knowing Microsoft, we all know the first release is going to be buggy as hell and will most likely be a mess.

    I think every one is just tired of getting our hopes up.

    Plus the way they have been going, forcing ads, updates, down peoples throats, hasn't really earned them any fans.

    New versions of iOS have such a high adoption rate, without any need of such tactics

    • I think every one is just tired of getting our hopes up.

      This is much like KDEPIM and Konqueror. In the early years, I looked forward to every new KDE release, as they unfailingly added new and impressive features. Then KDEPIM added Akonadi, and the whole suite turned into irreparable, data destroying shit. Years of emails and calendar entries were rendered, for all intents and purposes, inaccessible. Fortunately, someone wrote tools to convert KMail's emails and KOrganizer's calenders to Thunderbird and Lightning, respectively.

      Konqueror was always a poor Web bro

      • Yup. It's fucking tragic.
        KDE, like most DEs, has become worse and fucking worse over time.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dargaud ( 518470 )

        Then KDEPIM added Akonadi, and the whole suite turned into irreparable, data destroying shit. Years of emails and calendar entries were rendered, for all intents and purposes, inaccessible. Fortunately, someone wrote tools to convert KMail's emails and KOrganizer's calenders to Thunderbird and Lightning, respectively.

        Yup. I had emails dating back to 1986, all sorted and carefully passed from 'Pine' to Eudora to Kmail, only to notice years later that entire directories of emails were corrupted, with many messages unreadable. But backups had long been corrupted too so it was a complete loss unless I could recover parts of them from decade old CDs of even older floppies. I was aghast, and yes I was still using some of those mails to contact some very infrequent correspondents. Responses on the Kmail mailing list were of th

    • I think every one is just tired of getting our hopes up.

      What hopes? There really isn't anything I want from another Windows.

      IMO Windows XP SP3 + Office 2003 was really good. I feel like that was the pinnacle of having enough features but being pretty straightforward, still with simple text menus etc. SP3 was mature so it was stable and not very demanding relative to the hardware at the time.

  • Of course everybody cares (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @05:50PM (#61458246)

    Everybody has cared when a new version of Windows was announced since at least XP:

    - What new annoying UI will Microsoft come up with that ruins everybody's workflow?
    - What new bugs will make the new x.0 version of the OS unusable until it reaches version x.1?
    - When will I have to ditch my perfectly working computer and buy a new, more powerful one to run the new bloatware because the old, perfectly working one isn't updated anymore?

    And more recently:

    - When will the onslaught of aggressive, forced upgrade and nagware commence?
    - What new, impossible-to-disable telemetry will Microsoft shove down everybody's throat?

    Everybody cares when a new Windows version comes out. It usually takes the form of a soft sigh heard around the world...

    • hardware/driver compatibility (Score:5, Interesting)

      by JcMorin ( 930466 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @06:13PM (#61458304)
      I'm working with support of hundreds of retail stores and each new upgrade comes with load of issue related to hardware. That perfectly ok printer that was working for the last 10 years now is unsupported. That scale using a SerialPort emulator via USB interface now failed to work. Everytimes there is a update a struggle to get stuff working again. The worst case of 2021 was update KB5000802] [google.com] that cause the BLUE screen when printing.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by TWX ( 665546 )

        The serial port problem is because counterfeit chips reliant on the original software entered the supply chain. Those counterfeits had some kind of way to be identified and the driver was updated to not function with the counterfeits. If you have the genuine FTDI chips then you're fine.

    • As is, I am certainly not a Linux evangelist, but have adopted it as my daily driver with an older XP machine to run legacy programs.

      And it works. Short of some killer app that won't run on either, Windows have telemetried themselves out of a customer.

    • Re:Of course everybody cares (Score:4, Informative)

      by techno-vampire ( 666512 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @06:40PM (#61458356) Homepage
      Everybody has cared when a new version of Windows was announced since at least XP:

      No I don't, and I haven't for decades because I don't use Windows,I use Linux so what happens to Windows is completely irrelevant to me. The same thing would be true if I run some sort of BSD, or used a Mac. The only people who care about this new version of Windows are those who still use it and there are less and less of them every year.

    • Everybody Slashdot users cared

      FTFY. You seem to have very little concept of how the common person uses their PC.

      Actually in this case people may care more than most previous times because in the past you didn't have to give a shit about a new OS. It would be the thing you get when you next buy a computer. Now ... you don't know when it's going to magic its way on your PC.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Ksevio ( 865461 )

      I can't wait for the new settings panels they add on top of the existing ones!

    • Will they finally solve the problem of Windows becoming slower and slower with use. This thing still outrages me. I have Linux machines with 5 year old installations that are still as snappy and fast as the day they were created.
      • They have already mostly solved that one, basically by having you reinstall Windows every year or so. At first all the updates (twice a year) were complete reinstalls; they leave your data and applications intact but replace all the Windows system files with new ones. Now only about every other one is; the other is a large scale patch in place. Currently we're off that pace a little because 20H1, 20H2, and 21H1 are all patch packages, but 21H2 will probably be another reinstall.
        • You call that SOLVING it?!!

          I'm using Linux Mint on a daily basis and only use Windows when I need to (some people pay me to use Windows, not an unimportant fact). I'm baffled why more people aren't using Linux (and specifically Linux Mint) since it's up there in user friendliness with Windows and completely free (not to mention it's not spying on you). In fact, I believe it's even more user friendly since you never need to install device drivers.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by TWX ( 665546 )

      I've professionally supported Windows since version 3.1. As far as I'm concerned, there have been no UI improvements (ie, actual usability improvements) of any serious advantage since Windows 2000, and after Windows 7 it's gotten worse.

      There are now two competing UI models, the classic one and the Metro one. Neither model contains all of the controls to set/configure/use the full suite of the OS. One cannot remain wholly in a classic mode or wholly in a Metro mode to do everything. This is very awkward

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hawk ( 1151 )

      and most importantly:

      --what color will the death screen?

  • Meh (Score:4, Interesting)

    by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @05:52PM (#61458248) Journal

    I'm testing Raspberry Pis with LibreOffice for our classroom computers, thus far pretty good with Ubuntu, so I think by this fall, we'll either be dumping the windows boxes. I'm aiming to get rid of windows on staff computers by the end of next year

  • for 35 years Microsoft has punished those who care with a subsequent release. They should run the UI under WSL and permit people the opportunity to be happy.
  • I bet you, MS is moving to a subscription plan. The actual changes and UI updates are irrelevant.

  • ...when you shovel down the throat the updates instead of making "big" releases, people then to just move on on tracking "next OS versions".

    Therefore, if MS is talking about something new... it must be just "another update" to "THE" OS.

    Apple does just the oposite: each update is a NEW OS version that can fu*k really well your apps if you ain't keeping an eye on them.

  • Historically, adoption rate will be low, so... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by berchca ( 414155 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @06:17PM (#61458314) Homepage

    Arguably since Vista, Microsoft has basically had to force a large portion of their user base to upgrade. For many of us, announcements of major changes to Windows bring trepidation rather than excitement, and as far as OS upgrades, the events that seem to matter the most are when they are going to pull support on existing versions.

    • Arguably since Vista, Microsoft has basically had to force a large portion of their user base to upgrade.

      What do you mean since Vista? Microsoft has always competed with themselves. Their OS upgrades were never a thing people went out of their way to get, it's something they got with their new PCs. Upgrade culture barely existed outside of Phones and to some extent MacOS.

      I am worried though. MS has announced this change will be the biggest in a decade. I remind everyone this decade includes the Windows 8 Metro menu.

      • Most people, if they've even heard about the new windows update (or whatever) will see things like "biggest update in a decade" as worthless marketing speak. Do you expect Micrsoft to say they have a new thing and it's no big deal?

        • Do you expect Micrsoft to say they have a new thing and it's no big deal?

          Well considering that's precisely what they've said for the past 9 years since Windows 8 was released, yes. I can't recall a time since Windows 8 where MS has advertised anything to do with the OS as the biggest change in a decade. I can remember them saying something about Office which culminated in the announcement that Office is moving to a subscription only service unless you're a business user and wholly integrating into the Cloud.

          As cynical as I am MS doesn't really have a lot of history making grand

          • You'd do well not to simply write this off as marketing speak and show at least some level concern.

            I don't use any of their stuff, but I also haven't heard anyone talking about a new Windows except on here.

            • I don't use any of their stuff, but I also haven't heard anyone talking about a new Windows except on here.

              Then you haven't been paying attention to the media. Lots is being made of the fact that Microsoft released an 11 minute video remix of the Windows 95 startup sound (I'm not even joking) as a trailer for their 2021 announcement, one which is scheduled to take place at 11am Eastern Time, tweeted a windows logo with the sun casting a shadow missing the horizontal bar (number 11), the head of Windows just tweeted that he hasn't been "this excited for a new version of windows" since Windows 95 (take from that w

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Windows 7 was pretty good. Fast, reasonably secure for the time, unobtrusive for the most part.

      Vista was a necessary evil. XP had fundamental security issues that needed to be fixed, and fixing them was painful. For example, in XP the default user was an admin account and apps installed by it could crap out files all over the place with few limits. Vista introduced a virtualized filesystem and registry for every app, and of course the much hated UAC prompt that made the entire screen go dark except for the

      • Vista also put large parts of the video driver and audio driver in user space because they were a major source of crashes. If you have noticed since Vista you can upgrade your video and audio driver without a reboot except in rare cases. If the video driver crashes, you will sometimes see the screen flash a few times and everything will be working again as windows restarts the video driver WITHOUT stopping the running desktop applications.

        Also, with Vista they redid some of the handling of cpu cores and lar

  • The operating system shouldn't be a big deal as long as you can run your applications. If you upgrade windows, you're still running the same applications, so who cares? At one point in time people would line up for it because they hoped it sucked less than the previous version. Then they got windows 8...
  • upon users to "upgrade" their Windows. I'm still quite amazed that they totally got away with their Win10 upgrade "shenanigans", but I guess I underestimated the deadly combination of incompetency of all the government bodies that are supposed to protect consumers + their Big Tech-funded corruption.
  • Updates aren't a big deal anymore because Windows is now a mature product. New features have been trending towards the mundane. Part of the resistance that many people had with the migration from Windows 7 to 10 was that there wasn't a very compelling reason from a feature standpoint for them.

    Also, the new version system makes releases rather unmemorable. Version 1709, Redstone 3, Fall Creators Update, and Build 16299 all describe the same release, but are they any better than just calling it Windows

    • At least for developers they have added good features. OpenSSH, Terminal, WSL, Visual Studio with CMake, Linux and SSH support for compiling and debugging are all really nice. Later this year it also gets Linux GUI support. Windows is also much more stable and secure by default than it was in the Windows XP days. Also since Vista it has also gotten much faster on modern hardware. Windows used to handle 4 cores or more quite badly and really fell down with larger core counts. Today in our simulations we see

  • No longer a love fest for Bill Gates... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by joshuark ( 6549270 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @06:45PM (#61458366)

    I was in college when Windows 95 was the big thing and had the music "Start me up..." by the Rolling Stones. I thought "Paint It Black" was more apt. I was using X-Windows with an optical mouse on a workstation...the optical mouse was later a great "innovation" from Redmond. I was tinkering with a new toy operating system, and using it at home/dorm.

    The new Windows is no longer a "Bill Gates" love fest event where he can take the stage and be everyone's favorite nerd. Now he's the creepy, questionable sexual antics and ethics boss that you can't say no to if you were an employee. No wonder a Windows version is now...a non-event.

    But as Microsoft tries to become a dominant cloud-computing company, Windows is...irrelevant since cloud-computing is do it anywhere, anyhow independent of the operating system...and the profit is in the cloud. Windows seems a dinosaur from the local network, file sharing, but no Internet era.

    Ultimately, if it affects the bottom line, profit, the institutional shareholders get nervous, and don't want their block of Microsoft stock to drop...so dump the personage and the archaic OS.

    JoshK.

    • The optical mouse from you Sun box is completely different from a modern optical mouse. A simple pair of IR leds compared to an image sensor.

  • We didn't care about Windows 8 or 10, either (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Kevin108 ( 760520 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @07:10PM (#61458412) Homepage

    But MS went as far as updating systems without permission and otherwise did everything they could to take Windows 7 away from us.

  • Who decided I don't care what a new version of the most widely used operating system will bring?

  • Computers are now like refrigerators (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mamba-mamba ( 445365 ) on Saturday June 05, 2021 @07:53PM (#61458482)

    Yes. Computers are now like refrigerators. Most people don't really care about the details. It is not that development has stopped. But it is not "sexy" or big news anymore. Same with refrigerators. There are still incremental design changes to make them cheaper or more power efficient. But for the most part we don't really care.

    • OS/computer/device makers are trying desperately to be cars, with regular cosmetic changes just to look different and going back to loop around when the number of cosmetic options is exhausted. Value dropping like a stone after purchase too
      However, with cars you can still drive a well maintained 20 or 30 year old car around happily. OS makers have security patching and API support to stop you doing that.

  • How sloppy can one get not bothering to link the parent, let alone posting that shitty story?

  • Explainable through attrition (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Everybody who actually cared about the horrendous Windows 10 update experiences have already moved to other platforms. Those that remain are beyond caring. That and Microsoft doesn't care about those few that containue complain.

  • The entire premise of the NYT article is that In 2012 Windows 8 was the last major change and everything has been quite minor since then and that's why no one cared. Did they miss the fact that Microsoft stated this will be the biggest change to Windows in the past decade? I.e. the change between Windows 10 and whatever the next number will be will be bigger than Windows 7 to 8?

    Also No One Cares? Seriously? Much of the media is abuzz precisely because of Microsoft's statement. Mostly abuzz with concern. The

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sgage ( 109086 )

      The 'media' may or may not be abuzz, but normal people don't care. Contrast this to upgrades past, particularly Win95 and WinXP.

      Who the frack cares what 'Microsoft stated'?

      • The 'media' may or may not be abuzz, but normal people don't care.

        Normal people have never cared. But the NYT isn't talking about normal people. They are trying to be a tech column.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Myrdos ( 5031049 )

      There will never be a number bigger than 10. It's true because Microsoft said so.

  • I care about Windows 11. And so do a lot of other people. That NYT article is click-bait.
  • I haven't seen a windows release that I considered an improvement over its predecessor since Windows 2000. The only reason I run the newer versions is because I don't have a choice; either I need to be able to use newer versions of libraries like DirectX or .net that only work on newer versions of Windows, or I'm using a PC that was purchased by my employer and the version of Windows is dictated to ensure compatibility within the corporation.

    Personally I still think Windows 10 is pretty awful, for reasons that wouldn't be an issue in other operating systems but are critical in Windows 10:
    • At some screen resolutions pressing the windows key for the start menu launches a full-screen takeover that is not quick to render
    • The start menu search function is slow and inconsistent
    • Window borders are often now the same shade of white that is the default for empty space, making it hard to distinguish between overlapping windows
    • I can't display the date on the start menu unless I put the fonts to large (or larger)

    I could easily get around any of these problems in Linux in KDE. I can solve none of them in Windows 10, even with administrator privileges. Even worse some of them were sold as features in Windows 10. I shudder to think of what they're going to force on us with the next version.

    • 1 and 2 can be solved by installing OpenShell.

    • I haven't seen a windows release that I considered an improvement over its predecessor since Windows 2000

      This, except I think we can be more accurate. Technically, Windows 2000, which I admit I am fond of, was not a new operating system. It was only Windows NT4 with a slicker interface. And Wiindows NT4 was not really a new OS either, it was a bug fix for Windows NT3.1. XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and all the Server versions were not "new" operating systems either, they were all Windows NT with an an interface that looked a little different but functioned exactly the same.

      And I suppose we can say that even Windows N

      • This, except I think we can be more accurate. Technically, Windows 2000, which I admit I am fond of, was not a new operating system. It was only Windows NT4 with a slicker interface.

        Indeed 2000 was really the Windows 98 interface sitting on top of NT4.

        And Wiindows NT4 was not really a new OS either, it was a bug fix for Windows NT3.1

        Actually if we want to split hairs NT4 was an evolution of NT3.5, but that's wandering into pedantic :)

        XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and all the Server versions were not "new" operating systems either, they were all Windows NT with an an interface that looked a little different but functioned exactly the same.

        You're right that they've all been incremental changes - as I've called them "devolutions" - to earlier releases, but Microsoft calls them new operating systems so we're stuck with that. They set the rules, we all have to live with that.

        I think it is interesting that fundamentally, there are only a handful of operating systems out there that are in use, maybe as many as a baker's dozen, but the number expands because each one can be painted many times differently, conflating the number to hundreds by GUI obfuscation.

        Well that depends in part on how you want to recognize the evolution of Unix. You can trace most

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Osgeld ( 1900440 )

      are the damn kids trampling your lawn too? why did this whiny old man rant get modded up so high

      • why did this whiny old man rant get modded up so high

        I can't speak on behalf of anyone who modded up my post, but just on a hunch maybe I'm not the only person on slashdot who is not impressed with the newer versions of Windows? I laid down a list of what I don't like, and mentioned why I don't have a choice.

        Conversely you have a choice to not complain about people disliking Windows.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Osgeld ( 1900440 )

          maybe, just maybe slashdot represents less than 1% of the population, its its mostly populated (via statistics) by grumpy old fucks who actually thought Linux could take over the desktop market in 1999, when apple switched to a *nix based system

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dargaud ( 518470 )
      You forget the borderless 'buttons' with grey text and white background on white surrounding background, indistinguishable from plain text. You don't even know they are clickable. Seriously, who comes up with those shit UI designs, and who signs up on them ?!? And why isn't there a simple button somewhere to select the plain Win2k theme ? That's what I WANT.
  • New versions of Windows just piss me off now.

  • There's been the vaguest of vague mentions, and a lack of anything to actually think about.

    There's also relatively little to expect on the base OS level. Win95 was big as it marked the move to pre-emptive 32-bit support, 98, 98SE were received well enough, but largely it was not that big a deal either. ME was notorious for taking Win9x just a bit too far and failing at the same time that Win2K just about nailed enabling the NT platform for desktop. XP was a huge deal for finally officially bringing modern

  • But that was basically the end of an era. New releases of Windows since then have become progressively less major. A significant reason is that personal computers are no longer the center of our digital lives. A new iPhone model gets a lot of attention — although it shouldn't get so much — but a refresher to Windows doesn't.

    BS. Microsoft (and the usual hangers on) tried to make Windows 10 as big a deal as previous new versions. It certainly was similarly radical. But it was so unwanted that MS had to force it down everyone's throats.

    This sounds like a downplaying of how flat it fell, like "oh, we all knew it woudln't be a big deal" when no, we didn't. It just sucked, worse than usual.

  • Everything after win2k... (Score:3)

    by bb_matt ( 5705262 ) on Sunday June 06, 2021 @01:43AM (#61458894)

    Windows 2000 was pretty much the highest point, everything after that was just piling on cruft.

    Windows XP and Windows 7, were effectively a lick of paint on top.
    Windows 8 was a disaster - a complete misreading of the direction of travel, trying to foist mobile design onto desktops, by foolishly attempting to marry together two different ways of computer interaction.
    Windows 10 was an attempt to row back on that.

    Fact is, Microsoft screwed up their OS, but it didn't matter, as millions around the world had no other choice (business) or didn't realise other choices existed (marketing / OEM lock'ins) - you buy a computer and it has an operating system on it, so that's what you use.

    And this huge market share obviously built up a huge software market place on the back of a sub-standard operating system.

  • People don't naturally get excited about Windows (or any other OS) release. All the hype comes from the industry and the media. Consumers just get caught up and dragged along.

    But from the point of view of users, every new release of Windows since I don't know when, has made the user experience worse, more intrusive and taken control away from them. Is it possible that this knowledge has finally got through to the media? That they are no longer hyping something that everyone is telling them is a backwards

  • ...for all the wrong reasons. Up to WinXP I remember actually looking forward to a new PC. The hardware was getting better, you were getting new stuff like USB that you needed support for and so on. But the dissapointment that came afterwards in the likes of Vista, made people realize that being able to skip an "upgrade" was actually a good thing. And then came Win7 and all was well for a time. But the trainwreck of Win8 and Win10 left everyong feeling like a fois gras goose. People care about the new "vers

  • Low expectations (Score:5, Insightful)

    by VendettaMF ( 629699 ) on Sunday June 06, 2021 @06:08AM (#61459156) Homepage

    I can't say I agree with the author.

    Sure, not many people are excited or even interested in a new windows release anymore.

    But why?

    Well, if Microsoft were doing anything with windows other than making it less usable for competent users, increasing the amount of spyware they cram in and ensuring that everyone has to keep paying repeating fees forever I could probably raise a bit more enthusiasm.

    But no, instead, I raise a weary sigh and prepare to block updates until the new 3rd party patches to block all their new security holes are completed.

  • "Microsoft hired a new chief executive in 2014, and suddenly Windows wasn't the beating heart of the company anymore." Correct, raping customers of their privacy and choice became the new norm.

  • 1) Windows adopted the Linux kernel
    2) Windows allowed for even half of the customization available in Linux
    3) Windows ditched telemetry
    4) Windows stopped coming with limited feature sets that you have to upgrade (i.e. pay more for) to take advantage of.
    5) They would fix the dumpster fire otherwise known as the Control Panel

    But I suspect that none of that will happen. MS is locked into their business model and many of their customers, it seems, are locked in as well.

  • In the old days, new releases fixed horrible lossages that did not occur with other OS's. Windows got to be more or less stable and usable with XP; further releases were mainly just window dressing -- figuratively and literally -- just so they could say they have a new release and charge you more money for it.

    Now, new releases only create more headaches for people, and at best are just bug fixes, and at worst various kinds of slimy tricks to increase MS revenue. Win 10 is much worse than win 7, e.g., wit

  • I recently started up the laptop I use occasionally, and it announced I could upgrade to version 21H1. I'd only recently let it install 20H2, so I was wondering how much had changed: seems not much, since it basically sat there installing stuff for 10 minutes, restarted and ... done! Took me about a week to accept it really was that easy, and now I'm wondering if they didn't try all that hard because "there's a new version coming out". But I suspect a whole lot of "updates" get installed in the background t

  • Weren't _some_ people at MS saying that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows? Why? Because it is now a *SERVICE*. The only thing they need to do is release new feel-good improvements like rounded corners. The "real" [sic?] new version for multi-monitors was cancelled because they couldn't get it ready in time. Not sure what they would have
    put in that version, as Windows already did that full time. I've always used a 2nd monitor dedicated for media. Even tried it for a while for my Media Ce

  • Didn't MS themselves say that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows?
    Did that change or did I understand it wrong?

    Everything going forward will just be incremental changes to Windows 10.


    It does/did seem unlikely though, at some point there will be a major change in hardware that will require a rewrite/new operating system.

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