[mouzogu]

I don't get the general negativity around Windows. Variety, for me, is a good thing. Every OS has it's strengths, weaknesses and use-cases.

I know the argument is often framed as open vs closed source ecosystems but I think and hope that ultimately having more options and more variety is good and interesting for us.

Windows, does deservedly get a lot of stick for it's past issues (windows rot etc) and present issues. However, I think ultimately what we learn from these scenarios is extremely beneficial for a lot of people.

As a Web Developer I hated IE 6. I still do. But, I have to admit that it taught me a lot. It taught me about the box-model. It taught me how to debug JS before the days of Firefox/Firebug. I know this was not by design or intention and I know this is easier to say in retrospect.

I can imagine a lot of people working in info-sec learnt a lot from the various failings of Windows and other platforms too.

I guess my point is don't be negative for the sake of it. If Windows is bad, I hope it improves. Same goes for all technologies. I'm a Chrome user but I still love to run Opera, Firefox and Edge now and then because I enjoy different experiences and love playing with new apps and features. I also have a Macbook for work and and and Ubuntu partition. I enjoy using them all.

[evilgenius134]

>I'm a Chrome user but I still love to run Opera, Firefox and Edge now

Chrome has never actively tried to uninstall/remove competing browsers or corrupt your ability to reliably run them, I distinctly remember my own install of Windows 10 destroying my bootloaders set up by Linux and uninstalling applications automatically. Although it has show the ability to send as much information as it wants back home.

>If Windows is bad, I hope it improves.

I'm sure people in 2001 were saying the same thing about Microsoft and it appears they are emulating it again.

[mouzogu]

I was indeed saying the same thing in 2001. Just with more swearing.

[slightlycuban]

> I don't get the general negativity around Windows.

For me, it's that the system is completely closed and opaque, and there routinely isn't much I can do about it.

Not saying the other guys are perfect--far from it--but at least I can take a crack at changing things. Windows is the most closed-source OS I run (more so than OSX). When it doesn't do The Right Thing, I can get very negative.

And to your point, I feel I've learned much more from OSes that expose the internals and let me mess with them, than those that don't.