[clavicat]

Windows is probably the most important piece of software in the entire world, yet Microsoft does not treat it like the most important piece of software in the entire world. They have no sense of responsibility about foisting this garbage onto billions of users.

I've been a lifelong Windows user, but I've come to feel that Windows needs to be completely replaced. We simply cannot trust Microsoft with mission-critical software any longer.

[dstaley]

You do realize this issue was on Windows 11, an unreleased operating system correct? I'm not saying Windows 10 hasn't had its share of critical issues, but I can't remember the last time Microsoft released widely a show-stopping bug to the LTS branch of Windows (that is, the branch you'd be using for "mission-critical" applications).

[exporectomy]

It's not just defects, it's ridiculous design choices. Why does almost every single Windows user on the planet have their attention occasionally taken by something utterly pointless to them like "3D Objects" or "Onedrive" when they look for a file, or choosing between "Edit with Photos", "Edit with Paint 3D", and "Edit"? And choose between "Settings" and "Control Panel" which seem like different skins of the same thing, except one has slightly more icons in it than the other, so does that mean it's more functional? Who knows? User has to decide. And why is it that with multiple monitors, if one goes to sleep, the windows all move around, so for anything you keep open, you're regularly manually re-positioning the window every day?

[marcodiego]

Actually the 2 sets of settings is understandable. They probably had to give it the "modern look" but for compatibility and how users were used to the old "control panel" they had to keep it too. And now you have both!

[danparsonson]

The different settings apps that claim to manage the same thing don't cover the same settings. The old apps are not still there to support users who don't like the new look, they're there because the new apps are insufficient and cover an overlapping but different set of configuration. It's thoroughly confusing and frankly a terrible design choice.

[fomine3]

Another reason why old control panes still alive is that new settings app isn't customizable by 3rd parties. Some 3rd party drivers added custom configuration panel on control panel and old drivers remain forever on windows world.

[recursive]

That would be more believable if they let you do the same things. It would probably be more accurate to say they had to keep the old one because the new one is (still!) missing half the settings.

[ComputerGuru]

You do realize that this isn’t about this one ad bringing down Windows 11 but rather the very architecture that allowed for an ad to integrate itself into the system to such an extent? That is not something you can fix before RTM release, only patch around.

[ptero]

It is not any unreleased OS though. It is a major release of the most widely used desktop OS in the world, that presumably got through many layers of testing and was released to a small set of outside users before the final rollout less than 1 month away. One would expect a pretty solid state by then.

[kroltan]

I think it was back in 2018, there was a bugged mandatory Windows Update package that was corrupted for weeks.

The system would ask you to reboot the computer, at which point it would try to install the update. That failed with a bluescreen, requiring an automatic restore. This process took around 30 minutes on an SSD.

So far seems innocuous, but the thing is, as this was a mandatory update, after one or two days it would display an un-dismissable popup over the entire screen demanding a restart, which would repeat the process above.

This caused data loss in applications if the user didn't have the opportunity to save whatever data was in memory. Remember, the popup is undismissable, there were no ahead of time warnings, and the timing varied (so you couldn't even rely on "the computer will fuck up at 16:03" or whatever).

[XorNot]

The existence of ads as a "core" part of the Windows experience speaks otherwise.

Why are there ads in paid software? Why is Microsoft content having a separation of "serious" Windows and consumer Windows, delineated by ads and spyware?

[brian_herman]

Yeah, but I'm thinking this is a repeat of Windows Vista and I'll be able to stay on 10 for a while before they create Windows 12 which will be a much better release.

[fabianhjr]

> We simply cannot trust Microsoft with mission-critical software any longer.

We generally don't, most servers and mission critical infrastructure runs Linux or a BSD. What scares me is that many medical devices do run on Windows and that is a future Therac-25 like incident waiting to happen ( https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Therac-25 )

[ajdude]

Some years ago I went to the dentist and had to get x-rays done on my teeth. After a fair bit of time going through all of the different angles, the technician apologized to me and said that we have to do it all again.

The computer tied to the x-ray machine did a forced restart for Windows update, this is back in the days of Windows 7, and I had to get my teeth x-rayed all over again after we sat and waited for 20 minutes.

[liketochill]

This is why yeah computers for controlling machines should not be allowed to indiscriminately access the internet.

[walrus01]

> Windows is probably the most important piece of software in the entire world

It's absolutely not. The amount of things that use the Linux kernel for critical network and infrastructure projects, that are mostly hidden to the public... Or that are built on a foundation of something with a clear Linux heritage.

Windows is probably the most visible important piece of software with a GUI.

[voidfunc]

This is such an incredibly pedantic HN answer.

Let's just say they're both insanely important to our continued functioning digital existence. Without working Linux or Windows we are quite fucked.

[walrus01]

95% of what I see many ordinary users do with a computer these days is mediated from within a browser window (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox). Those browsers seem to work just fine on MacOS or a Linux desktop.

[danparsonson]

The point isn't what's possible, it's about the way things are now. Most people with a desktop or laptop machine run Windows on it. Could Linux do everything they want from a computer? Sure, almost. Are they actually using Linux? No - ergo, Windows is still massively important. Not to mention the countless organisations whose IT departments are heavily invested in Windows desktops and all the related supporting infrastructure. Of course they could all change, but they're not going to do it any time soon. Yes Linux is awesome and everywhere but, for example, just a few weeks ago one of my (software developer!) colleagues scoffed when I mentioned Linux and asked if anyone still uses it - while Linux silently runs almost everything around us, Windows is still much more visibly present in most peoples' lives.

[mulmen]

I don’t see how the GUI makes Windows less important. Windows is everywhere.

[marcodiego]

> Windows is everywhere.

Not on the cellphone, smartv, router, supercomputer, webserver or tablet I use. Actually, they all run the same (with some customization) kernel.

[exporectomy]

The comment was about importance, not popularity. Those aren't mainly used for important work. If people are paying you to use the software, it's probably important to them.

[marcodiego]

> Those aren't mainly used for important work.

Tablets, smartphones and smart tvs have been of increasing importance on education activities, specially after the pandemic. My router is used for ALL my internet traffic, important or not. Webservers... basically most of what most things people do online. And supercomputers are right now doing high relevancy tasks like running climate models, simulating protein folding, drug interactions and improving vehicle's safety.

I'd disagree those aren't mainly used for important work.

[mulmen]

Are schools that use Windows tablets doing important work?

[rovr138]

That’s a very small, and biased, sample size.

[marcodiego]

That very same kernel runs on the majority of smartphones, tablets, smart tvs, servers, routers and 100% of the biggest super computers out there. This very same kernel literally flies on Mars. Although my sample size is small it is not biased neither are the referred market segments.

[kroltan]

And while Mars and supercomputers are cool and important for society and humanity in general, there is also no denying of the immediate impact that Windows has in most human-interfacing applications.

Supermarket checkouts, public services, small-scale logistics, health, just plain old office workers, and so on.

An undeniably large slice of companies and public sectors that do not have a dedicated IT staff rely on Windows-based computers to organize and operate their activities. Outages to those probably have more direct impact on actual everyday people going about their lives than an outage in a Mars rover or lack of WiFi access.

Just to be clear I'm not playing teams here, *nix-based systems are ridiculously important too, but the open-source base is arguably a more - democratic? healthy? stable? I lack of a better word - development process, and its importance does not lessen the importance of other systems.

[mioasndo]

The only place windows is competitive is desktop - a small and shrinking piece of the market.

[marcodiego]

This! People must stop acting like computer = desktop.

[marcodiego]

Microsoft has no threat on the desktop. Apple has a respectable slice but still small compared to Microsoft. With regard to linux... well, if ME, Vista and 8 couldn't bring it into a good position, I don't know what would.

[flutterwascrap]

Sometimes I feel like microsoft bribes people in free desktop project.