[ChuckNorris89]

>It's astounding that they would do this now, when monitor resolutions higher than 1080p are becoming increasingly common, rather than back in the Windows 98 800x600 CRT era.

When you think like a developer/power user it astounding, but not when you think like some MS UX product manager who's chasing some promotion. They most likely justified to the higher-ups "Hey look, the new consumers are more accustomed to mobile devices, which hide or simply don't have any advanced options at all. And mobile devices are selling like hot cakes, right? So if we try to emulate that mobile OS feeling by hiding away all the advanced options that confuse the average user, then consumers will buy those instead of Macs, right? Right?! "

They did the exact same shit with Windows 8 where they pushed a tablet UX on the desktop and consumers hated it so much, it entrenched Windows 7 as one of the longest running Windows versions of all time. They fixed some of the issues via Windows 8.1, and reverted back to the more sane classical desktop approach with Windows 10, since most of the consumers were sticking to Windows 7 or even XP.

So I expect a Windows 11.1 to follow soon that will bring back some sanity following all the backlash. Or not.

[tomrod]

As an industry, we should encourage power use of core products. Power use is adaptive, competent usage.

[ChuckNorris89]

Isn't that what linux and OSS is for? That's the industry you're probably thinking about, as Microsoft, Google and Apple have the obligation to their shareholders to make money which today translates in milking the consumer by keeping them uneducated and clueless about how computers work so they can lock you into their respective ecosystems where everything is so polished and Just Works(TM), so you don't need to think about the "hows" and the "whys" and where your data is going.

"Look! we just launched our new 2022 shiny that's so much better than your old shiny. Go buy it and forget that you could still use your old shiny if we wanted to, but we don't, because that's not profitable, so instead, you'll now pay us a yearly subscription fee from now on because in a couple of years you'll get no updates for your old shiny so just chuck it into the landfill already. Also, we'll collect your data as well, but don't worry, because we care so much about privacy, it's all encrypted with military grade encryption(TM). You don't get the encryption keys though, no, no, no, that's too complicated for your poor soul to manage, we'll keep those for you, but you don't need to worry about that consumer, trust us, we got your back, our products are like a part of your family, just look at the cool marketing ads of our new shiny, everyone looks so successful and happy, and if you buy our products you'll feel the same. At least until the dopamine hit wears off."

That's part of the recipe that makes multi trillion dollar companies, not educating users. IMO, just like sex-ed, our education system should teach kids basic tech literacy in schools from a young age, so they don't put their faith and their private data in the hands of for profit companies, because they don't know any better and just trust the corporate advertising.

Also, IMO, we should regulate big-tech and targeted advertising the same way we regulated big-tobacco, otherwise, if we let everything up to "the free market", we'll get the tech equivalent of pregnant women being told smoking is good for their babies, presuming we haven't already reached that stage yet.

[tomrod]

I appreciate your perspective, and having thought about it for a few hours I find that I disagree. Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc. as operating systems are within the same domain of users; power user differentiation is currently a difference of preference, not of class or kind.

For other technologies, defaulting to open and targeting power users (and encouraging reasonable onboard skilling) is how we target all other tools, such as vehicles, power tools, and so forth that are used with a craft. Tradesfolks know their tools, and their most important tools they know enough to modify to suit their needs.