[atoav]

Consider that for some people that terrible operating system might have been the first system the have ever used, maybe as a kid.

I (an avid linux user who spends more time in the terminal than on a UI) certainly recall that my first contact with any computer with a keyboard was Windows 95. It was a complete mystery to me. The fascination that unexplainable object had on a 7 year old certainly had an effect on my life.

And guess what I remember? That grey interface with the blue title bar.

So as crappy as it might have been, as ethically unsound as the company who made it might have behaved themselves, the visual likeness of the system of my childhood tingles some old memories. And that is not even remotely odd. People can be nostalgic for literally everything, because we do not long for the old artifacts themselves, but for the feelings, friends and times we might have had when they were around.

For some of us the grey windows of Microsofts operating system have gained symbolic value beyond the aesthetical or functional qualities inherent to the system itself.

[chillfox]

First computer I used was running Dos and Windows 3.1.

But my favorite Windows version is XP, I was doing service desk / junior sysadmin at the time and XP was just so easy to work with. You could fix a lot of problems by simply editing the registry or files in the windows folder directly and you could re-image a machine in about 2 minutes. The control panel was really easy to navigate and consistent.

I really wish XP was still supported.

[whatwhatwhat_]

Well alright, but I was tech support for many Windows 98 users back in the day and wow did I hate microsoft. It was such a ridiculous mess, like a house of cards. Fix one thing and another broke, cryptic dll packs when installed fixed some problems then needed patching again and again and again. And everyone blamed tech support. We were incompetent, the software came from god. fml I hate that os

[chillfox]

Everyone still blames tech support for everything and I think that will likely continue indefinitely regardless of correctness and quality of software.

[atoav]

Just like for someone working at a 90s McDonalds the old architecture might make them want to vomit while for a kid that grew up during that time that architecture might carry good memories for them.

Both (and more) perspectives can be valid at the same time.