[RetroTechie]

Those were actual upgrades, though.

According to many, Windows UI/UX peaked in the Win2k/XP/Win7 era.

Among those, significant improvements: memory management, new/more stable drivers, 64-bit support, better use of multi-core cpu's, etc.

But since then: increased telem.. ehm, spying. Pushing ads everywhere. Mostly pointless UI overhauls again & again for little end-user benefit. If any.

It's sad that giants like MS seem so hell-bent on enshittifying their flagship products. Just imagine what could have been if MS had kept supporting, improving internals, and adding drivers to the 'oldie' OSes mentioned above. Or stick to minor upgrades leaving OS look & feel intact.

Sure there's tech limitations. But I dare you: name some application(s) that would be impossible on say, Win7 due to fundamental issues in its design (assuming MS & app developer were both on board to smooth out wrinkles). Anyone?

[simonblack]

Remember the days of Mini-Microsoft? They were a group who tried to improve Microsoft from the inside. They weren't successful.

I once tried to convince them that Microsoft should 'do an Apple' by using Linux under the hood the same way that Apple used BSD under the hood.

That would free up a lot of the programming workload of Windows by putting it onto the Linux community, and allow Microsoft to concentrate on the Windows Desktop alone, the same way that Apple concentrated on the Apple Desktop while leaving BSD to the BSDers.

I still believe this would be a win-win for Microsoft and its users alike.

However, Microsoft has always been about the Benjamins, and not about good things for its users.