[gosub100]

The dichotomy is with their backwards compatibility. They could gut the windows apis and replace them with more secure models, but that might upset legacy corporate customers so instead they let ordinary people get hacked or lose their family photos and spend money on repairs.

[anonymars]

Did Windows S Mode or Windows RT fail because of legacy corporate customers?

[gosub100]

Who said they failed?

[anonymars]

Even if we ignore the fact that Windows RT is long cancelled, has anyone ever seen either in the wild on any machine?

Ultimately my point is I don't think the following is true. What you describe basically exists, and no one wanted it. For Windows RT I remember it basically being, "wait a minute, this thing can't run my normal apps".

> but that might upset legacy corporate customers so instead they let ordinary people get hacked or lose their family photos and spend money on repairs

I doubt Microsoft could manage to market an umbrella in a rain storm, so I imagine that's why S mode is basically stillborn. These days people use a lot fewer native apps (and now it is possible to package many of them into the Store), and S mode can be converted to full. I imagine if it started in S mode by default most people would never notice