Think about this: between 1990 and 1995, Microsoft completely rebuilt windows from the ground up into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
Next, between 1995 and 2001, Microsoft completely rebuilt windows again from the ground up into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
From 2001 to 2006, Microsoft completely rebuilt Windows yet again from the ground up into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
Windows 7 occurred with it in the next 6 year window, but it was more of a smoothing out of all the rough edges of the previously rebuilt windows. However, Windows 8 occurred in the next six year window, and it was once again a fundamentally rebuild windows into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
It's been over 10 years since the release of Windows 8, but when you really think about it it's been a completely stagnant product ever since.
On the other hand, this narrative really misses something else: from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, Microsoft essentially had to completely change how configuration was done. From 95 to xp, they had to completely change how most things were done. From XP to 7, a lot of things are still done the same way that they were done in XP, and from 7 to today a surprising number of things are still done the way they were in XP.
There might be some good arguments against taking away the old ways of doing things, but I would push back on the idea that the only reason that nothing is moved forward is that Microsoft doesn't want to break anything. In particular, the settings app still doesn't do most of the things that the old win32 utilities did and still do, and so you aren't just going back to the old way of doing things because you're old and set in your ways, you're doing it because Microsoft has failed over nearly 25 years to produce a utility to do the same thing. In some ways if you're using just straight windows 10 or 11, it feels like you're using a janky Linux distribution from 15 years ago.
Ironically, Microsoft also tries to pretend that the problem is the user by trying to hide the old utilities version after version and people have to go chase them down because you still can't do so many very basic things with stuff like the settings app. I'm sorry Microsoft that I'm having to go back to the network connections page to set up my network connections instead of your shiny new settings app, but I need to do some stuff the majority of which you can't do from your shiny new settings app.
If it was just a matter of trying to keep things the same workflow as before then the same stuff would be in the same place, but that's not the case. Over the course of windows 10, buttons for the same thing have moved all over hells half acre, fundamental stuff like the start menu has catastrophically changed in between minor revisions of Windows all the way since Windows 8. Newark econ show up, old icons disappear, any idea that Windows is being kept the way it is because they're trying to maintain workflows evaporates upon contact with reality.
Next, between 1995 and 2001, Microsoft completely rebuilt windows again from the ground up into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
From 2001 to 2006, Microsoft completely rebuilt Windows yet again from the ground up into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
Windows 7 occurred with it in the next 6 year window, but it was more of a smoothing out of all the rough edges of the previously rebuilt windows. However, Windows 8 occurred in the next six year window, and it was once again a fundamentally rebuild windows into a fundamentally different type of operating system.
It's been over 10 years since the release of Windows 8, but when you really think about it it's been a completely stagnant product ever since.
On the other hand, this narrative really misses something else: from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, Microsoft essentially had to completely change how configuration was done. From 95 to xp, they had to completely change how most things were done. From XP to 7, a lot of things are still done the same way that they were done in XP, and from 7 to today a surprising number of things are still done the way they were in XP.
There might be some good arguments against taking away the old ways of doing things, but I would push back on the idea that the only reason that nothing is moved forward is that Microsoft doesn't want to break anything. In particular, the settings app still doesn't do most of the things that the old win32 utilities did and still do, and so you aren't just going back to the old way of doing things because you're old and set in your ways, you're doing it because Microsoft has failed over nearly 25 years to produce a utility to do the same thing. In some ways if you're using just straight windows 10 or 11, it feels like you're using a janky Linux distribution from 15 years ago.
Ironically, Microsoft also tries to pretend that the problem is the user by trying to hide the old utilities version after version and people have to go chase them down because you still can't do so many very basic things with stuff like the settings app. I'm sorry Microsoft that I'm having to go back to the network connections page to set up my network connections instead of your shiny new settings app, but I need to do some stuff the majority of which you can't do from your shiny new settings app.
If it was just a matter of trying to keep things the same workflow as before then the same stuff would be in the same place, but that's not the case. Over the course of windows 10, buttons for the same thing have moved all over hells half acre, fundamental stuff like the start menu has catastrophically changed in between minor revisions of Windows all the way since Windows 8. Newark econ show up, old icons disappear, any idea that Windows is being kept the way it is because they're trying to maintain workflows evaporates upon contact with reality.
- replies
- 0
- announces
- 2
- likes
- 2