Is there an incentive for Microsoft to build a better operating system that treats its users with respect, without invasive ads, telemetry and with a fast gui?
Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
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Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#2Windows works because it just continues to work. An enterprise can buy software, and it largely just run and run and run because they are serious about backwards compatibility.
This is just not true on Mac. See: the end of 32-bit support, switch to ARM largely worked, but some software didn't if it used particular x86_64 processor instructions.
On Linux, Ubuntu is decent but people still have issues with things like graphics drivers, Wayland, etc. etc. which makes it hard to advise it for your totally non-technical user.
On top of all this, Windows has the best management options if you're running 1000s of machines in your company.
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#3That's a strange question to ask, the modern Windows gui (Win95) will be 30 years old in July.
What in that time period would lead you to believe there is any chance it will have a radical change until it's dethroned as the worlds number one business/home OS?
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#4My 2 cents...
Microsoft is struggling with too much legacy code base, and the software is embedded in too many places for them to make too much change. It's more cost effective to appease the existing enterprise base and minimize change, than to create a GUI that doesn't suck.
Apple will continue to expand the gap because they're not as beholden to 30 year old code.
Others will create mass-customizable AI driven GUIs (the post-Apple world) though I can't imagine this comes from Microsoft.
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#5[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#6I think Microsoft has pretty much acknowledged that Windows isn't really a priority.
Anyone sensible switched over to macOS already, especially software developers. It may also not be perfect, but I mean it's night and day really. As a developer, macOS is just such an amazing environment (and a true Unix).
When I try Windows it's like going back 15 years.
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#7Windows will happily do whatever you want as long as you pay for the right edition.
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#8Windows will happily do whatever you want as long as you pay for the right edition.
That's my understanding. The business versions of the OS don't have any of that garbage.
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#9I think Microsoft has pretty much acknowledged that Windows isn't really a priority. Anyone sensible switched over to macOS already, especially software developers. It may also not be perfect, but I mean it's night and day really. As a developer, macOS is just such an amazing environment (and a true Unix). When I try Windows it's like going back 15 years.
> Anyone sensible switched over to macOS already, especially software developers
Well if sgt says so, then it must be true!
Except it isn't, sorry. Both Windows and Linux (if you total the distros) are more popular among developers according to last year's SO survey:
https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2024/technology#1-operating-...
I'm glad that you've found an OS that suits you, but please don't speak for the rest of us, or call everyone who has different opinions from you "unsensible". (Personally, I find Mac really frickin annoying, but that's just, like, my opinion, man.)
Re: Ask HN: Is Windows ever going to suck less?
#10That's a strange question to ask, the modern Windows gui (Win95) will be 30 years old in July. What in that time period would lead you to believe there is any chance it will have a radical change until it's dethroned as the worlds number one business/home OS?
They did remove the Windows 8 tablet GUI. Unfortunately the problems with Windows 11 are not technical but related to the business model and thus the solution has to be on the business side.