I think it’s a hard case to make that 7 wasn’t objectively better than XP.
Windows 10 did roll back some of the more egregious stuff from Windows 8, but still was sort of committed, sort of not. You had a platform with multiple personalities, multiple right click context menus, multiple ‘control panel’ with a new one being emphasized, but not actually completed, so it’s an awkward mix of the platform they had suceeded with and a platform they wished it could be (combined with telemetry). Forced microsoft accounts and using the desktop as a platform to promote products and services…
Yeah I think a fair argument can be made that WIndows 7 was the ultimate execution of the general vision that started with Windows NT, and what came after was something else that also happened to have bits of that original product hanging on.
I’m not too terribly excited by any Windows in particular, but I can recognize something categorically different they wanted to do starting with 8 that remains partially executed to this day, starts to emphasize Microsoft’s interests at the expense of the users, and a direction that no one really asked for.
Exactly this. 7 was absolutely the peak of Windows. Everything after was enshittification, and everything prior was still less user-friendly and rough around the edges.
And anyone arguing XP was peak should try installing XP and try connecting to wifi. Talk about a mess. XP was only a marginal upgrade over 98/2000, but with some glossy paint. 7 was the first time Windows felt modern.
Is it though? From a privacy perspective I think Windows 10 quite clearly started introducing some shady surveillance practices which were absent in earlier versions. Of course, 11 took that waaay further, but 10 was a turning point imo.
95, 98, xp, and 7 were all great; each improved on the last. But 7 was the true peak. 10 was pretty good and unfortunately was the turning point into enshitification.
95/98 was another operating system, though. Windows 98 ME (forgot about that one) was the last OS in the original Windows series– that Windows that was basically just a graphic shell for DOS.
IIRC, XP was the 5th version of Microsoft’s fork of OS/2. OS/2 was rebranded as Microsoft NT in its 3^rd version due to the success of the brand Windows and the failure of OS/2 despite OS/2 having been the superior OS.
Edit: missed the joke. My opinions about windows are grounded in my own experience, obviously. I’m the ‘wait for the first SP’ person historically. 10 was the first time I was not excited to install a new operating system. Everything was behind shitty UI that took away simple functionality. Funny enough I’d go back to it over 11 lol.
I agree. This is why I think literally all software should be FLOSS. People should be able to use a platform as long as they like on their own hardware.
As a programmer, my world changed when Windows 95 came out, what with being 32-bit and having an extremely powerful (if difficult-to-use at first) low-level audio API, since I mainly wrote software synthesis and music composition apps. I have not given two fucks for anything that has happened since 95. Quite amazingly, that audio API has remained in existence, unchanged, all the way until today. 30 years of not having to change what I’m doing at all has been absolutely amazing. That shit even worked, without modification, for Windows CE (Compact Edition) and Windows Mobile, so I was able to make versions of my software synthesizer that ran on shitty smartphones from 2005. It worked on Windows Phone as well, albeit it quite uselessly.
That is super interesting! I could read your comments on the windows audio API all day! Do you have a development blog? I’d also love to read more about this audio API.
In a way you can. Install ZorinOS or Linux Mint. Add WINE, and you can set wine to “emulate” an version of Windows. I was using it to run some old engineering program and WinAmp
I’ve got Windows installed on a separate drive in case I wanna play Forza Horizon 5 (which I stupidly bought on Microsoft store because stepdad had an Xbox at the time and it was nice to be able to play on that as well when I was visiting - now even he moved to PS5). I haven’t booted it in over half a year despite missing the game at times. If it was Windows 7, I’d probably boot every now and then.
At this point I’ve forgotten if I have Windows 10 or 11. Chances are I did some enterprise version of one of them to get longer support, as I did the OS install like 8 or 9 months ago.
Windows peaked at 7, I only moved to Windows 10 when Windows 7 lost support
Windows peaked at DOS. It was small, inoffensive, and easily killed.
That’s mostly due to your age. Older people say it peaked at XP, younger people are saying it peaked at 10. Truth is, they’re all kinda the same shit.
I think it’s a hard case to make that 7 wasn’t objectively better than XP.
Windows 10 did roll back some of the more egregious stuff from Windows 8, but still was sort of committed, sort of not. You had a platform with multiple personalities, multiple right click context menus, multiple ‘control panel’ with a new one being emphasized, but not actually completed, so it’s an awkward mix of the platform they had suceeded with and a platform they wished it could be (combined with telemetry). Forced microsoft accounts and using the desktop as a platform to promote products and services…
Yeah I think a fair argument can be made that WIndows 7 was the ultimate execution of the general vision that started with Windows NT, and what came after was something else that also happened to have bits of that original product hanging on.
I’m not too terribly excited by any Windows in particular, but I can recognize something categorically different they wanted to do starting with 8 that remains partially executed to this day, starts to emphasize Microsoft’s interests at the expense of the users, and a direction that no one really asked for.
Exactly this. 7 was absolutely the peak of Windows. Everything after was enshittification, and everything prior was still less user-friendly and rough around the edges.
And anyone arguing XP was peak should try installing XP and try connecting to wifi. Talk about a mess. XP was only a marginal upgrade over 98/2000, but with some glossy paint. 7 was the first time Windows felt modern.
Is it though? From a privacy perspective I think Windows 10 quite clearly started introducing some shady surveillance practices which were absent in earlier versions. Of course, 11 took that waaay further, but 10 was a turning point imo.
95, 98, xp, and 7 were all great; each improved on the last. But 7 was the true peak. 10 was pretty good and unfortunately was the turning point into enshitification.
95/98 was another operating system, though. Windows
98ME (forgot about that one) was the last OS in the original Windows series– that Windows that was basically just a graphic shell for DOS.IIRC, XP was the 5th version of Microsoft’s fork of OS/2. OS/2 was rebranded as Microsoft NT in its 3^rd version due to the success of the brand Windows and the failure of OS/2 despite OS/2 having been the superior OS.
Do not make me find the pic of The Dude.
I might be slowly turning into Jeff Bridges.
Edit: missed the joke. My opinions about windows are grounded in my own experience, obviously. I’m the ‘wait for the first SP’ person historically. 10 was the first time I was not excited to install a new operating system. Everything was behind shitty UI that took away simple functionality. Funny enough I’d go back to it over 11 lol.
Oh how I wish we could just go back to W7 :(
I agree. This is why I think literally all software should be FLOSS. People should be able to use a platform as long as they like on their own hardware.
As a programmer, my world changed when Windows 95 came out, what with being 32-bit and having an extremely powerful (if difficult-to-use at first) low-level audio API, since I mainly wrote software synthesis and music composition apps. I have not given two fucks for anything that has happened since 95. Quite amazingly, that audio API has remained in existence, unchanged, all the way until today. 30 years of not having to change what I’m doing at all has been absolutely amazing. That shit even worked, without modification, for Windows CE (Compact Edition) and Windows Mobile, so I was able to make versions of my software synthesizer that ran on shitty smartphones from 2005. It worked on Windows Phone as well, albeit it quite uselessly.
That is super interesting! I could read your comments on the windows audio API all day! Do you have a development blog? I’d also love to read more about this audio API.
In a way you can. Install ZorinOS or Linux Mint. Add WINE, and you can set wine to “emulate” an version of Windows. I was using it to run some old engineering program and WinAmp
I’ve got Windows installed on a separate drive in case I wanna play Forza Horizon 5 (which I stupidly bought on Microsoft store because stepdad had an Xbox at the time and it was nice to be able to play on that as well when I was visiting - now even he moved to PS5). I haven’t booted it in over half a year despite missing the game at times. If it was Windows 7, I’d probably boot every now and then.
At this point I’ve forgotten if I have Windows 10 or 11. Chances are I did some enterprise version of one of them to get longer support, as I did the OS install like 8 or 9 months ago.
Nah, best (or more accurately: least crappy) Windows version was Windows 2000. Everything got bloated and too consumery after that.