Where is Windows going?

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When Microsoft started down the road of continuous improvements, it resulted in constant change that can annoy everyone — from end users to IT adminis
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Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Great Lake Bunyip, BobbyB, kandb, TechTango, lmacri, Alex5723

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In looking at the roadmap, it seems to leave a lot to be desired. Doesn’t really say much about fixing the buggy mess that is the Windows 11 File Explorer or Taskbar.

To answer the rhetorical question in your post title: Windows is going off a cliff, particularly in the consumer space, unless they make some substantial improvements to Windows 11.

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Cybertooth, Great Lake Bunyip, Charlie, WSRobF228, Toa Of Justice

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Hello Susan and all,

I’m tucked into Win1022H2 and have no desire to migrate to Win11 as that will require a new PC. But we sure can identify with your thoughts about the “roadmap” no matter the Win make/model.

Quoting: “I suppose we can hope”. That’s how I feel about Amazon Firestick TV and dealing with the constant changes foisted upon us by the Amazon system. One never knows what will show with each day and another “update”, fixing often what ain’t broke.

Adios…

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Great Lake Bunyip, curious leo, WSRobF228, BobbyB

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Where is Windows going?
With any luck away.  I’ve had it.  Staying on Win10 for as long as I can.  After that either Linux or Apple.

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kandb, Cybertooth, Great Lake Bunyip

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From a homeuser perspective with OS security aside..
Changes are a good thing if they actually improve stability, performance, ease of use, functionality, aesthetics whilst still providing quality.

Not really seen that for over a decade and tend to associate those ‘change’ successes in three previous Windows versions:
Win98SE, WinXP SP2 and Win7 SP1..nothing has come close since.
Windows has become a pane the glass since 2015 and I’m so glad (smug?) I took the initiative to self-educate on using and configuring linux. Now relaxing with alternative FOSS software to achieve what is needed with cross-Windows OS compatibility (after many trials of testing OS and Applications).
That contingency plan has worked here..each to their own and good luck, you’ll need it IMO

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Cybertooth, Great Lake Bunyip, Charlie

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Modern MSFT has jumped off a cliff; they only care about cloud [subscription] and AI.

It is really sad, considering how well many of Windows’ design concepts were once implemented. Alas, ignoring your users has historically proven the failure of products and it is no different today.

At this point, you either need to jump onto the *nix train or look at AAPL [which has its own issues, but they at least haven’t ditched their users yet]

Personally, I never thought I’d see a day where I’d even be suggesting AAPL as a viable solution, let alone disgusted by Windows.

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Charlie, amiawitch, Cybertooth

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Susan Bradley wrote:

When Microsoft started down the road of continuous improvements, it resulted in constant change that can annoy everyone

Not everyone. I’m not annoyed, but I’m also not riding herd on a bunch of company PC’s, I’m just a home user. I have five installations on three sets of hardware, and that’s it. But not one of those installations has had any issues with Windows. My own spelunking into Windows innards has caused plenty, but having a readily available drive image to restore keeps those from really being issues of significance.

As far as improvements, I don’t use the Windows Start menu, I use StartAllBack (lifetime license) which also takes care of File Explorer. Sure, Microsoft has introduced some “features” I don’t care to use, so I don’t use them. Those that get in the way, I rip out of the registry.

I use OneDrive, I find it quite handy, and I have an online MS account for that, but I don’t have a MS user account on any of my Windows installations. OneDrive signs in automatically when I log into Windows with my local account. I also moved the OneDrive folder to a separate partition on a different drive from the OS. I use Task Scheduler running a Robocopy script to copy the folders I want on OneDrive to that relocated OneDrive folder. Works great.

I just get rid of the fluff and nonsense in Windows and continue to use it as a platform for the stuff I actually use my PC for. I’ve used Linux several times, but I’ve yet to find a compelling reason to put up with it. Two of my most used programs don’t have a Linux version. So no, I’m not annoyed with Windows nor with the continuing improvements.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Andy M, TechTango

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I find that a lot of stuff coming from Microsoft (especially at user level) seems to be in the realm of stuff for its own sake, or perhaps “because we can”, or “solutions looking for a problem to solve”. Sometimes, there may be stuff that’s truly useful, but too often, what’s produced seems to address what Microsoft wants to sell, rather than what users want or need to buy.

I get that there is a difference between the Enterprise environment and what individuals run on their own desktops at home, and where some of that is driven by the need for keeping a common code base for all.

As a SMB user, I certainly see stuff with both Windows and Office that have evolved over the years, in ways that are useful, but at the same time, the bulk of what’s part of Microsoft’s Enterprise offerings are far beyond anything I’ll ever need.

However, as an individual user, I’m hard-pressed to identify a lot that has changed since Office 97 that I really need, and some quantity of stuff (such as the Ribbon) that I really don’t want. For Office, I’m willing to accept the idea of a refresh about every decade or so, but at the same time, just because Microsoft has decided that doing everything cloud-based (or integrated with AI) is superior doesn’t mean that that that’s compelling to me.

To me, the biggest fault is that when Microsoft decides that they want a new strategic direction is in how much they force that on users. I think the level of push-back is evident in just how slowly users are moving from Win 10 to to Win 11, given how much hardware is being deprecated by Win 11. But even without the hardware issue, there is the question of whose needs Microsoft is addressing with the reworks of the UI. Is that something that we really need, or even want, or is it something being pushed by Microsoft to fit into whatever new vision of the future they’ve decided to pursue.

I don’t really mind if they want to give users the Win 11 UI, but it doesn’t really do anything for me, and I would prefer to simply opt out and keep with what I have in Windows 10. There’s a reason that I stuck with Windows 7 as long as I could, and never did Windows 8 or 8.1. But it’s not necessarily very far removed from how hard Microsoft is pushing to force users to use Microsoft accounts.

Ultimately, it comes down to wanting to be left alone with tools that I know and work well for me, so that I can do my own work. I don’t care about the newest stuff, and I don’t want it to be forced on me.

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windbg, amiawitch, Cybertooth, kandb, Charlie

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Still Anonymous wrote:

Ultimately, it comes down to wanting to be left alone with tools that I know and work well for me, so that I can do my own work. I don’t care about the newest stuff, and I don’t want it to be forced on me.

StillAnon,

Your entire post is well stated.  The last paragraph takes it home.

Bill T

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amiawitch, Cybertooth

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