The Slow Death of Windows

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Windows has been losing market share since 2009. The PC industry has seen declining sales since 2011. From Steven Sinofsky getting iPad envy to chasing Windows Mixed Reality and more, Microsoft has done a lot wrong. Can they turn it around with Windows on ARM and AI?

The Story Behind

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Additional assets: Getty Images & AP Archive

[gslim]

Considering how much data mining MS does I find it incredible that they manage to consistently misunderstand the needs of their customers

[larkivisto]

Microsoft shot itself and continues to shoot in the foot by chasing fads when most people just want a stable operating system that stays out of the way. I'd still be using Windows 7 if it was still supported.

[PwnySlaystation]

"removing old context menus etc"
Often, those old context menus are the only way, or easiest way to do things. They pushed the new base interfaces (Settings, etc) without actually finishing it. It's still not finished.

[stevenpike]

I remember when I would remove Windows built in bloatware, and then secretly in the background, they would load it back up again. Peeved me off to no end.

[azopxt]

Users: We want a clean stable and well done operating system!

Microsoft: *Adds AI bloat in every corner of the OS*

[ServetusTrumpsCalvin]

As an IT Professional, I hate the unnecessary changes that are regularly made to Office products, apparently just for the sake f change. I think a lot of people at Microsoft make changes simply to justify their employment w/o adding any real benefit. In fact, many times it resets the learning curve and user comfort using the applications in a work environment.

[aungthuhein]

You never even talked about the elephant in the room which is the gaming industry! For a lot of people, it's the only reason they still have a Windows installation at all. And I hope Valve's efforts with the Steam Deck improve gaming on Linux to the point where I don't have to deal with Windows anymore.

[actuallygoodgamesanalysis]

Microsoft: AI will surely save us!

Customers: RECALL DOES WHAT!?!?

[dijoxx]

One thing you need to understand is that the engineers, managers and VPs working at these companies are incentivised to do whatever will get them promoted. Launching a new type of Windows demonstrates "impact" and "leadership" they can claim on their next performance reviews, whereas cleaning up, stabilising and improving existing features is nowhere near as sexy or showcaseable.

[olican]

The issue is all the half finished features. The UI is a mess. For example, transparrency. Not even all their OWN apps support it. WinAero looked and functioned better than Windows 11 transparency and was MUCH more consistent. I'll never understand why they scrapped it only to trickle it back in.

[AidanofVT]

I'm in the process of migrating from Windows to Linux, not because of any practical reason, but because I believe that Microsoft's "you don't really own your computer" attitude is reaching a critical point. Windows 11's requirement that users use a Microsoft account, not a local account, is a great example of this, as is their endorsement of Google's plan to require "certified" browsers, and thereby kill the internet. If Microsoft reverses this trend, I'll happily revert to Windows.

[Haooryu]

Step 1: AI becomes a Threat
Step 2: Add AI all over windows
Step 3: ...

[diotitus]

I like Windows in terms of compatibility with a lot of programs and a good variety of hardware. However, I think part of the reason why Windows is probably slowly declining is because of the way that Microsoft is just adding a bunch of telemetry, data collection, and half-baked gimmicky features for no apparent reason instead of focusing on the quality of the OS.

[xstevenx]

Those who worked in tech support during Windows 8, specifically those who had to try and teach people how to use it, will have to live with PTSD for the rest of their life.

[lociflow]

I remember the first time i got a windows 10 pc, first thing that happened is i accidentally installed Onedrive that straight up hijacked all my files in my documents and stored it through their cloud services, and as i didn't pay for Onedrive i only had a very small cloud storage that became used up within like a day or so, when that happened most games or programs that tried writing data to my documents told me the folder was full, - Onedrive popped up telling me i have to pay to get more storage. Games couldn't find stuff like savefiles and so on... i tried deleting Onedrive, but it literally reinstalled itself, i tried taking out all the files from the cloud storage and changing location of my documents folder - didn't work, Onedrive just changed everything back to how it was before. It was like a damn virus man i had to disable and shut down my microsoft account for it to stop messing with me.

[YuasBirds]

Not only this, windows is just unstable now, period. Every time I restart my PC I'm clenching my ass hoping that a sneaky windows forced update doesn't corrupt my drivers and potentially brick components, it's happened more than once.

[Nanagos]

I think Windows' AI integration will be the next start of a cycle. The truth is, people don't want fancy tools or technology built into their PC, but a system that just works for day to day use. That's the key success factor for any product since the introduction of the PC.

[YAOMTC]

Windows losing market share is GOOD. It makes for a more balanced market for operating systems, so developers don't just ignore Mac/Linux forever.

[kaitlyn]

I currently don't think that the people running away from windows will be convinced by ai to come back

[entity]

Windows: we got a lot of features!
Linux: we don't spy on our users.