Has there ever been a good version of Windows? Old versions were functional but terribly insecure and newer versions are reasonably secure but cloud connected ad platforms.
Windows 10 is probably the middle ground although the newer versions come with the same anti features Windows 11 has
Long Term Support Channel. It’s Windows 10/11, but without all of the app crap. It’s frozen in time to when it was released, just takes security updates, no feature updates. Same as any Windows before 10.
The first release of 10 made my old laptop useless, so much delay it was not possible to perform real work. I switched that old thing to NixOS now it is like a new machine hosting web meetings, getting spreadsheet work done. All our work customers complained when the W10 upgrade happened by their IT departments, their engineering CAD suddenly took a performance hit. Just frustrating because tech is supposed to get better not worse.
Try LTSC 2019 (there are 2 other releases for 10, LTSC 2021 and LTSB 2016, back in 2016 it was named Long Term Support Branch). It’s almost like Win7 regarding speed… almost.
Not saying you should switch, but I dual boot because sometimes I need things that just don’t run even in Wine, so if I have to use Windows, I use LTSC. A lot less intrusive, doesn’t have the bullshit apps that come with regular Pro and Home, and, on top of that, 2019 has a 10 year support cycle (they changed it to 5 with LTSC 2021). So, basically, I’m covered till 2029.
The death of the DOS line of Windows (3.x, 9x, ME) lead to the decision to inject clown DNA into NT in order to appeal to the masses and that’s how we ended up with XP.
Vista was an attempt to eradicate the clown, but it was still there, people hated it and because Microsoft thought they had eradicated the clown, they thought people wanted more clown, and that’s how we ended up with Windows 8.
What about 7? The clown gene skipped a generation.
I run Debian at home because “Microsoft evil”, but I kinda think the Windows 10 image we use at work is alright. I work at a Forbes 500 company with a huuuge IT department, so I’m guessing they’ve done well at setting up group policies or something to make a de-cluttered experience for us. At least I never see any ads or Bing bullshit, and the Start menu works like I expect from ye old days. I could never make W10 work just as sleek at home, so I gave up and moved to Linux.
That said, most developers here still use a local Linux VM for actual developing lol.
98SE, XP, and 7 each were relatively solid for their time. They all had issues, but were far better at being an OS than what we have now or are trying to be sold to constantly upgrade to.
Everyone knows that Windows 7 was peak Windows
Vista*
I think Windows 10 has nailed it UI/UX-wise.
Too bad they enshittified it into oblivion.
Except for the start menu and right click menu, yeah, I’d agree. Luckily, you can bring both back if you wanted to.
I actually prefer the start menu of Windows 10 and appreciate KDE going a similar way on Linux
Meeh, each to his own 🤷.
8.1 but go off
Thats the version I’ve seen people experience the most issues with relative to the time they’ve used it.
Has there ever been a good version of Windows? Old versions were functional but terribly insecure and newer versions are reasonably secure but cloud connected ad platforms.
Windows 10 is probably the middle ground although the newer versions come with the same anti features Windows 11 has
Good question. I will say W7 because W10 necessitated an SSD to stay performant, so bloat and bullshit got rolled into W10
LTSC has almost the same performance as Win7… almost. It is runnable on a regular spinning drive.
Ltsc?
Long Term Support Channel. It’s Windows 10/11, but without all of the app crap. It’s frozen in time to when it was released, just takes security updates, no feature updates. Same as any Windows before 10.
The first release of 10 made my old laptop useless, so much delay it was not possible to perform real work. I switched that old thing to NixOS now it is like a new machine hosting web meetings, getting spreadsheet work done. All our work customers complained when the W10 upgrade happened by their IT departments, their engineering CAD suddenly took a performance hit. Just frustrating because tech is supposed to get better not worse.
Try LTSC 2019 (there are 2 other releases for 10, LTSC 2021 and LTSB 2016, back in 2016 it was named Long Term Support Branch). It’s almost like Win7 regarding speed… almost.
Not saying you should switch, but I dual boot because sometimes I need things that just don’t run even in Wine, so if I have to use Windows, I use LTSC. A lot less intrusive, doesn’t have the bullshit apps that come with regular Pro and Home, and, on top of that, 2019 has a 10 year support cycle (they changed it to 5 with LTSC 2021). So, basically, I’m covered till 2029.
It peaked somewhere between 2000 and 7. Personally, I place it in XP, but opinions vary.
2K was my jam.
The death of the DOS line of Windows (3.x, 9x, ME) lead to the decision to inject clown DNA into NT in order to appeal to the masses and that’s how we ended up with XP.
Vista was an attempt to eradicate the clown, but it was still there, people hated it and because Microsoft thought they had eradicated the clown, they thought people wanted more clown, and that’s how we ended up with Windows 8.
What about 7? The clown gene skipped a generation.
I run Debian at home because “Microsoft evil”, but I kinda think the Windows 10 image we use at work is alright. I work at a Forbes 500 company with a huuuge IT department, so I’m guessing they’ve done well at setting up group policies or something to make a de-cluttered experience for us. At least I never see any ads or Bing bullshit, and the Start menu works like I expect from ye old days. I could never make W10 work just as sleek at home, so I gave up and moved to Linux.
That said, most developers here still use a local Linux VM for actual developing lol.
98SE, XP, and 7 each were relatively solid for their time. They all had issues, but were far better at being an OS than what we have now or are trying to be sold to constantly upgrade to.
98SE was complete crap and people only forget about it because it was followed by ME.
Fire up React OS one of these days
React OS is awesome, and I need it to run stable on some metal.
And also play WoW, because I don’t trust linux to run whatever copy-protection crap is on there and not brick my account through no fault of its own.
Just keep in mind is unstable and not secure
Fun to play with. Just don’t use it for critical stuff
So, basically, just like Windows? Sounds like they’re succeeding then
You mispelled Windows 3.11 for Workgroups.
It’s true. Add scrolling of non-focused windows and it’s unbeatable.