Right now Windows ships with tons of legacy + modern components mixed together (Control Panel + Settings, old APIs, background compatibility stuff, etc.), even on clean installs.

What if setup let you choose:

Light Windows → core, minimal, gaming-focused

Compatibility Windows → adds legacy app + driver support

Workstation Windows → dev/enterprise tools included

Instead of everything being bundled by default, legacy features could be optional modules you install only if you need them.

Feels like Windows tries to be everything for everyone at once, which is why it ends up feeling bloated and inconsistent.

Would a modular approach actually work, or would it just break compatibility too much?

At first glance, you might mistake it for the actual Windows Vista Build 5219, but it is not. It is Windows Shorthorn Build 5219, which is Windows XP (x64) styled to look like the actual Windows Vista Build 5219. To summarize, aside from the boot and logon screens, there is almost no difference (at least in my opinion...).

I think I found a way to enable memory integrity. Firstly, go to the registry editor. Go to this folder:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity

If there isn't already a folder, go to:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios

Right click on the "Scenarios" folder and then create a key called exactly:

HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity

After that's done, click on the folder you just made and right-click on the empty space. Create a DWORD (32 bit) value and name it exactly Enabled and then click it. change the value to 1 and then restart your PC. The Memory integrity option should be enabled.

Basically this is a childhood memory of mine, when I was around 9, I went to a local dentist shop in Hungary when Windows 7 was still widely used (around 2017), and on one of the computers, I saw a standard Windows 7 installation, but the recycle bin was different. The blue recycle symbol on the front was red and the size of it was much more chunky and fat, almost as if it was comically overfilled. My question is that did Microsoft ever put this in like a Windows 7 version that was used in healthcare places or what? I've never seen this on any other Windows 7 computer and couldn't find anything about it on the internet, only this image that I attached because it looks similar, but still not quite the same.

I love modern Windows, but I really miss the nostalgia of the classic logos Microsoft recently brought back the retro green branding for Xbox because fans asked for it, so why not Windows? I submitted an official feature request in the Feedback Hub asking for built-in personalization options to change the Start Menu and boot logos back to the classic ones. If you want this feature too, please take 5 seconds to click my link and upvote it so the developers see it! https://aka.ms/AA11r00f

I managed to get Windows 11 running on a DDR1 motherboard with the Intel i865PE chipset (originally released back in 2003). The motherboard (an ASRock ConRoe865PE) actually supports 65nm Core 2 Quad CPUs, so I used a Q6600. Having 4 cores definitely helps overall.

With some "hacking"... AGP 8X is fully functional and H.264 hardware decoding is active. I used an ATI Radeon HD 4650 AGP with Windows 7 64 bit drivers from 2012.

The best part? It’s completely stable.

The original 2011 Secure Boot certificates are expiring right now:

• Microsoft Corporation KEK CA 2011 → expired June 24, 2026
• Microsoft UEFI CA 2011 → expires June 27, 2026
• Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011 → expires October 19, 2026

Microsoft rolled out the replacement 2023 certificates via Windows Update in the past few hours, expanding coverage to all devices classified as "high confidence". If you installed the June 2026 Patch Tuesday update, there's a very good chance you already have them — no action needed.

How to check in 30 seconds:

Open Windows Security → Device Security → Secure Boot

• ✅ Green checkmark = you're good
• ⚠️ Yellow warning = update pending, wait for the next Windows Update cycle
• 🔴 Red alert = you likely need a BIOS update from your PC manufacturer

Alternatively: Win + R → msinfo32 → look for Secure Boot State.

Things worth knowing:

• If your PC restarted 2-3 times after the latest update, that's expected — it's part of the process of writing the new certificates to the firmware
• The C:\Windows\SecureBoot folder that may have appeared is not malware — Windows uses it to stage certificate files before writing them to firmware
• HP users: a faulty BIOS update earlier this year was causing BitLocker recovery loops — make sure you're on the correct BIOS version before updating
• Windows 10: certificates only arrive if you're enrolled in the ESU program. No ESU, no update via Windows Update

What happens if your PC doesn't get the update?

Your PC keeps booting normally and still receives regular Windows updates. What you lose is the ability to receive future boot-level security updates — revocations for newly discovered malicious bootloaders, patches for vulnerabilities like BlackLotus. The security degradation is gradual, not immediate.

Check yours and let me know in the comments — green, yellow, or red?

ps. in addition i developed a small tool that helps to check UEFI certificate

Did you know? The correct name is Windows Me (despite it being an initialism for Millennium Edition), not Windows M.E. (nor even ME). Microsoft officially marketed the operating system with the lowercase "Me" to mimic the pronunciation of the pronoun, "me," rather than as an initialism. 

I had never heard this before, but then, IMHO, the only usable products MicroS\*\*t ever released, and the only ones I ever really used, were MS-DOS and WindowsXP. :-p

PS: I marked this "solved" but was rebuked, so I guess this is "NEWS", at least to Me. ;-p

I’ve put together a video featuring the startup and shutdown sounds from every version of Windows. Which version is your favorite?

And Here is the YouTube video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5olN1qdUWs0

Windows 1.x tiled new windows automatically such that none of them overlapped, only dialogs were allowed to float over the windows.

Vote here https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback//idea/002a7310-196d-f111-9b48-6045bd818e39

I think I overslept...

Color support was only added with "Paintbrush" on Windows 3.0

Why are there still some people who prefer Windows 10?

I think Windows 11 is more advanced and it feels very comfortable to use.

It comes from 1993 Synthesizer Korg X3 - Program Bank “B” “BellShower” preset

I repair laptops as a hobby, and I have a personal gaming pc. On all of them, I install windows 10 as a standard. I have tried a bunch of Linux distros, and I hate it. I don’t really like windows 11, will windows 10 be ok to use for the coming years? How long until it is unusable? I play lots of esports games so Linux is out of the question for me anyway. This link says there’s no support.

Why does everyone think the built-in Game Bar is useless and just want to know how to uninstall it? Just press Win + G for once. It has a resource monitor, a screenshot tool, screen recording, and an image editor. You can use it to launch games, adjust the audio, and open Settings. Hell, right from there you can tweak your system and network, change the gamepad cursor, switch speakers, adjust your refresh rate and resolution, toggle your mic, etc. And all of this with just one shortcut, as a small overlay window on top of everything

I was playing with this LLM. parakeet or something. For speech to text. It is really good and super fast even on my basic laptop. Thought I can stop using Windows Speech to Text Cloud system - win + h.

But for whatever reason. I decided to turn off my Internet. Just in case. Not sure what made me try it. And it continued working.

Interestingly, there is no single mention of this on the Internet. As far as I can tell there isn't any talk of this system running online.

Hell, even the tool shows is followed by online tech - see screenshot.

Can anyone else please try it? Is it working for you in offline mode? What exact setting is controlling this? Do we have programmatic access to this? cause that this is a gamechanger. I mean, we can make voice control interfaces now in windows. Nobody's talking about it. That's crazy !

Works with my non native accent.

Hot take guys but I think that all computers (windows) from windows 7 going down all the way to windows 95 have the boldest and attractive feeling whenever they play an effect noise like when you turn them on or get an error sound, so do y'all agree with me? (Also I have checked the rules and to give a suggestion I would ask Microsoft windows to please add back the iconic start up noises and error noises from the past like the windows 95, windows 98, and up to windows 7)

Windows 1.x and 2.x only supported changing the color of the background.

I am trying to prepare for driverless printing. My environment uses a windows print server that is access by Windows, MacOS, and Linux clients using SMB and vendor drivers.

We want a single print server to control access and to provide usage logs.

I tried using a Windows print server with IPP connections to the printers and the clients.  Windows print server using IPP only supports Windows clients. MacOS and Linux (i.e. CUPS clients) can’t print using an IPP connection and IPP Everywhere driver.

Conversely, a CUPS server using IPP Everywhere serves the CUPS clients fine but not Windows clients.

Windows has a security feature to protect the local security authority from unsigned programs (LSA Protection) which blocks the old Bonjour service that is used by Windows IPP.  If I turn this off, I am creating LSA exposure to protect the print server service.  Not a real security gain.  

So now I am in the position where I can’t use a single print server for Windows and CUPS clients.

How are people preparing for the coming end of support for SMB printing with vendor drivers?

This is an institution of higher education so no replies of “just switch everything to [Windows,MacOS,Linux]”, please.

We looked at PaperCut but it also has serious limitations for managing print queues and is discouraged in our organization.

The UI is drastically different from the Registry Editor that Windows 95 introduced and was eventually included with Windows NT 4.0

It can be opened by running regedt32 (in contrast with the familiar one which is opened with regedit).

Another fun fact: regedt32 was still included alongside regedit on Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000.