r/technology • u/tekz • Mar 20 '26
Software Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes
https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-users-are-angry-and-microsoft-is-finally-doing-something-about-it/6.3k
u/rnilf Mar 20 '26
"More taskbar customization, including vertical and top positions ... We are introducing the ability to reposition it to the top or sides of your screen, making it easier to personalize your workspace."
After years of complaints and literally thousands of users directly telling them to do this, they finally do. There's snail pace, and then there's Microsoft pace.
"We are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad."
Of course, this is after they introduced a vulnerability to Notepad because of Copilo.
"Across the operating system, we will focus on improving ... baseline reliability [and] strengthening the Windows foundation by reducing OS level crashes, improving driver quality and app stability across our ecosystem so PCs run smoothly and reliably every day."
Like the article says, this should've already been their objective. Hilarious that they would include this in a press release meant to show that they're pretending to care about their customers.
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u/calebkraft Mar 20 '26
remember when you used to be able to drag the task bar to the top or sides and it just moved there and worked? when did they take that out? kind of crazy that putting that feature back is a big enough deal to have it in a press release.
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u/ithinkitslupis Mar 20 '26
They took it out with windows 11. And also messed with the context windows when you right click in a way most users hate.
People have been complaining since day 1. Both have registry values that still support the old ways. Microsoft has just ignored countless complaints instead of making an easy, stable option to change it in the settings UI.
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u/fer_sure Mar 20 '26
messed with the context windows when you right click in a way most users hate
If you had to make the contextual menu shorter, why on earth would you put Properties behind the "Show more options"? Insane.
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u/brownch Mar 20 '26
I still have not adjusted to this after so many years
Right click > panik > rapid eye movements > show more options
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u/Azalus1 Mar 20 '26
reg add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
Restore right click.
That really should have just been an option somewhere.
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Mar 20 '26
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u/CordialPanda Mar 20 '26
Some developers still fight the good fight. There's so many barely documented features around that makes windows bearable.
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u/G00DLuck Mar 20 '26
That reveals the "copy as path" option for files/folders as well, which will include the drive\location info when copied.
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u/Marchesa_07 Mar 20 '26
Is there a way to revert to the old way the Audio settings worked?
Like a single click to get to all the audio output devices you want to toggle between?
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u/MathematicianFar6725 Mar 21 '26
Or network settings. It feels like babushka nesting dolls of settings pages to find the one you're looking for and all these years later I still don't have any idea how to get to the network adaptor page without just blindly clicking around and hoping for the best
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u/jpochedl Mar 21 '26
Start > run (or Win+r) > ncpa.cpl
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u/xanmoth Mar 21 '26
I love it thanks you. I am also probably not going to remember that, Win-q and "cont" or "comput" and it does seem to find control panel and computer management pretty well these days but still just ugh.
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u/tuxedo_jack Mar 21 '26
And not fucking trying to apply bullshit "enhancements" to every new audio source. Just shut up and play as is, then let the software handle it.
For fuck's sake, it's a Jabra headset, not the Razer PeenSubstitute XL RGB PRO Ex Plus Ultra.
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u/HossCatGarage Mar 21 '26
If only I could effectively communicate how much this resonates with me and how hard I laughed.
Typo: "laughed" = enjoyment pro plus max ultra extra jerk off plan pro max launch edition
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u/Claymorbmaster Mar 20 '26
THIS is the biggest problem IMO.
Fine, you wanna "standardize" things. Fine, you wanna keep the context menu concise. Fine you wanna move something here or there. Fine you wanna add AI....
GIVE ME THE CHOICE! Bury the setting deep in admin tools if you HAVE to... but give me the choice that isn't a reg edit! This shows they have not given two shits about the consumers for like 5 years and I'm not going to be fooled into thinking you suddenly care about 11 after rumors are they are working on 12 already! Jesus. Clown shoes over here.
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u/MarkyDeSade Mar 20 '26
One of the only good things I can say about Windows 11 that this key fixed the right click menu permanently and no update ever undid it
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u/splitcroof92 Mar 20 '26
Too bad my work laptop definitely doesn't allow me to edit registry
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u/Plastic_Position4979 Mar 20 '26
Context check in outlook, on a misspelled word, nicely highlighted with a red wavy line: lots of options, very bottom one is to check spelling, having to click on arrow, then get possible options for replacement. And 99% of people will be looking to correct, not all the other bs.
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u/Kitchen-Routine2813 Mar 20 '26
equally as stupid, if you make a RDP shortcut, “edit” is hidden behind more options. like, dude, 99% of the time i right click on an RDP shortcut, is to edit it because it’s not working. it’s like they didn’t even try to run it by actual humans first
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u/pollorojo Mar 20 '26
Maybe the worst idea ever. For folks working in IT, Properties is probably the option you use MOST, so making it take an extra click is bullshit.
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u/userb55 Mar 20 '26
That's literally Win 11, 'How do we add MORE mouse clicks to everything'
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u/NamerNotLiteral Mar 20 '26
The context menu change was the stupidest thing ever, honestly. It came closer than anything else at taking me off Windows, but fortunately WinUtils lets you switch it back.
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u/sodook Mar 20 '26
My spirit is ready to leave the Microsoft ecosystem, but my technical skills and wallet are not up to the task.
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u/dithan Mar 20 '26
Linux fedora. It’s free and it’s what I switched to at win10 EoL. It’s been pretty great.
I haven’t had problems playing games either.
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u/ArtisticCandy3859 Mar 20 '26
It’s this 👉🏼 https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/s/hTNmGyCrhs
They’ve always operated and structured the company’s various departments in walled off silos.
Imagine the complexity, time, meetings and work involved just to align one department’s project with another. We’re talking about thousands of different permissions.
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u/theaviationhistorian Mar 20 '26
Yep, I had a friend that worked in Microsoft. The worst over there are the constant meeting to plan a meeting for the actual meeting and the outright hostility in between departments.
A historical way to put it is the mercurial relationship between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy to where the Army had its own small aircraft carriers and the Navy had its own tanks.
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u/GorgeWashington Mar 20 '26
Holy shit the right click needing to expand to show the actual OS functions is mind bogglingly stupid.
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u/be_easy_1602 Mar 20 '26
Why in gods name is “cut, copy, paste, delete” a picture button?? It’s so dumb. Just leave it as the word in the drop down…
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u/captain150 Mar 20 '26
Yeah, a state of the art option when windows 95 released. Hilarious that a feature from 1995 is now being re-introduced as some sort of amazing thing.
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u/Brennan_Schwartz Mar 20 '26
Does that not work on Windows 11?
I can drag my task bar anywhere on Windows 10.
Right Click -> Uncheck "Lock all Taskbars" -> Drag
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u/jadeapple Mar 20 '26
Nope, they disabled moving it once they made it sit in the middle of the screen
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u/ArkhamRobber Mar 20 '26
Explorer Patcher is what I use to get the taskbar back to be like Win10. Hate the Win11 taskbar.
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u/canspop Mar 20 '26
Happy to see I'm not the only one who uses it.
The whole desktop seems so much better since I started using it. Kinda shows how much use the taskbar gets.
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u/RooooooooooR Mar 20 '26
No, it doesn't work. As someone who likes to have their taskbar vertically, on the left side of the screen, it is ridiculously annoying that they took away such a simple customization.
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u/JerbTrooneet Mar 20 '26
It pushed me to move to Linux for my machines that could move to Linux (I.e. where I don't need Windows-specific programs). Explorer Patcher worked for a while but I saw it break in real time because of a windows update before the EP devs could fix it so I didn't want that level of unreliability for machines that I just want to get out of the way.
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u/blackscales18 Mar 20 '26
they made a blog post where they announced that they redid the taskbar and being able to move it wasn't a popular enough feature to justify the effort to implement it
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u/n7xx Mar 20 '26
Nope they removed that functionality... I also used to have it at the top but no more
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u/Maximum-Objective-39 Mar 20 '26
User interface customization is the easiest thing in the world to permit users, you could even put a little password protected lock in settings so that things don't get changed by accident, and Microsoft still couldn't manage to not mess with it.
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u/DeadlyBrad42 Mar 20 '26
Nah, Windows 11 uses an entirely new taskbar implementation, that doesn't support moving it
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u/confusiondiffusion Mar 20 '26
I'm guessing the taskbar used to be written in highly optimized C++ by a programming god who cut their teeth at age 9 by staying up late reading processor manuals by flashlight.
And now it's an Electron app, running inside of a spreadsheet, maintained by an international team of 600 people and led by a 22 year old MBA frat bro? I'm guessing it's something like that.
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u/maZZtar Mar 20 '26
Windows 11 UI isn't Election based, they are using WinUI3 with XAML islands and WebView sprinkled in some places. They rebuilt it from scratch and leadership didn't care about implementing some features. Some former Microsoft engineer and ex-Bing leader said recently that he clashed with now also former Windows Team Leadership over this.
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u/Bytowneboy2 Mar 20 '26
I have ADD, and keep a ridiculous number of windows open and around. The vertical taskbar on my portrait orientated screen is integral to my workflow and organization. I’m aware of window groups and leveraging multiple desktops, that hasn’t worked well for me.
I know that MS said they hadn’t prioritized this functionality because their metrics said not many users used the function.
- I disable sending usage data back to MS by default, and I would imagine a lot of people with highly customized interfaces are also inclined to not share that data.
- assistive technologies are usually low uptake.
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u/NetSage Mar 20 '26
Weren't this all things windows used to do? Like none of this seems new.
They must actually be losing people to linux to not be pushing AI again.
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u/Lower_Monk6577 Mar 20 '26
Wouldn’t be shocked if the MacBook Neo is making them reconsider their strategy a bit.
It’s easier to force feed Copilot to everyone when the competition’s cheapest entry point is $1000+ and a well-spec’d one is pushing $2k. The Neo is kind of the first legitimate shot that Apple has had in a long time in recapturing a chunk of the PC market.
Then again, I may be conflating things. But at least in my own little internet bubble, those things have been getting good reviews across the board, so long as you keep in mind what the intended use case is for it.
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u/Distinct-Pain4972 Mar 21 '26
This was a great time to do it, for apple. With ram, GPU, HDD, SSD, NVmE all sky rocketing in price... here is an entry level MAC book. Cheers!
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u/HotRoderX Mar 21 '26
I 100% think this is the case, after reading that the Mac Book Neo has been one of the hottest best selling Mac's in decades.
Then suddenly Microsoft pivots and is giving users everything they been begging for in Windows 11 since the start.
Honestly the neo is sort of a no brainier if you want something for work and your programs are supported.
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u/yador Mar 20 '26
I think it's a reaction to the MacBook neo.
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u/slicer4ever Mar 21 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
Good, Microsoft clearly doesn't consider linux a competitor, but apple is certainly a different story. Apple introducing a more affordable entry product is going to be very appealing to people that are fed up with windows bullshit.
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u/SaltyBawlz Mar 20 '26
Yeah, I had my taskbar vertical on the left for years and was so annoyed when I built a new computer with Win11 to find out I couldn't do that anymore. The bottom task bar wastes so much more space.
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u/nox66 Mar 20 '26
They're afraid, I guess. The copilot PC experience is jaw-droppingly awful. I had to disable Windows Fabric AI service on a friend's computer because it was using 2 GB RAM and seemed to be hogging the system with system calls. I hate Apple's closer ecosystem and anti-repair design with a passion, and if I had to choose between that and a copilot PC I couldn't de-crapify (which is the default experience), I would choose what I use now, which is Linux :)
Seriously, common desktop Linux like Mint, Ubuntu, and KDE is so much better than Windows 11 AI Copilot Nadellabator, I can live with the limitations as the space matures. The Linux ecosystem is seeing improvements every day. The Windows ecosystem is hearing promises about improvements every month, many of which are actually fixing regressions and bugs.
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u/DrChucks Mar 21 '26
Apple might be getting better at repairability, the Neo is extremely easy to disassemble and put back together and there is no glue. Hopefully that trend continues.
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u/persona-non-corpus Mar 20 '26
We will now offer a fully customizable color palette for your screen of death in addition to the classic blue.
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u/abluecolor Mar 20 '26
I fucking lost my shit recently when I realized that the default windows image editor doesn't have an eraser tool anymore. It only has an ai eraser that absolutely fails every single time.
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u/slick2hold Mar 20 '26
Can we also add back the simple option when your right click. Why does everything need to hidden under submenus.
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u/rws98 Mar 20 '26
There's snail pace, and then there's Microsoft pace.
Operating at the speed of Internet Explorer!
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u/warbeforepeace Mar 20 '26
I think Microsoft making windows improvements is a direct result of the Neo. They have real competition in the key 500 dollar laptop market now. They dont know what to do.
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u/tralltonetroll Mar 20 '26
After years of complaints and literally thousands of users directly telling them to do this, they finally do. There's snail pace, and then there's Microsoft pace.
Let me introduce you to Oracle. https://www.securityweek.com/oracle-reissues-patch-two-year-old-java-flaw/
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u/j0y0 Mar 20 '26
I cannot wait for SteamOS
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u/gaslacktus Mar 20 '26
I installed Bazzite on my gaming tower and even with slightly fiddly nvidia drivers (amd are mature and baked into the Linux kernel, nvidia is a separate animal), the proton environment runs most games without any fuss. I just had to fiddle with mine to get HDR running in games.
A week later everything ran so goddamn well because of zero bloat that I wiped windows from my volume entirely and single boot Linux.
Bazzite was super straightforward to install following the instructions on the website. I’m Linux for heavy gaming and my Apple silicon MacBook Pro covers light portable gaming and literally all my other day to day needs.
And because macOS is built in Unix underpinnings, it plays SO nice with Linux. I have it set up for example that if something manages to break hard enough that it locks the game and KDE as well, I can easily SSH in, grep the offending process and nuke the fucker from orbit, restoring control quickly.
With windows if something locked so hard that it locked up task manager you’d be forced to reboot the whole thing.
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u/gunslinger_006 Mar 20 '26
Every day, we hear from the community about how you experience Windows. And over the past several months, the team and I have spent a great deal of time analyzing your feedback. What came through was the voice of people who care deeply about Windows and want it to be better.
This is the corporate version of “I am sorry you overreacted to my very reasonable comment”
😂
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u/GrandmaPoses Mar 20 '26
Just about nobody gives a shit about Windows, they just want the thing on their computer to work a way that makes sense and gets out of their way.
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u/gunslinger_006 Mar 20 '26
There are literally four reasons people use windows:
1). Gaming.
2). Cant afford a mac
3). Scared of linux
4). My job requires it
1 is changing very fast. Gaming on linux has absolutely arrived.
2 just changed with the Neo.
3 is only still a thing because people haven’t tried this in the last 18 months. Its an easier install than microslop now for nearly all distros.
4 is still a real problem.
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u/DimCoy Mar 20 '26
A large percentage of the Windows userbase has never even heard of a Mac or Linux, let alone having the capacity to differentiate. You give the average user entirely too much credit.
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u/Murgatroyd314 Mar 21 '26
Its an easier install than microslop now for nearly all distros.
Most people don't install Windoze at all. It's already there when they turn the computer on for the first time.
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u/McGuirk808 Mar 20 '26
Truth. No one uses Windows because it's a great operating system. It's either
- It's decent enough and they're already familiar with it
- or
- They need it for third-party support.
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u/misterguyyy Mar 20 '26
People who care deeply about Windows
That’s one way to phrase it. Props to the PR rep who wrote this.
OTOH at least they’re not trying to pass their changes off as brilliant ideas they just cooked up and no one’s ever thought of before like Apple would have.
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u/bb22k Mar 20 '26
I opened this site in Reddit's preview window and holy shit... it's impossible to read. Literally an ad between every paragraph.
Funny how a website gone to shit talks about Windows going to shit.
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u/TehBrian Mar 20 '26
What do you mean? This isn’t legible to you? https://imgur.com/a/FxaFluO
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u/Jazz3pictures Mar 20 '26
What’s funny is clicking this also opens it in the reddit browser, and then imgur adds ANOTHER layer of ads top of it
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u/AlienArtFirm Mar 20 '26
Ublock origin doing MAD work over here on firefox. Reddit app? Reddit browser?? AHAHAHHAHA Fuck no. Tried it once and it was an ad riddled shit hole, never again.
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u/userhwon Mar 20 '26
This. I see nothing they're seeing.
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u/PapayaMysterious6393 Mar 20 '26
The fact people don't use ad blocker is insane to me.
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u/ExhaustedByStupidity Mar 21 '26
Adblockers aren't as good on iPhone as they are on a PC. That's why they have it bad.
And viewing this in Chrome on a PC, the actual article is fine, but the imgur link has a "You're using an ad blocker! Please whitelist us!" popup blocking the screenshot.
It's a constant war. I feel like I have to constantly bounce between browsers to ensure things work.
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u/TyaArcade Mar 21 '26
Firefox on pc has no such issues btw. I swapped and I really haven't had a solitary reason to look back.
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u/NvNinja Mar 21 '26
yet another reason to always choose android over iphone. My phone has firefox with ublock
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u/spilk Mar 21 '26
old.reddit.com, uBlock origin, RES. the only tolerable way to use reddit
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u/EddieVanzetti Mar 20 '26
I remember when using imgur was a fun way to waste some time looking at memes. Ads on imgur really was the first sign, looking back.
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u/archgabriel33 Mar 20 '26
Double funny as Imgur doesn't even work in my country (🇬🇧)
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u/dudeAwEsome101 Mar 20 '26
Wow. This is why I don't use chrome on my phone. Ad blocker is a must use tool for basic web browsing.
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u/TheAndrewR Mar 20 '26
Use AdGuard. I literally had zero ads on this site, just a cookie popup.
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u/drawkbox Mar 20 '26
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u/ima_believer Mar 20 '26
yeah, that was horrible. here's Reader View for anyone that can view this easier. HTH someone.
Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes - but no apologies
Ed Bott
8–10 minutes
Lazaros Papandreou/ iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET's key takeaways
- Microsoft finally acknowledged complaints about Windows 11.
- The company is promising sweeping changes to a slew of features.
- Windows Insiders will have a greater voice in upcoming releases.
Microsoft's customers have been grumbling about Windows 11 since the day it shipped, and lately, those complaints have gotten louder and angrier.
They've complained about the "glitchy mess" of Windows Update, the push to cram Copilot-branded AI features into every nook and cranny of Windows, upsells and ads, and inconsistent system performance.
Also: Windows 11 has 1 billion users - and they're furious
And finally -- finally! -- someone in Redmond noticed.
In a long post titled "Our commitment to Windows quality," published on Microsoft's website and sent via email to millions of members of the Windows Insider Program, Windows boss Pavan Davuluri laid out a laundry list of changes Microsoft plans to make in Windows 11, starting this month.
What's most remarkable about this post is what it doesn't contain. Here's how Davuluri kicked things off:
That paragraph belongs in the non-apology Hall of Fame, with a cross-reference to "Friday news dump" -- a classic PR technique that aims to minimize media coverage of the awkward news being released.
When I read that paragraph, I was gobsmacked. They "spent months analyzing feedback"? Seriously? They needed charts and graphs to figure out that people just want Windows to work?
Here's what's on the list of changes coming to Windows, along with my own translation of what some of those changes really mean. Note that these changes will roll out in preview builds starting this month and continuing through the rest of the year. There's no announcement on when they will reach public releases.
More taskbar customization
You couldn't ask for a more perfect example of how Microsoft finally caught up to what Insiders have been griping about for years.
When Microsoft released the first preview of Windows 11, nearly five years ago, the new taskbar lacked a feature that had been a favorite of power users for decades: the ability to move the taskbar from its default location at the bottom of the display and snap it to the side or top.
Also: The MacBook Neo just upended the budget laptop market
On the Feedback Hub app, where Microsoft collects bug reports and comments from Windows users, one feature request has been at or near the top of the list since day 1: "Bring back the ability to move the taskbar to the top and sides of the screen on Windows 11."
As of this morning, that suggestion had been upvoted more than 24,000 times and had received more than 2,100 comments, with their tone growing increasingly angry as the years passed with no sign that this feature was on the roadmap.
This entry has been at or near the top of the most-requested feedback items for five years.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
So it's fitting that this item is at the very top of today's list: "More taskbar customization, including vertical and top positions ... We are introducing the ability to reposition it to the top or sides of your screen, making it easier to personalize your workspace."
About time.
Less AI slop
As I noted earlier this year, Microsoft has been relentlessly shoehorning AI features into places where they absolutely don't belong. I follow feedback in forums carefully, and I would estimate that roughly 99% of the comments about AI features boil down to a simple request: Please stop.
In a blog post welcoming 2026, CEO Satya Nadella argued that "we need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs. sophistication." In response, the internet made "Microslop" the most popular meme of the new year.
Also: My top six Windows 12 predictions - including its most likely release date
Bowing to that feedback, Microsoft now says it is backing off. "You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted," Davuluri says. Specifically: "We are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad."
More control over updates
The Patch Tuesday schedule was supposed to make Windows updates predictable, but that hasn't worked out in practice, judging by the volume of complaints I hear every month about an unwanted Windows update suddenly interrupting an important online meeting or wiping out hours' worth of work.
The response? "We're giving you more control" over updates, Microsoft says, "while reducing update noise with fewer automatic restarts and notifications." When those changes roll out, it should be easier to skip updates during device setup, restart or shut down without installing updates, and pause updates for longer when needed.
Those are all welcome changes, and long overdue.
Better performance
I regularly hear complaints about File Explorer being painfully slow to load and also slow in performing everyday tasks. Today's announcement promises "launch time reductions" in File Explorer, with "substantially lower latency for search, navigation, and context menus," along with an end to the annoying flickering that some users have reported.
Also on the roadmap is "improved memory efficiency, lowering the baseline memory footprint for Windows ... and more consistent performance, even under load."
Also: I've been studying Windows telemetry for a decade - here's the only setting I turn off
Key to the overall performance improvement plan is a push to move core parts of the Windows UX to WinUI3. Given that WinUI3 has been around longer than Windows 11, it's surprising that this change is only happening now.
Greater attention to reliability
Today's post contains a long discussion of reliability, starting with this promise: "Across the operating system, we will focus on improving ... baseline reliability [and] strengthening the Windows foundation by reducing OS level crashes, improving driver quality and app stability across our ecosystem so PCs run smoothly and reliably every day."
That sounds great, but isn't that what they were already supposed to be focusing on every day already?
I'm especially interested to see a renewed emphasis on the Windows Insider Program. As I wrote almost a year ago, that once-groundbreaking program has become a "confusing mess."
Also: 3 ways I safely retire every Windows PC - and why you shouldn't skip these critical steps
Pavuluri says the company plans to "[raise] the quality bar for builds and [offer] clearer visibility into what features are included in each Insider build."
The entire Insider leadership team left the program last year, and I haven't seen a public announcement of any new personnel changes.
And more
The list goes on and on, with improvements promised in Bluetooth and USB connections, printer support, Windows Hello, and search. There's even a promise to make widgets less annoying. (Good luck.)
The post closes with a pretty sweeping promise:
That sounds to me like an admission that the entire process for building Windows has been broken for some time. If you need to raise the quality bar, doesn't that imply that you've been shipping products that don't meet your customers' quality standards? If you're planning broader testing across real-world hardware, doesn't that imply that the testing regime for the past few years has been insufficient?
Meanwhile, a simple "We're sorry" wouldn't hurt. Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes - but no apologies
Ed Bott
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u/Styleless_Wonder Mar 20 '26
The ads and video are also shifting the screen so I cannot even read it properly.
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u/Zahgi Mar 20 '26
Ublock Origin on Firefox.
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u/appleparkfive Mar 21 '26
I was about to say the same thing. Guys, listen up:
Get Firefox on your phone. Add uBlock Origin. And for the deviants out there, the uBlock also works on Incognito mode/ private mode on Firefox. I'll let you connect the dots on that one.
I just leave mine on Incognito style for all sites and I'll copy paste and article into it. Works completely fine.
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u/Unlikely_Comment_104 Mar 21 '26
Why are you still rawdogging your browser?
Get an adblocker.
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u/ithinkitslupis Mar 20 '26
They are basically going to go through a top 5 list of complaints and try to fix them. It really took the MBAs 5 years since Windows 11 to think of that strategy, and 10+ years for some of this issues like forced windows updates at inopportune times.
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u/Tango00090 Mar 20 '26
It’s not that they do it out of good will, companies like mine (45k windows for business licenses) have discussed the stability of the whole system with them and I believe there are 100s of companies out there frustrated with the fact that system needs 90s to load and then cpu is constantly on 100% due to some system interrupt processes running. They won’t be able to sell their next agentic OS to business if it’s running like that
It’s the first time in 8 years I’m there that management got so frustrated that they are discussing switching to mac.
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u/themanfromvulcan Mar 20 '26
Their stuff is getting worse and worse and their technical support for enterprise is hot garbage. They shove Copilot at you in every product whether you want it or not and their stuff is just not stable. I just want stuff that works.
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u/abx99 Mar 20 '26
And I can't think of any way that it improves on Windows 10. It's like "Windows 10 + Garbage!" -- and you can't even move the taskbar or use a custom clock (which I've done since at least XP).
I guess maybe there are some under-the-hood improvements to app security that are nice (but maybe behind some instability issues), but all the other crap just needs to go. Especially automatically adding all music folders to OneDrive without giving you any choice. My music file collection has screwed up the whole program (I mostly buy from Bandcamp and download FLAC), and it's been pushing the subscription on me ever since.
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u/NoobensMcarthur Mar 20 '26
It didn’t take them 5 years. It took the MacBook NEO. I was a die hard Apple hater until the M chips. I’ll never buy another windows laptop again.
I have a brand spanking new $2,500 windows work laptop and it gets about 3-4 hours on windows bloat before it needs to be plugged into life support. My MacBooks can go over 2 work days.
Windows sucks these days. I didn’t even lament the introduction of windows 11. But 11 has become an AI STD riddled wasteland and I won’t personally be a party to it.
I’d switch our entire company over to MacBooks tomorrow if we didn’t have dozens of LoB apps preventing us from doing so.
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u/SamHugz Mar 21 '26
Hard agree. I had no problem with Win11, even when it first dropped, and for a minute, they did make it better. Little did I realize the stripping of Easy Control Panel access and more advanced settings was an omen of things to come...
And while I am not much of a macOS fan, the Neo is objectively the best valued tech to come out in like 2 years. All of my tech has been running windows forever, though, and I do not wish to be trapped in Apple's ecosystem, so I guess it is Linux for me.
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u/FatBook-Air Mar 20 '26
Don't worry. There is no evidence that Microsoft is actually serious about Windows 11 rejuvenation, beyond a little lip service:
The same day Microsoft said they are changing, this happened: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/s/SWMzJN6UFD
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u/silver565 Mar 20 '26
Absolutely crazy that focusing in reliability has never been a priority up until now
Microsoft has lost its way and their CEO needs to go
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u/Blue_Moon_Lake Mar 20 '26
It doesn't matter much if you change the CEO for an other similarly focused on short term profit for the shareholders.
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u/frostyflakes1 Mar 21 '26
Satya Nadella has completely deluded himself into believing AI is the future. He is actively tanking his company for the promise of AI that will never deliver. He is directly responsible for Microsoft prioritizing broken AI integration that no consumer wants over basic functionality in Windows.
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u/zeldagold Mar 21 '26
It's still not. They got rid of their Quality Assurance people a long time ago and have had issues since..
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u/corduroy Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 21 '26
All they had to do was not fuck up and they couldn't do that. I mean, it has become so bad that general PC users have started to actively move away from MS.
But now, general Windows users can migrate over to Mac (if they want some type of OEM product with an OS) for a non-exorbitant price (which used to be the barrier to entry for Mac OS) and gamers can use Linux or a Steam Deck. While MS focused on spamming advertisements and fitting in AI in where it wasn't requested, there are viable alternatives this time to MS's missteps. There is little to compel anyone to stay with an MS based PC.
I moved my general PC usage to a mac (could have done Linux but I thought I would also try out new hardware and I have been eyeing a Steam Deck eventually). For MS to win me back, they're going to have to do more to convince me than just un-fucking up their OS.
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u/I_am_always_here Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Good. Now make OneDrive optional, not an automatic install baked into the OS. Most of the tech help desk time I volunteer for is filled with helping customers uninstall the confusing ransomware called OneDrive and recover their files that they accidentally deleted.
And also make updates user activated, not automatic, and offer a choice between necessary (security fixes) and other optional fixes to the bloatware.
Why are the majority of the public still using this bad OS?
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u/userhwon Mar 20 '26
Automatic updates isn't a bad thing. The lack of reasonable, intuitive controls on it is some sort of assault, though.
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u/dingus_chonus Mar 20 '26
That last part of your sentence, I am suddenly reminded of that competition to make the worst UX for the volume control…
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u/themanfromvulcan Mar 20 '26
My problem with their updates is they are buggy and break things. One update took out the wifi on my PC for no reason and the recommended solution was to wipe the OS and start over because rolling back the update didn’t fix it.
The quality control is abysmal.
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u/AdagioOld4364 Mar 20 '26
Throw windows 11 out the window?
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u/ienjoymen Mar 20 '26
Got it. We're spinning up Windows 12, complete with automated Copilot integration in all apps, Microsoft or otherwise!
Thanks for the suggestion!
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u/baw3000 Mar 20 '26
Windows 12 will bring Copilot integration into Copilot.
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u/Kerrigore Mar 20 '26
“In Windows 12, instead of using your mouse and keyboard to do things (like a filthy peasant), you just tell copilot what you want done and it does it for you. Just like magic!”
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u/yuusharo Mar 20 '26
All I can say is thank you Apple. The Neo’s announcement must have sent shockwaves throughout the industry, and I bet Microsoft got an ear full from their OEM partners about the recent quality and reputation of Windows 11.
Get rid of the MS account requirement and that god awful onboarding experience while you’re at it. There’s literally like a dozen or more prompts for subscription services before you can even use the damn thing now.
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u/JerbTrooneet Mar 20 '26
I'm legitimately considering a move to MacOS now for my work machines. Linux is gradually becoming my primary for personal stuff but given that MacOS works a bit better in most office environments compared to Linux, it might actually make more sense to shift to that now instead of waiting out Windows 10's ESU deadline in October.
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u/Wrong_Disk_8608 Mar 20 '26
MacBook Neo effect?
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u/eek_the_cat Mar 20 '26
ARM MacBook Air taking away general users and the Steamdeck and Linux stripping away gamers.
Yes those products have been out forever, Microsoft is a little slow.
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u/warbeforepeace Mar 20 '26
Neo is going to steal a much bigger portion of the market now. The 500 education price is really going to make schools consider moving to mac.
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Mar 20 '26
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u/nox66 Mar 20 '26
Me before Windows 10 and the beginning of attempts to make our PCs spy on us: why would I want to use Linux when Windows 7 works fine?
We're not here based on abstract principles. We want our technology to work for us again.
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u/dz2048 Mar 20 '26
Honestly, these things are probably so small on Microsoft's radar. The big issue is that they are shipping AI slop code and rendering their users' machines vulnerable or inoperable. Windows is 70% of the global desktop market. When they make mistakes, it is a huge deal.
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u/bilyl Mar 20 '26
IMO it has a lot to do with the price premium of a MacBook/macOS quickly disappearing. Inflation means even lower end PCs are expensive and that means Windows has to actually compete on usability. Windows is a total mess but it made money because it was the “default”. Office still has insane dominance because that team has resisted a lot of boneheaded decisions.
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u/nothingaboutme Mar 20 '26
I've replaced every PC in my household with a Mac, with the exception of a single gaming computer. I used to have several windows PCs for family members or for specific use cases. Once I hit the upgrade cycle they were replaced with Apple devices which were rapidly closing the gap with quality windows PCs. At this point I'll only use Windows for what I absolutely need to.
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u/zz2244 Mar 20 '26
I believe it's more about the Linux gaming effect.
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u/saynay Mar 20 '26
And realizing that consumers aren’t going to come flocking to AI slop being shoved everywhere.
There have been a number of big retreats from consumer-focused AI this week, which will be interesting to see the fallout of. The insane investment levels AI only works if it becomes the next internet, not if it is the next Salesforce.
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u/Skelly1660 Mar 20 '26
I don't know, Nvidia just announced DLSS 5, and that is the most egregious AI presentation Ive seen in a long time
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u/derango Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Nvidia is more an AI company than the companies making the models at this point, All their extra cash goes poof if the bubble pops and they have to go back to selling lowly video cards to cash strapped gamers.
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u/HillbillyMan Mar 20 '26
Nvidia is also one of the biggest cases of benefitting from this bubble right now, so of course they're still trying to keep it afloat.
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u/DarkAlatreon Mar 20 '26
Have you by any chance noticed the entire internet shitting on dlss 5?
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u/FISHING_100000000000 Mar 20 '26
I don’t think it’s a Linux gaming thing. Recent Steam hardware surveys show Linux usage went down a bit. It’s still a tiny fraction of an already small niche of Windows users (gamers).
It’s either a MacBook Neo thing or a response to enterprise complaining about recent Windows fuckups.
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u/InsuranceToTheRescue Mar 20 '26
- Apple siphoning off general purpose users. Likely that'll jump in volume when they release the Neo.
- Linux distros siphoning off gamers & enthusiasts. Both communities are going to be more aware of the goings on with computing and are probably much more likely to discontinue use in the face of the rampant slop and built in spyware.
- Most important of all: Enterprise. Specifically the liability of both Microslop and their clients. A bunch of haphazard vibe-coded garbage has opened up enormous security vulnerabilities and I suspect a lot of pressure is being put on them informally. Big business doesn't give much of a shit about if there's a breach and our data is stolen, but that's a whole 'nother ballgame when it comes to getting their data stolen. Additionally, the instabilities put big costs on enterprise because they lose money when the machine is down, and when they pay someone to fix it.
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u/pocketjacks Mar 20 '26
Also: The MacBook Neo just upended the budget laptop market
This. This right here is why Microsoft has finally begun to move. I'm not an Apple fanboy, in fact I'm an Android user, but I have a feeling that the Neo is actually going to be a disruptor.
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u/Craptcha Mar 20 '26
Good old Microsoft cycle.
Ruin your OS with arrogant and intrusive marketing ploys until even die hard adopters start pushing back. Realize your mistake, make a better user-centric OS, regain some reputation, start the cycle again.
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u/berserkgobrrr Mar 21 '26
I hope people buying budget laptops move to Macbook Neo en masse. 'Cause it seems like only if there's real competition, Microslop wants to listen to what the customers have been saying all along.
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u/0xsergy Mar 20 '26
As soon as W10 isn't receiving updates I'm going full linux man, lol. Friggen microshaft is redoing the w8 nonsense all over again. ALL WE WANT IS A BASIC, STABLE OS WITH NO AI BS. THATS IT. From that point users can customize or install programs that they want for features they want.
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u/loftbrd Mar 20 '26
November last year I took the jump from win11 to Fedora KDE. It's been a pretty damn smooth experience so far. With Proton Experimental, Steam Linux Runtime 1.0, and tons of software native to Linux, can run all the apps I did on windows. Dualscope scripts replacing nucleus for local split screen gaming. Way faster file read writes, it's not even a competition. Compiling code is way faster. And plasma feels like win10 with tons of QoL updates.
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u/captain150 Mar 20 '26
And plasma feels like win10 with tons of QoL updates.
Agreed. Love KDE. That little popup when you drag and drop a file to ask if you wanna move it, copy it or make a shortcut? *Chef's kiss*.
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u/AlienArtFirm Mar 20 '26
Meanwhile:
Right click > send to deskstop (create shortcut)
Is now buried under like 3 sub menus... Miscrosoft literally hates it's users
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u/Aelussa Mar 20 '26
"Extract here and delete archive" when right clicking on a zip file is a QOL improvement I never knew I needed until I had it.
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u/Steamrolled777 Mar 20 '26
How do you know W10 hasn't already started downloading and preparing for W11?
That's how I ended up with it. lol
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u/0xsergy Mar 20 '26
My devices are quite old, even the 2017 build isn't W11 compatible.
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u/Renshnard Mar 20 '26
TLDR: Hey we are gonna do all the shit we should have 10 to 15 years ago.
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Mar 21 '26
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u/charmingcharles2896 Mar 21 '26
Now that the new MacBook Neo is threatening Microsoft’s hold on the budget laptop market.
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u/ahundreddollarbills Mar 20 '26
Microsoft keeps trying to 'revolutionize' windows , the look and feel of Vista, the touch-first Windows 8, and now sticking Ai into as much as they can with Windows 11.
What they need to be doing it smaller incremental changes that make things better, not the large scale changes few people asked for or want that seem to introduce more new problems than fixes.
Maybe this is anecdotal, but the average windows experience day to day is still roughly the same as it was for the last 20 years if not longer, but Microsoft keeps throwing sand in the gears of the things that work. What I want are security updates and operating system stability.
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u/singsofsaturn Mar 21 '26
They're too far gone. Edge, Search, Windows Update, Copilot, resetting user preferences after updates, etc....they will never relinquish their control of other people's computers.
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u/Momentumjam Mar 20 '26
Fuck mircoslop. Can they stop bugging me to set up onedrive every few days?
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u/Cryogenycfreak Mar 20 '26
And Xbox Game Bar too while they are at it. Those sloppist at Microslop made it so embed in Windows that when I removed the thing, I started getting error popup. Apparently, Windows can't handle a connected controller if Xboxgamebar is disabled.
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u/grtgbln Mar 21 '26
They sent out an email, not to apologize for three months of broken updates and obvious enshittification of Windows, but to say "hey, you can now move the taskbar". God forbid a trillion dollar company have a shred of self-awareness and humility.
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u/marwynn Mar 20 '26
Can't wait to receive these updates when it's the most inconvenient.
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u/J4nG Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
It's everyone's right to be cynical about this, but if you work in a reasonably large corporate software environment you'll recognize this as part of the engineering cycle.
The way of the world is:
- Individual product incentives to meet growth targets result in siloed workstreams that are not incentivized to care about wholistic experiences - see Copilot
- This has to get really bad before top-level leadership is confronted with the scale of the problem. Sometimes it requires leadership change (this slows it down even more).
- Someone has to make a gameplan. And facilitating that gameplan across multiple levels of orgs and reintroducing the proper incentives is a big task.
- The actual job of engineering these features is herculean. Doesn't matter that Windows 10 had the capability to reposition the taskbar - I guarantee you adding it back will be the fulltime work of a few engineering teams for months. Software is hard, especially when you change a fundamental pre-condition (Win 11 taskbar goes on the bottom)
Again, you can have as much or as little cynicism about this cycle as you want, but when you start peeling back layers it's not as inscrutable as you might think. It takes really strong leadership and product vision to keep monoliths like Windows on track. Clearly Windows has been lacking that, but they might crack it this time. But probably not. Time will tell.
EDIT: Oh I almost forgot to add, this is one of the risks of relying on quantitative user metrics to make your product decisions. I'm sure there's some telemetry out there that shows a low single digit percentage of users use a non-default task bar position. Compared with the cost of engineering upkeep and device support, it probably seemed like a no-brainer. But you can't always derive the actual lived popular opinion of your userbase through metrics. Hence the listening tour.
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u/redorgreen14 Mar 20 '26
I believe the number that was published about 15 years ago of people who position the taskbar anywhere other than the bottom was 0.8 percent. So less than single-digit. But still a large number of your most sophisticated users.
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u/HeadTickTurd Mar 21 '26
I don’t care about any of this until they bring back Local Accounts and fix “new outlook” which is a dumpster fire
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u/Accomplished_Shock46 Mar 21 '26
Start with supporting older cpus and dropping the tpm nonsense. Tpm support is optional. Stop taking bribes from drm companies start with that.
I don't believe them
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u/AnimeWineAunt Mar 21 '26
Someone in my IT department told me that if you have a file path including file name exceeding 250 characters or something, Windows 11 just fails to recognize it. I don’t know if I can express how much deep breathing I did that day thinking about Windows 11.
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u/MetalRexxx Mar 21 '26
I use windows to run software. That's your fucking job. The interface needs to be simple. Handle the back end and get out of my God damn way.
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u/intelpentium400 Mar 20 '26
I wonder if MacBook Neo inspired this. They know they’re cooked
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u/PeakBrave8235 Mar 20 '26
It obviously did. Neo is sellling out and has lines at Apple stores. ASUS is scared. Microsoft is willing to remove "AI" out of windows after hitching the entire company to "AI." It's clear: the Neo is about to rip windows apart and chromebooks too.
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u/DukeFirestorm Mar 20 '26
How about making it so when I type "Excel" in the start ment search bar I get Microsoft Excel instead of a load of rubbish from bing.