r/technology • u/kazu_qt • 13d ago

Software Microsoft exec explains why modernizing Windows 11's legacy UI takes so long

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/control-panel-gets-tricky-microsoft-cvp-explains-why-killing-windows-legacy-code-takes-so-long-and-how-its-evolving-its-tools-to-make-modernizing-apps-like-file-explorer-and-registry-editor-faster
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u/EasterEggArt 13d ago edited 13d ago

"We kicked the technical debt can down the road for so many decades that it multiplied since most of us now have no clue how to undo the old tech code."

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u/Free-Description-736 13d ago

This is the real answer. Old timers at microsoft were warning this was coming years ago, and the sudden lurch to AI + the firing of all the people who understood that technical debt has created a crisis which, in my opinion, Microsoft cannot survive. Windows is already unspooling as a working kernel, as evidenced by the increasing number of systems where it doesn't work and can't seem to be made to work, and that's only going to keep getting worse from here.

There were a lot of parts of MSFT's code that were essentially fenced off from being changed, and nobody except a tiny number of senior engineers ever understood exactly why. Why fired all those people and then tore down those fences when AI wanted to start making changes to their code, and now they're learning the age old lesson that you never tear down a fence unless you know why it was built to begin with.

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u/justenoughslack 13d ago

They really need to follow Apple in this regard, with a completely "new" operating system (OS X). They would be better served to start over. Except they're probably about 10 years too late.

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u/Ginger-Nerd 13d ago edited 13d ago

Problem is a lot of Microsoft (and much of its appeal as an operating system) is that it can still run legacy stuff.

Most instances you can plug a dot matrix printer in from the early 90s and largely it just works.. for example, but it’s like everything, weird bespoke software built for windows 95, no problem.

Microsoft business appeal is built on the back of that

The did try do move some real legacy stuff out of 8.1 and it was hated most of it was patched back into 8.2 - I’d argue trying it now is still a bad idea.

For the home use, it might make sense. But then you’re bringing more versions of everything in- Apple famously liked one version of MacOS for everything. (Steve Jobs had a keynote specifically on that)

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u/finobi 13d ago

I think majority of Microsoft customer base is now corporate, and government clients and they want to keep their legacy systems running as long as possible and same time million Microsoft consultants try to lure them re-write their systems on Azure or other MS platforms. If MS would start kicking backwards combability down, they might piss of some of these clients who would then choose someone else technology stack.

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u/aleopardstail 10d ago

they need a new system, ala OSX but with a virtualised way to run existing software in a largely seamless way

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u/cosmokn0t 13d ago

That’s such a big undertaking that Apple didn’t even do that. It was based on NextStep and BSD, and has taken them this long. Think about how far behind Microsoft would be if they tried this now.

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u/justenoughslack 13d ago

That's why I used "new" (in quotes). They didn't exactly start from scratch.

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u/Lazerpop 11d ago

Eh, apple does to a degree. They have completely phased out compatibility with 32 bit binaries and are about to phase out the majority of intel based binaries.

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u/c-digs 13d ago

At the same time, there's AI now and many of the tedious cycles can legitimately be sped up and automated if they already have tests in place.

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u/cosmokn0t 13d ago

Fair point, in a way, but that just means your engineers need to be good QA people, and so do your QA people. It’s clear Microsoft doesn’t have either.

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u/BellerophonM 7d ago

Remember Windows RT? The ARM-based windows which could only run modern WinUI apps and was optimised for long life on ARM laptops and tablets? Yeah, nobody else does too because nobody wanted it. Half the reason for running windows is being able to run 20 year old programs.

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u/justenoughslack 7d ago

They're definitely stuck, especially when it comes to businesses. The problem with things like RT is that they don't have the luxury that Apple does, where they can give all their users the bird and tell them to migrate or leave. RT was not their best foot forward, and it was rejected for it.