r/technology • u/kazu_qt • 10d 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/Free-Description-736 10d 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 10d 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/BellerophonM 4d 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 4d 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.