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Windows 7. Every version of the OS since then has been such a great disappointment.

I recently found myself in a situation where I had to use a Window 7 machine for a couple days. I nearly cried. I'd forgotten what it used to be like to experience joy (and not endless frustration) when computing.

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Windows 7 was also the last one to natively support the "classic" theme [1], which IMHO was the peak of its UI design

[1] https://betawiki.net/wiki/Windows_Classic

Well Windows 8/8.1 doesn't have as much telemetry and data grabbing as Windows 10/11 and you can always block Windows phoning home either using the `hosts` file or using various privacy powertools.

Windows 10/11 is not your computer anymore, so I avoid it at all costs. I have a Windows 8 virtual machine for things like Photoshop and other softwares, but I don't connect it to the public Internet. Since most software is targeting Windows these days, it's useful to have a VM where you can try out different software.

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