They are fundamentally incapable of doing this. The senior management are incapable of even imagining in a dream of a windows that didn't spy on its users while also forcing them to use the software managers want in the way managers want.
Even if some dev team managed to make one (it would have to be on the sly), and guerrilla marketed it, and it was a giant hit, the managers would just force all the spyware and bloat and restrictions over time. They can't help but do it.
Or being able to sell it as an aftermarket license upgrade would be a way to get more revenue from people who were otherwise going to ride an OEM Home license for which MS had a negotiated rate of 34 cents per machine.
OTOH, one thing about the ongoing advertising/enshittification bubble is that it seems to distort people's understanding of revenue and NPV. They'd rather have the possibility of infinite future ad/spyware revenue even when people are clamoring to offer up-front real cash instead.
You're thirsty. Do you want a Coke or an Africola? Coke obviously - what the heck is Africola? Why do you want a Coke? Because you saw the Coke logo everywhere since birth.
For all the other companies its exactly the other way around. I will see products of a company, I know bothers me when I want to do something else, and a bunch of products I have no (negative) opinion yet. Guess which products I will evaluate?
For an ad to leave a good impression it must be actually good, otherwise it achieves exactly the opposite. People used to buy advertisements, the ad industry destroyed this, by forcing people to look at ads. People don't like being forced.
IoT LTSC.
Works like a charm and no bloat.
There is no universe in which LTSC is slower than the regular release.
windows was feature complete with Windows 2000
I don't game and all my software is cross platform. Windows still has a few things I miss, programs like notepad++ (for which there's no true Linux equivalent), and portable apps (with Linux equivalents not really coming close, but understandably so).
Windows really is a broken OS solely set up for spying on users.
Sublime text
Creating bootable install disc via Rufus gives you an options to set up offline account, skip secure boot requirements, skip privacy options, etc., Installation is then a matter of few clicks.
thats what i use it for, comes with no new feature updates (which is sometimes annoying as some software depends on some Windows feature updates) and you have to buy 5x licences- and its more expensive. but it works.
The price varies a lot from suprisingly cheap ($7.7, is buykeysoft.com legit?) to a bit expensive but acceptable (~200 CHF). I'll definitely use these when I'm setting up my new desktop in the future.
What's the difference between outright piracy and buying an invalid (but functioning) CD key? Legally: nothing.
If a key is minted to be used only in certain areas or for certain purposes (healthcare, education) and it's sold to me- I don't have a right to use it.
That's the really annoying thing about these CD key online things, they give the illusion of doing the right thing but ultimately it's the same issue.
Truthfully I don't think any of us will be audited, but it's an annoying situation I continually see. People think just because money changed hands that they're legal.
But in the end I'm fine with that. First, the vendor is no longer selling this product, second, there is only that much one can do.
I don't think we will ever see a new version the way you described it, the amount of information Microsoft get from spying and telemetry is so much more profitable they even gave 10/11 for free.