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Comment by nomilk | Hacker News Reader

I might be too informed by headlines than reality, but is my perception correct that the Windows experience is worsening by the year, particularly with regard to installation, configurability, UX, and privacy?

Apple certainly isn't perfect and has released some tripe lately (iOS 26) but I trust they'll work through the kinks. Apple seems to undulate, whereas Windows's trajectory seems net downward.

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That was my experience. I switched from Windows to Mac last fall with the incessant popups my PC wasn’t eligible for Win11. My pi-hole is no longer full of blocked requests to Microsoft tracking domains. I get the pleasure of using Win11 on my work laptop and the UI is a hilarious Frankenstein mishmash of mostly the new design, but every so often something is inexplicably skinned the “old” Win10 UI and looks super out of place.

A couple months ago I also switched from Android to iPhone. My overall perception is Apple isn’t perfect, but definitely does privacy better, and their guidelines for user experience in design avoid some of the more egregious things MS and Google have changed recently.

I definitely prefer iPhone over Android—-until I need to copy and paste something. Then I just want to throw it out the nearest window. Android does text selection FAR better.

Other than that, you can have my iPhone when you take it from my cold, dead…

> the UI is a hilarious Frankenstein mishmash of mostly the new design, but every so often something is inexplicably skinned the “old” Win10 UI and looks super out of place.

You did not dig deep enough or you'd have added the Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT4 and probably even still some lingering Windows NT 3 UI elements.

I’ve been a Linux sysadmin for 25 years but always preferred Windows on my desktop. Reason: Software compatibility.

Windows 11 changed that. I have to reinstall it every six months or so due to instability. Last time it happened, multiple monitor capability disabled, audio out to my headphones kept disappearing (reboot to fix), and every few days upon rebooting, boot would fail requiring the Bitlocker PIN. I don’t install any weird drivers/software or visit weird sites, never get malware. It’s just Windows fragility. I really miss Win10.

I’m scheduled for a new laptop in June and I’ve decided it’s getting Ubuntu. I’m done. Windows 11 is just too fragile. I checked and all of the important apps I use now have near-perfect Linux counterparts. So the software compatibility issue is no longer a concern for me.

Bye, Microsoft!

Ubuntu is.. not that good on the desktop

I just installed it on my son’s desktop with Cinnamon. It’s good enough for me. It’s the server OS I prefer to use so I’m most familiar with it. And has the same excellent software compatibility as Windows; Most tutorials assume Ubuntu.

Oh and I’ve been using Lubuntu for the past year on my road laptop. No issues.

Good enough.

I mean, you're the sysadmin, so I probably shouldn't explain things to you. But I spent 20 years with Ubuntu and recently switched to Debian. The tutorials work the same.

The disadvantage of Ubuntu is its weird mixture of apt and snap. The snaps self-update when they feel like it (eg when you're on a train, wasting your precious data). Debian uses apt for everything. It's a lot simpler and you have more control over it.

I cut my teeth on Debian many moons ago. It’s alright, but I’m content with Ubuntu, having run Lubuntu now on my road laptop for a year.

Good enough is a wacky metric.

Linux desktop is having so much positive changes happen to it. Something like Bazzite or Cachy is a significantly better experience for general desktop usage.

Also, most tutorials when we’re talking about desktop no longer assume Ubuntu.

There’s a reason steam decided to be based on arch for the steam deck.

Those symptoms sounds like breaking hardware though, cold joints somewhere or even worse a swelling battery, I literally had a multi-monitor disappearance last week on an older machine because the broken battery somehow caused the Intel GFX chip driver to fail and a colleague had some bitlocker failure when his last machine died.

If it were breaking hardware it would persist through the reinstall. But since the day I got it, it’s done this kind of thing about every six months and every time, a reinstall fixes it. For about six months, and then I need to do it again.

Work laptop has done a little better but if memory serves they did have to reinstall it about a year ago. I only use very bland software on that.

Well you may be partly right. Two weeks after reinstalling Win11 it's exhibiting frequent lockups and audio dying--often on the same day. Clearly some issues were resolved with reinstall (so those were software-caused), but potentially not all of the issues. I'll have to reinstall it once more to confirm.

That, or I'm installing some software causing this. I don't install weird software, and it was software that I had used in Win10 on another laptop, so that's probably not it.

Windows isn't worsening in every regard. Some people don't like the telemetry so for them, that's a major privacy strike.

But the typical person taking home a new laptop from Best Buy doesn't care about installation. UX is the same as it has been for a while now - click on an icon and the application will start. Things like printers and scanners pretty much just work now.

The main market for Windows these days is corporate users and gamers and Microsoft is still doing a pretty good job of serving both of those markets.

>Windows isn't worsening in every regard.

It feels like it is. I was watching my wife use Outlook the other day and was appalled by how slow it is. The last time I used it it was fine on 2000 era hardware, now it barely runs on 2025 hardware. It seems Microsoft has forgotten how to write good software.

I run Windows 11 unofficially on hardware from 2014, it was relatively high-end but it runs just fine (in fact it feels snappier than some modern systems).

If you try to run the latest OS on dirt cheap hardware, it's going to run bad no matter what. Macs are not immune to this, in fact they are much more susceptible to it.

I should have been clearer, I meant Office 2000 on 2000 era hardware. ie after 25 years of progress everything from MS feels worse.

I would have to disagree. Since Windows 11 rolled out, calls from family have increased. This is not the usual "where is my printer", but basic stuff: "where are my files", "why can't i find the backup drive", "where is my computer", followed by "why do they change stuff".

Microsoft seems to insist on alienating a whole generation of computer users. I expect that this next Christmas I'll be doing a lot of Vista or 7 installations.

You would go back to an old vulnerability infested OS that nobody builds for anymore instead of dealing with a UI change every few years? I have elderly parents on windows 11 and they've been fine, as long as the browser works, outlook loads, and they can scan and print (and tbh a Chromebook may be even better for non techy folks)

> You would go back to an old vulnerability infested OS that nobody builds for anymore instead of dealing with a UI change every few years?

Not OP, but yes. I'd rather my computer be old and vulnerable than hostile.

> and tbh a Chromebook may be even better for non techy folks

well there you go.

This is not Apple‘s price. This is Amazon‘s price. I don’t think Apple has much control over the price of their laptops on Amazon. Please anyone correct me if I’m wrong. I also think that Apple does not like when Amazon offers their products at a discount.

They can forbid if Amazon is buying directly. However as with Wallmart it's beneficial for them to not provide discounts directly, but still have a "low-cost" alternative.

Apple is making definitely setting the price. What they want is to keep that low price out of their own stores and web site but still keep it in front of price conscious consumers.

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