Windows 10 usage share is climbing again, despite its end of support next month. Here is an explanation.
Next month, Microsoft is ending support for home editions of its Windows 10 operating system officially. While users may extend support by one year -- business customers get three -- the number of users who will take up Microsoft's offer is unclear. The extension is more or less free, as you get it as a consumer when you enable the backup functionality during the signup process. There is even a tool for that that lets you do all that with a local account and as little interaction as possible.
Recently, Windows 11, the successor of Windows 10, has been gaining traction. While it led the leaderboard of the most popular operating system on Valve's highly influential Steam gaming platform for some time, it passed Windows 10 at Statcounter's monthly OS popularity ranking in July for the first time.
Being newer and with the advantage that its main competitor is on its last months of support, one could predict the trend easily. Windows 10 usage declines naturally, as users start to migrate to Windows 11, if their devices are compatible, upgrade by bypassing compatibility checks, or buy entirely new PCs.
But in August 2025, stats reversed seemingly, at least according to Statcounter. Windows 11 usage dropped by four points from 53 percent to 49 percent. Windows 10's usage jumped three points to 45 percent. Even the out-of-support Windows 7 operating system jumped by 1.5 points to more than three percent usage, according to Statcounter.
Does this mean that users moved back to Windows 10? Reverted the upgrade or even downgraded their machines, where possible? It seems highly unlikely that this is the main cause for the reversal. Statcounter claims to pull the statistics from billions of visits of users each month. While that sounds much, its stats are not a true reflection of the actual market share of each operating system or browser.
There is also the possibility that the calculation was off in a given month. We know more next month. We could see another reversal, Windows 11 climbing again, Windows 10 and falling.
Windows 10's usage share will decline in the coming months. While part of the userbase will extend support by joining the ESU program, another part will upgrade their machines to Windows 11 or buy new PCs entirely. Yes, some may also switch to Linux.
Now You: which version of Windows do you use, and why?
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Are they surprised? Why on earth would anyone want to switch to 11?
Getting rid of the customisable/movable taskbar and replacing it with the god-awful Mac-style centre menu was an absolute travesty of design.
Similarly, replacing functional control panel dialogs with the "settings app".
The insistence on packaging programs as "app bundles".
Then there's the slew of useless always-online garbage, which literally nobody asked for, and which basically amounts to user-hostile spyware.
MS needs to accept that user interface design mostly peaked about a decade or two ago, and anything beyond that has been pointless tinkering at best, or actual regression of usability at worst.
You can actually move the taskbar to the left, but you can no longer have it vertically :/
> The insistence on packaging programs as "app bundles".
I don't think appx is too bad on its own - the operating system should have a package manager, it provides a means of handling common dependencies (although this was for WinUI3, which is kind of dead), and both MSI and CAB are very old, weird file formats.
The UWP sandboxing .. I can see why they did it, protection against malicious apps, but it completely handicaps desktop apps.
> Then there's the slew of useless always-online garbage, which literally nobody asked for, and which basically amounts to user-hostile spyware.
Yes, this is Bad and the sort of thing the EU should start leaning on.
> MS needs to accept that user interface design mostly peaked about a decade or two ago
The original Windows era had plenty of work put into accessibility and making it clear what was clickable. The modern era swept that away in favor of "looks nice to minimalists", and I think it's a loss.
By ethbr1 2025-09-113:19 >> MS needs to accept that user interface design mostly peaked about a decade or two ago
> The original Windows era had plenty of work put into accessibility and making it clear what was clickable.
It makes you wonder what would have happened if Microsoft had frozen Windows core UI features at 7 and instead invested the countless person-years of UI (re-)development elsewhere...
By bediger4000 2025-09-1015:24 Flat design is a travesty. You can't tell what you can click/tap delicately, so touching the screen at all becomes an adventure.
When I learned the taskbar can't be placed on the side vertically is when I realized I'm never going to install Windows 11. That combined with 10 being advertised as "the last Windows I'll ever need to buy" and the fact their updater told me I have to replace my entire PC to be eligible to install it (in spite of the fact that I merely need to turn on a BIOS setting and my system would fully support it), then the notice that they'd be selling 1-year support contract extensions for anyone staying on 10... What's next, Windows declares itself outright as ransomware and holds my data hostage? I'm imagining a full screen overlay appears: "Nice OS install you've got here... Would be a shame if something... happened to it."
By dinfinity 2025-09-1018:44 Tip for enrolling in the Extended Security Updates for Win10:
https://github.com/builtbybel/Flyoobe/releases
> What’s new in Flyoobe 1.7.284
> This update is especially important for everyone still on Windows 10 who plans to stay there and take advantage of the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program.
Also in 1.10 stable, of course.
By dijit 2025-09-1013:35 it's also sloooow, which makes me wonder if that's the real reason for their hardware requirements and locking out old CPUs that are perfectly servicable.
"What Andy give us, Bill taketh away" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_and_Bill%27s_law
The reason you use Windows 11 is because you have some legacy software that needs it or your work requires it or you are a gamer.
Otherwise Mac OS is soooo much better and the hardware is so much better and if there weren’t ai most people would never have to upgrade from Mac M1.
They also need to stop dumping spyware and forcing people into onedrive etc.
Or because lots of other people use it and you're developing for them, though I guess that comes under "your work requires it".
The reason I'm not using a Mac is because of their walled garden, the gross intent to control all the devs. This is admittedly very trendy right now and Google and Microsoft are at it too.
By daft_pink 2025-09-1018:21 The reason I don’t consider Linux is: * I want a single company responsible for security on my computer. Apple has a highly paid professional team to respond for any security updates and configuration. I have a linux server and there is no easy way to get that kind of support. I’m happy to pay a reasonable price for this. * I need some legacy software like Microsoft Excel. Mac’s tend to have more professionally developed third party software like Microsoft Excel, Adobe, Raycast, etc.
Those are really the two big frictions that I find with using anything other than Windows and Mac.
By kenhwang 2025-09-1014:16 The biggest problem I have with 11 is how unstable it is. Almost seems like there's a new BSOD trigger or data corruption bug introduced every month by Microsoft themselves, and 3rd party drivers fare even worse. A bunch of explorer and start menu random crashes too. 7 and 10 never caused this much headache for me.
By philistine 2025-09-1014:49 The new taskbar is nothing like the macOS dock; you can put the dock to the left or right of the screen, and I never expect this user feature to go away. Apple is quick to get rid of older APIs, but they're better than Microsoft at keeping user features.
By BizarroLand 2025-09-1017:55 If you find yourself required to use windows 11, consider running Flyoobe:
https://github.com/builtbybel/Flyoobe
It can be run after install to disable AI/Apps/experience crap that M$ forces on you.
Also, remember to disable app updates in M$ store or it will just reinstall everything you uninstalled on every reboot.
By metalliqaz 2025-09-1013:353 reply I'm running Win11 right now and I have customized my taskbar to look like it was on Win10.
By jamesnorden 2025-09-1013:572 reply Now move it to the top of the screen without 3rd party software.
By ga_to 2025-09-119:13 Because 10 supported that.
By poisonborz 2025-09-1017:37 And after you do, enjoy some maximized windows and notifications covering it.
By smusamashah 2025-09-1014:19 https://github.com/dremin/RetroBar to have customisable Windows 98/XP like taskbar
By cosmic_cheese 2025-09-1013:57 Yeah, you can’t move it away from the bottom of the screen, but it doesn’t have to look like the macOS Dock. With a couple of toggles it operates mostly like a traditional taskbar.
By fruitworks 2025-09-1015:53 new hardware compatibility. w10 users will be eeked out whether they like it or not
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1013:269 reply I've basically switched to Linux. The bar is insanely low for me with Microsoft, get rid of all the telemetry bull#@$@# or make it easy for me to disable it without having to run obscure github scripts.
I have 0 telemetry on Arch Linux.
Assuming Apple itself doesn't bypass Little Snitch, I don't even think Apple is doing the level of telemetry Microsoft does.
I bought a Mac for my next laptop, and I have 0 need for Windows, I have been maining Linux for like six years now, and anything that needs me to use Windows is usually also available on Mac.
Your move Microsoft. Give me an OS for power users that isn't full of marketing driven development.
My gaming PC is a very unloved Windows machine, if not for that I'd be long gone (everything else is Linux). Come to think of it, gaming is why I used windows in the first place, starting with 95. With the Steam Deck and its push for Linux compat I don't see the next generation being so windows focused either.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:072 reply I have been gaming on Linux for like nearly two years now. Proton just works. I recommend either Arch or a Ubuntu based distro I can't vouch for other distros, though I'm sure they can run Steam just fine (but SteamOS was once Debian based and now its Arch based so it makes sense to me).
I am using EndeavourOS with KDE (Arch based, with a GUI installer) daily for nearly a year now, before that I was on POP_OS! but I wanted more up to date packages.
By roody15 2025-09-110:42 Agree I switched to Linux gaming about 4-5 years ago and cannot be happier. Just finished Expedition 33 and it ran flawless. Even setting up a simple OBS desktop to capture HDMI and stream ... so much easier with Linux than Windows. No forced updates, no random reboots, no annoying widgets, no AI integration... just does what I want it to. Why Microsoft just won't release an stripped down edition and make it afforable and easily accessible is beyond my understanding. I am now an old timer and 15-20 years ago I would do almost everything on a PC simply and efficiently now I find Linux gets this job down hands down better than anything Microsoft has to offer.
By ericbarrett 2025-09-1015:452 reply Proton had a bug that deleted all Steam Cloud saves made on Windows for any game I launched it with. Not sure if it is fixed yet because I'm scared to try again. Beware & make backups
By Pwntastic 2025-09-1016:11 fyi you can directly view and download the saves and config files that get uploaded to the steam cloud. you could always download them as a backup before launching the game. it would not surprise me if there were oss tools to help manage that as well
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1018:46 Never ran into this before, that's definitely weird.
By N-Krause 2025-09-1013:55 I am running all my games from linux nowadays. Using nixos with steam (games run via proton) and hyprland. Works like a charm.
By bavell 2025-09-1013:50 I play all my steam games on Linux/proton, zero issues for years now.
By eutropia 2025-09-1013:46 I built a newish gaming PC on AMD components and flashed SteamOS onto it. It just works out of the box, although it does sort of think that it's an oversized steamdeck.
My previous gaming PC was a 2016-vintage windows machine with a very hacked and lobotomized win10, so nvidia graphics drivers were starting to become a problem what with the lack of windows update and all that...
By slowmovintarget 2025-09-1017:47 System 76 Pop!_OS gamer here.
Steam and emulation works fairly well. Nearly all newer games just run, and most older games do as well. There's a few I won't run because they use kernel-level anti-cheat. I play single-player and no game needs kernel access, not even to check for cheating.
By evoloution 2025-09-1013:491 reply > Assuming Apple itself doesn't bypass Little Snitch, I don't even think Apple is doing the level of telemetry Microsoft does.
Little snitch doesn't talk directly to the kernel's netfilter/iptables/nftables framework so some traffic may be hidden from it (low-level stuff that cannot be accessed via the API). I don't use it so I don't know if there is a way to bypass this in the settings or with special permission.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:08 You could always route your Mac through a device you can then monitor traffic on and get a ballpark. I don't see why Apple would do so much telemetry and go through so much effort to hide it though.
> Assuming Apple itself doesn't bypass Little Snitch, I don't even think Apple is doing the level of telemetry Microsoft does.
Apple doesn’t do all that much telemetry even if all the telemetry settings are enabled. Because you’re not a product to them. Which is probably why they didn’t even play in the AI race.
Apple's ad revenue keeps climbing, and eventually it will be too big to ignore, while their products plateau with little innovation to show. Don't think they are immune to market forces that bend literally everybody else, at the end they have shareholders too.
By sgjohnson 2025-09-1014:03 > while their products plateau with little innovation to show
Seen the battery life figures on yesterday’s iPhones? And ARM revolution was just 5 years ago.
I would hardly call it “little innovation to show”.
By Workaccount2 2025-09-1013:544 reply For me the most frustrating thing about linux is that it's distros are universally made by people who love linux, and the linux paradigm.
I have used linux on and off for 20 years now, and every time I end up back on windows, and it's such a relief when I am back. And so upsetting that I cannot escape windows.
Windows solves friction with GUI usability.
Linux solves friction with expectation of CLI mastery.
It's forever damned to the 5% of people who are willing to toil with a CLI (yes, I know your grandma uses it to check her e-mail, unfortunately the -only- thing she does is check email).
Then we have the likes of Android and MacOS, which had product people force engineering to bury all CLI stuff.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:021 reply > Windows solves friction with GUI usability.
I strictly use KDE. It is well refined, all the KDE built apps follow a consistent UI. It behaves much like I have expected any desktop OS to behave. Back in the days of KDE 3 (or 3.5?) they used to do a setup wizard where it would ask you which experience you'd prefer: Windows, Mac, or Linux and it would change everything to match how those platforms behaved.
Yeah, personally I've been using KDE for a few years now and actively find the user interface easier to use and more logical than Windows.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1018:47 They also seem to have an app for all the major things.. IRC Client? There's definitely a KDE based one, Mail client? KMail. Web Browser? Konqueror! Even though I don't use it, it's still nive to see them build apps for everything for KDE, even a range of simple games.
What do you mean, there's all kinds of extremely user focused distributions.
If you need it to feel like Windows there's KDE - but if you're OK with changing your mind then things like ElemeteryOS (https://elementary.io/) put a huge amount of focus on UX, accessibility, beauty and of course: usability.
Aside from Archlinux, the majority of mainstream distributions bend over themselves to offer you GUIs for everything. Yes, the CLI is powerful and you will be better served by not avoiding it: but you can get by totally fine if you never open a single terminal on Ubuntu or Bazzite.
This is written as a power-user lamenting having power, and presuming that non-power users will have to learn to be a power user.. that's just not a thing in linux since at least 2016.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:301 reply EndeavourOS is what I use, since I wanted to try Arch but I also refuse to run an OS install that does not have a GUI. The 90s where 30 years ago, every other major distro has a GUI installer OOTB.
I prefer to have control over my install with a command line.
Isn’t it great that we both have options that cater to us! :D
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1018:48 Debian lets you do either, I would prefer Arch adopt the UI and still keep the terminal. The other thing is usually with a GUI installer you get a LIVE system that lets 'try before you buy' a distro.
By ndiddy 2025-09-1015:35 > It's forever damned to the 5% of people who are willing to toil with a CLI
I've never really understood this complaint. On GNOME/KDE, all the normal system administration/configuration stuff (the types of settings you'd see in the control panel on Windows) are accessible through the settings GUI. The situations in which I've had to use the CLI on Linux are basically equivalent to when I have to use the Registry Editor, Group Policy Editor, Services Manager, or PowerShell scripts on Windows, none of which are really any more user friendly than the Linux CLI.
>For me the most frustrating thing about linux is that it's distros are universally made by people who love linux, and the linux paradigm.
The distro I use (Slackware), 100% true. Plus that can be said for many others too.
But, RHEL and by extension Rocky and Alma Linux are driven by corporations and marketing, like Windows is. So if you want a marketing driven OS, you have these anyway.
I just hope RHEL changes does not infect Slackware, a couple of things snuck in due to dependencies, but luckily it did not change the feel of Slackware (yet).
By jonathanspw 2025-09-1014:15 AlmaLinux is driven by a non-profit foundation and while the core is basically RHEL, we're adding on top to meet the needs of the community.
https://github.com/AlmaLinux/ALESCo/pulls?q=is%3Apr+is%3Aclo...
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:31 Slackware was my first distro, then Debian, Ubuntu, openSUSE for a little while, then POP_OS!, and now Arch Linux. I loved openSUSE the most, but it stopped supporting my hardware at some point. I dont like to fight for my OS to just work.
I used Linux as a daily driver in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Then switched back to Windows for work convenience. For the first time in about 20 years I have switched back to Linux as the daily driver. I have a windows 11 VM, in case I run into an xlsx file that libre office can't handle (rarely). Linux is just so much faster and cleaner that the convenience factor has shifted.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:15 Linux is even faster at running Windows games in some cases. ;)
By whalesalad 2025-09-1013:411 reply I built a beast of a workstation in '23 and it's had like 5 collective minutes of downtime since. Debian 12, KDE, 13900K, 128GB ram, 2x2TB nvme disks for my home dir in a btrfs mirror, a 4TB /var disk for containers, psql, etc. It's such a stable and consistent workhorse. Slack, Spotify, vscode, sublime, 1password, screen sharing, google meet, everything works great. Using Libreoffice/Onlyoffice in lieu of MS stack has not been an issue, even when doing extensive document comment reviews with financial companies etc who live on Microsoft tooling.
The irony is that I am using this with a 5K Apple Studio Display, lol. The webcam and other onboard goodies do not work (can't control brightness) but the picture quality sure is good.
The Linux desktop is 100% here.
You can get the Studio Display to work pretty easily to be fair: you just need to pass through the video card to the motherboard and then run thunderbolt.
I have Linux working with my Studio Display and it just worked out of the box; speakers, webcam and all. (though, the sound quality on the mac is better).
The only issues were that when I use a USB-C capable graphics card, it only has displayport out over USB-C, and doesn't talk USB4/Thunderbolt to the rest of the computer.. so those devices don't get exposed to the motherboard at all.
If you care- it's a kickass display anyway even if you don't.
By whalesalad 2025-09-1014:461 reply So interestingly, I have an ASUS Thunderbolt EX4 add-in card, but it doesn't seem to work for me.
> you just need to pass through the video card to the motherboard and then run thunderbolt
I will have to experiment with this. I was using the little daisy chain cables that allow you to go out from GPU -> immediately IN to Thunderbolt card, then monitor was connected to Thunderbolt card. But I couldn't even get any output at all.
Would be curious to hear more about your setup!
I have the same card.
I "authorised" the Display in the KDE control panel, probably it was this: https://github.com/KDE/plasma-thunderbolt
I did that before linking the USB-C cable to the gfx card, but I'm not sure if that's required or not? It's the only thing I did.
I had multiple displays at the time, now I just have the Studio Display - if it doesn't work automatically without authorization I wonder how you would bootstrap it..
By whalesalad 2025-09-1016:401 reply What distro/kernel/kde version are you on?
Checking now in my KDE control panel, I see that I do have a Thunderbolt section, and the display is listed as "Apple Inc. Studio Display - Disconnected, Trusted"
I'll need to play about with this again over the weekend.
By dijit 2025-09-1018:04 I’m using kubuntu, Trusted would make me think you’ve done the tight thing.
FWIW, I have Two entries in my Thunderbolt list for this
There has never been a better time for Windows users to switch to Linux. Most desktop applications are getting replaced with websites, Valve is making herculean progress in getting games to run seamlessly on Linux and, most recently, LLMs have become very effective at helping new users understand and potentially fix their setups.
That said, I did just spend almost half a day trying to debug why SuSE couldn’t see my NVIDIA card. After giving up on that, I tried Fedora which forces Wayland on me and was stuttery for no obvious reason. Finally I tried Arch and it seems to work fine without much fiddling about.
Meanwhile I can buy a Mac and use it immediately, and Windows is a pain but I never have to try 100 solutions before it works.
That’s on me for using NVIDIA though, I’m sure it’s much smoother with Intel and AMD hardware.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:14 I just use EndeavourOS which is Arch based, but has a simpler installer. I know its a meme that Arch people wont shut up about using Arch, but seriously, give it a shot.
Pro-tip do installs / updates with "yay" and you will not want to pull your hair out, Pacman is too "low level" for normal use, yay is higher level and simple. How to update your system? just run "yay" no params. Comes out of the box on EndeavourOS.
SteamOS is also based on Arch these days so it will always work the best with Steam. ;)
I do miss openSUSE, but when they became a rolling distro it stopped supporting things like my wireless card OOTB so I stopped trying to use openSUSE.
> That’s on me for using NVIDIA though, I’m sure it’s much smoother with Intel and AMD hardware.
Yeah, I can confirm that AMD on Linux just fucking works and has for ages. I've not used any recent Intel 3D accelerator cards, but if their new stuff is as solid as their stuff from like twenty years ago, then it'll also just fucking work.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:141 reply > Yeah, I can confirm that AMD on Linux just fucking works and has for ages. I've not used any recent Intel 3D accelerator cards, but if their new stuff is as solid as their stuff from like twenty years ago, then it'll also just fucking work.
I've had the complete opposite experience. It's only now that I'm using Nvidia that Linux works for me... I hate to admit it, I'm an AMD fanboy.
By simoncion 2025-09-1014:37 > It's only now that I'm using Nvidia that Linux works for me... I hate to admit it, I'm an AMD fanboy.
Weird. I've been using AMD hardware on Linux for the past ~twenty years... since back when they were ATi. Aside from when one had to write one's own Xorg.conf [0], everything has just worked.
Having said that, all of my laptops have used Intel graphics hardware, so perhaps none of my ATi- or AMD-video-card-bearing systems properly suspended to RAM or hibernated? I wouldn't know because that's not something I do with my desktops or servers.
[0] Or whatever XFree86 called that config file
My daily driver for decades has been Linux.
A few months ago, I worked out how to run Steam as a different user under Xorg. [0] Since then, I've discovered that nearly all of the games I play (and I play a whole bunch of games) work fine under Linux with an AMD graphics card.
I haven't booted into Windows in months. I'm so glad that folks like Valve have put so much effort into making Windows video games run fine on Linux.
[0] It's not hard, and -like many such things- could totally be set up by a distro if they cared to do so.
By ARandumGuy 2025-09-1013:423 reply The main hurdle for Linux gaming right now is kernel-level anticheat. Kernel-level anticheat is increasingly common in multiplayer games, and it does not play well with Linux. This makes it difficult to play new multiplayer games on Linux.
Of course it's easy to argue that kernel-level anticheat gives way too much system access for a simple video game. But it's currently the most effective form of anticheat, and I don't see it going away anytime soon.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1014:34 The only game I've heard of is Rust, and apparently they just need to include a library or something to that effect to make it work under Wine, but refuse to do so because they think people will cheat on Linux. I'm pretty sure people cheating are mostly cheating from Windows. I don't care about the Rust game enough to be bothered.
By two_handfuls 2025-09-1014:03 > kernel-level anticheat gives way too much system access for a simple video game.
Yup. It really does.
> This makes it difficult to play new multiplayer games on Linux.
There are so many multiplayer games that don't use invasive kernel-mode anticheat. I and my friends have been playing them for quite a long while now.
I agree that there are games that won't work because their invasive kernel-mode anticheat won't run under Wine or Proton (and their devs haven't bothered to port it to Linux). Honestly? I'm quite fine with that. There are so many great games out there; I'm totally okay with never again playing the insignificant percentage of them that demand full control of my computer.
By ARandumGuy 2025-09-1014:011 reply You're right, and I realize my post implied that multiplayer was a complete non-starter on Linux, which isn't true. Kernel-level anticheat is mostly found in big, mainstream releases (especially competitive shooters). Of course, these games happen to be very popular, which gives them an outsized impact.
Personally, I know that the upcoming Battlefield 6 is making me question if I want to switch to Linux once Windows 10 support dies. For a lot of people, being able to play 99% of games on Linux doesn't matter if they can't play one specific game they enjoy. It's a situation that just sucks all around, and I don't see it getting fixed anytime soon.
> Of course, these games happen to be very popular, which gives them an outsized impact.
On the one hand, true. On the other hand, I wonder how BF6's day 1 demand will compare with that of Silksong!
> For a lot of people, being able to play 99% of games on Linux doesn't matter if they can't play one specific game they enjoy.
Sure, yeah, agreed. And the only thing that's wrong with that is that they can't play the game they want to play.
> Personally, I know that the upcoming Battlefield 6 is making me question if I want to switch to Linux once Windows 10 support dies.
Yeah, BF6 demanding Secure Boot be enabled is fascinating. All that effort and they currently do (and will continue to) have cheaters. Plus, all it takes is one buggy widely-used kernel component to render the whole Secure Boot exercise pointless.
Bear in mind that I'm quite a fan of first-person shooters when reading the following:
It seems to me that the big-name Military-Themed Murder Simulators are all released on both PC and PS5 these days. It seems like many of them support attaching a mouse and keyboard to the console and giving you mouse+keyboard control. Honestly, if I ever get the urge to play one of those flashy-but-not-at-all-good-enough-to-justify-the-price-let-alone-the-invasive-kernel-mode-combination-snoopware-and-backdoors things again, I'll just get a copy for PS5 and attach a mouse and keyboard.
Were I fifteen, I'd be likely to jump through the hoops they're presenting. But, I'm definitely no longer fifteen... and over those years, I've played so many -frequently way better- incarnations of whatever game the big studios are serving up this year. I guess it's a pity for them that years and years of accumulated experience have turned me into something of a low-key snob. ;)
By DiggyJohnson 2025-09-1019:091 reply I don't see why you're being so snarky about popular games just to say that if you were to play them, you would do it on the proprietary system, PS5, which you already own. That's not sticking it to anyone at all.
> I don't see why you're being so snarky about popular games...
You misunderstand me. I've wasted a ton of my life playing video games. I've played a huge number of video games. If you enjoy violent FPS games, you've not played many games, and you especially haven't played any very good multiplayer FPS games, you're likely to like this year's AAA Military-Themed Murder Simulator (MTMS). As I mentioned, fifteen-year-old me would have surely enjoyed this year's installment of MTMS, as fifteen-year-old me had played many, many fewer games in the genre than mumble-year-old me has.
If I wrote video-game-storefront video game reviews [0], there's a type of positive review that I'd end up writing for many of the games I play. It goes something like
"If this is the first or one of the first games of this type you've played, then definitely get a copy and play it. If you like the genre at all, you'll have a great time. If you have played many games of this type, then consider playing something else, or maybe replaying one of those games. It's a totally competent game, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. But it doesn't do anything or go anywhere that many other games like it haven't already."
There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a competently executed game that doesn't do anything that hasn't already been done before by most of its predecessors. Folks who really want more of the same will enjoy the game, and folks who haven't yet had what you're offering will love what you've done. It's hard to make a competently executed game, and it's dreadfully hard to make a groundbreaking one. There's no shame at all in "merely" making something that's solid and decent.
Hopefully now you better understand what I'm talking about and why? If you're still confused, or things still don't make sense, I'm happy to attempt to answer additional questions.
> That's not sticking it to anyone at all.
Sure? I agree? I'm not of the opinion that I'm sticking it to anyone here. The huge dev shops don't want to make their extremely invasive kernel-mode anti-cheat work on Linux, but are fine with having their software run on the PS5. I don't know if their kernel-mode anticheat runs on the PS5, and I don't particularly care. I'm 110% fine with them doing whatever they feel like to my PS5, which is a dedicated video gaming appliance. I'm not fine with them doing whatever they feel like to the computer I use for my day-to-day business.
Why would I believe that I was sticking it to someone when I pay them money for a copy of the game they made? That'd be a really stupid way to think. That's like book-burner levels of stupid.
[0] ...and maybe that's something I should start doing...
By DiggyJohnson 2025-09-1021:421 reply I’m kinda shocked by your first paragraph. I’ve played all sorts of games. I still enjoy AAA FPS games even if I mostly play other genres.
By simoncion 2025-09-1022:48 I'm confused by your assertion that you're shocked. Would you quote the parts that shock you? If some of what's shocking isn't what I've written, please do make sure to mention what you believe I intended to convey but did not write down.
By dralley 2025-09-1013:40 Yeah, the only games that I've found that don't run fine on Linux, are games where the game may actually work fine but the developer explicitly breaks support for anticheat reasons.
Obscure github scripts?
Simplewall (Henry++) has entered the room.
By giancarlostoro 2025-09-1018:51 Lol every time I complain about Windows bloat someone sends me a random github repository as if that will make it better somehow. I don't need to debloat Linux or Mac...
The problem with Windows 11 is that it's not meant to be a better Windows but a worse MacOS. Why is it so hard for even Microsoft employees to understand that people with complex workflows actually benefit from a task bar where all the open windows are visible at all times, and no launcher can replace this?
Competing for a segment that it can't win while losing the segment it owns i must be some business school cases study in the works. What's the point in being a slighlty less tall giraffe when you were a rhino before?
By smusamashah 2025-09-1014:221 reply https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30019307
I worked on the Windows Desktop Experience Team from Win7-Win10. Starting around Win8, the designers had full control, and most crucially essentially none of the designers use Windows. I spent far too many years of my career sitting in conference rooms explaining to the newest designer (because they seem to rotate every 6-18 months) with a shiny Macbook why various ideas had been tried and failed in usability studies because our users want X, Y, and Z.By mouse_ 2025-09-110:54 It's a "Tyranny of the Marginal User" problem.
https://nothinghuman.substack.com/p/the-tyranny-of-the-margi...
Microsoft execs believed nothing could drive Windows users away, because they're addicted, but changes -could- potentially bring in Mac users. So everything was designed by and for Mac users.
By 0x000xca0xfe 2025-09-1015:35 They could make it configurable. You can have your cake and eat it too in this situation.
I don't like KDE's default settings but it took me a mere seconds to get the desktop I like.
Of course this is not a new idea and how it used to be on Windows. The real question is why removing user choice has become so fashionable in UX design. Maybe it's just a phase and will pass.
It's not Microsoft employees who make these calls, but the Microsoft organization itself. Organizations make decisions that nobody by themselves would want to make. The larger an organization gets, the more true this becomes. Think of them like meta organisms, or schooling fish.
By 0x000xca0xfe 2025-09-1015:541 reply Wrong, there is always somebody responsible. It may not be an explicit decision but somebody let it happen.
I've personally witnessed this at work and for lack of better terms call it "leadership by weakness". Initiatives to change a situation will be either ignored or actively undermined by lack of support from the one in charge.
Outsiders get the impression that "it just happened this way" or "things just are like this" but it really was a conscious decision by leadership. As an employee I found it insulting because of course our customers blamed us developers.
You may be able to pinpoint a few people who signed off on the decision, but it's rarely a decision they would have made outside of the context of the organization. The organization provides the incentives, shapes the data used in the decision process, and determines the set of decisions which can be made. For instance, an executive may sign off on a feature after viewing data that says its a good idea, but the data was prepared by another part of the organization which is trying to advance their own agenda. And for-profit organizations being as they are, options which don't increase or even decrease profit are essentially off the table, unavailable for real consideration, so the person signing off on the feature already had their options winnowed down by the organization itself.
By 0x000xca0xfe 2025-09-1017:521 reply > The organization provides the incentives, shapes the data used in the decision process, [...]
Exactly! And who sets those incentives?
Imagine if Satya Nadella was an avid Windows power user that thinks having a vertical tab bar is the best invention since sliced bread. Would he really fuzz around with StartAllBack etc.? Because "it just is like this now"? Or would he be able to influence the Windows team to simply implement it? Of course he could. He just doesn't care about vertical tab bars.
As a side note, I see the blaming of bad situations on "for-profit organizations" as if management had no other choices just because somebody made a spreadsheet as an easy excuse for them to not stand behind their decisions.
If this "profit-uber-alles" theory was true executives would reduce their compensation to minimum wage. It clearly is more complicated.
By lupusreal 2025-09-1023:31 > Exactly! And who sets those incentives?
The organization.
Executives like to think they're in charge, but they're selected for their alignment with the goals of the organization and if they stray far from that they get replaced. Satya isn't the kind of man who would put good taste in software design first, and if he was then he wouldn't be in the position.
> As a side note, I see the blaming of bad situations on "for-profit organizations" as if management had no other choices
They have one key choice, they can walk away. Whenever they realize the corporation is going to do something they don't want to be involved with, they can and should walk away. Sometimes they do, but when they choose comfort over good aesthetic sense, ethics, morales, laws.. they can and should be judged for that. The worldview I am advocating for (viewing organizations as organisms, or Slow AIs as others have put it) is not about absolving individual humans of responsibility. As long as they continue to participate in the organization, they're responsible. Rather, the point of the mental model is to remind people that organizations, particularly in this case corporations, are inhumane monsters which lack an innate understanding of human values.
By Voultapher 2025-09-1014:50 Slow AI.
They are terraforming our planet into a less habitable one, making many people miserable and turn useful things into abominations. One usually can't point at a single person deciding that it should be so, but at the end that's what's the output is.
The paperclip machine is here and it's optimizing for GDP growth.
By readthenotes1 2025-09-1013:453 reply That sounds about as reasonable as "the devil made me do it" excuse.
By flohofwoe 2025-09-1013:56 It totally makes sense though. Win11 mainly seems to be a career advancement vehicle for Microsoft's anonymous middle management caste. I bet that if you point at a single bad feature in Win11 it will be very hard to find a single person who would take responsibility.
For good features it will be "I made the decision!", for bad features it will be weasel words like "we heard our users loud and clear" or "we modernized" or "we streamlined", etc... basically as if the bad feature was caused by some external force or by a committee decision.
By IsTom 2025-09-1013:58 Everyone in a big org has their own incentives and they don't match with what makes a better product. People are looking out for themselves and there's no accountability for the end result. Checkboxes get checked and that's all that matters.
By SirFatty 2025-09-1014:44 That is a good analogy though.
