This was originally posted in my LinkedIn Newsletter, Frank Digs Data
I used to love Windows.
Not just the “this-is-the-default-OS” kind of love, but the kind of evangelical, stand-on-the-table, Tablet-PC-MVP kind of love.
I was there when touchscreens needed a stylus, when Windows Forms ruled the world, and when UWP was supposed to be the second coming. I built apps, wrote samples, gave talks—all in service of a vision that Microsoft seemed to believe in: a world where Windows was the future of computing.
But something shifted.
I didn’t stop writing Windows apps because I lost faith. I stopped because no one was hiring.
Around 2015 or so, the ecosystem went stale, the market moved on, and those of us who bet on the platform were left holding the bag. Eventually, I pivoted to artificial intelligence—not out of spite, but curiosity and, to be completely honest, survival. And I’ve been fortunate. AI is booming. But I never stopped watching Windows from the sidelines.
Which brings us to Windows 11—a sleek, shiny, strangely hollow echo of what the platform used to stand for.
Let’s start with the hardware lockdown. TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and a checklist of system requirements that reads more like a gatekeeper than a guide. Millions of perfectly good PCs are now obsolete—not because they can’t run the OS, but because they don’t meet the arbitrary definition of “secure.”
It’s not progress. It’s coercion wrapped in the language of protection. And it’s going to generate more e-waste than a Black Friday laptop sale.
Then there’s the interface. Windows 11 has all the polish of a modern art museum and none of the usability. Can’t move the taskbar. Can’t drag files to taskbar apps. Context menus have been buried under aesthetic choices. Sure, it looks nice—but did anyone ask if it works better? That’s the thing.
This OS wasn’t built for people who use Windows. It was built for a narrative. Something that fits nicely in a keynote deck but falls apart under the weight of real-world workflows.
And don’t even get me started on Edge.
Set your default browser to anything else, and the OS will fight you at every turn. System updates reset your preferences. PWA pop-ups push Microsoft’s ecosystem like it’s 2005 and Clippy just discovered marketing. The user isn’t in control anymore—Microsoft is.
Yes, there are bright spots. Window snapping is better. Both WSL and Virtual desktops are smoother. Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, shows potential. But none of that makes up for the fact that the OS feels like it was designed around the user, not for them.
October 2025 is looming and Windows 10’s support is ending. Users are being funneled—willingly or not—into Windows 11.
But here’s the twist: people have options now. Linux isn’t just for sysadmins anymore. macOS on Apple silicon is fast, efficient, and stable. And in a world where 90% of our work lives in a browser, the operating system has to earn its place—it can’t just inherit it.
If Microsoft wants Windows 11 to succeed, it needs to stop pushing and start listening. Bring back the functionality that mattered. Respect the user’s choices. Stop trying to win hearts through forced adoption. Because if Windows continues down this path, the platform that once defined personal computing could find itself defined out of the future.
About the Author
Frank La Vigne is a former Tablet PC MVP and Windows software UI developer with deep roots in Windows Forms, WPF, and UWP. After seeing the commercial ecosystem around those technologies fade a decade ago, he transitioned into the fast-moving world of Artificial Intelligence. Today, he explores the frontiers of AI while keeping one eye on the operating system that once inspired a generation of builders. From 2021 to 2024, he was a Microsoft AI MVP.
This article will probably not help him get back into the MVP program.
