I’ve often heard that the reason Windows has suffered from bloat and so much has been built on top of ancient underlying technologies, partially to ensure compatibility with old software.
If something like Windows 11 requires specific hardware in order to install it, why does it need to accommodate compatibility for archaic devices/software?
Would it not be preferable for Microsoft to start from scratch with an OS that is considerably more efficient and cut-down for newer devices, similar to something like Apple’s MacOS transition from Intel to Apple Silicon, and just provide security updates for the legacy operating systems that would be in use on un-upgradable hardware?
Miscrosoft is actively dismissing programmers. They might still have an ability to pile up some shit on the top of the codehill, but not to write new code.
This is important. This is the only reason why Windows still exists. If it would stop running old software there wouldn’t be any reason to stay on Windows. Because Linux/Wine in many cases can already do it.
I guess that’s exactly why I’m asking. Linux doesn’t have the same bloat. So why couldn’t Microsoft maintain compatibility with the old software via their old operating systems (and continued security updates), but streamline their new operating systems which clearly have specific hardware requirements. Wouldn’t that make them more competitive with respect to Linux?
The worst part is MS knew how to do it. They could encapsulate all the legacy code and only load it when needed. But it seem they forgot how to do it again 🤷♂️
I think that’s what I find weird. Like, the capacity is there. Something like the Xbox has underlying Windows components, and supposedly they make an effort to strip out redundancies for things like those ROG handhelds. So they’re already doing it to some extent.