I like to think Windows 8 was ahead of its time. Now Apple have made a whole thing about tablets that plug into external displays so that you can use them as touch and M&K it looks like the original Surface devices were well ahead of the curve. The big problem most people had with Win8 was the lack of the familiar start menu, now since deceased in Win11 anyway.

As for 11? I really dislike the big push from Microsoft for news updates. Most people silo their news intake into a particular app because the cycle is so damned depressing and it allows them to choose where they get it from. I and I will assume many other people do not want a constant reminder of the state of the world; we like to check in on our own terms.

Microsoft’s transition into a services company has made many of the benefits of Windows redundant. Like to tinker? Build a Linux machine (which still runs Steam). Want to game? It’s comfier at least to buy an Xbox. I understand if there is a specific app you need to run for business or coursework purposes but if your only reason for choosing Windows is because you’re tied into Microsoft services then you lose nothing running them on a Chrome, iPad, Android or MacOS device. Heck the best performance you will see of Win11 is to buy a $600 2nd hand M1 MacBook Air and to run the ARM version in Parallels.

I use a (2012!) Mac Mini at home, an iPad at work and a Samsung Galaxy as my phone and comfortably use Microsoft services to tie them all together. This is partly because of a distrust of Google and partly because Apple don’t support Android very well.