Windows 11? (Premium)

All it took was a single email to media, analysts, and enthusiasts, and Microsoft suddenly has the attention of the world. That’s kind of interesting when you consider how much time the software giant has wasted trying to court consumers and the excitement that companies like Apple seem to generate with such ease.

I assume this will be instructive to the decision-makers at Microsoft, who watched last year as a pandemic swept the earth, driving home a reality that should have always been obvious: To the billion-plus people who use and rely on Windows every single day, Microsoft’s desktop platform isn’t legacy or old-fashioned, it’s a modern-day workhorse that keeps solving problems no matter how much its critics---or, sadly, its detractors inside of Microsoft---try to put it down.

I watched the world change over the past decade, and I’m as interested in smartphones, tablets, smart home solutions, streaming services, and other types of personal technology as anyone. But Microsoft and Windows have always been at the core of what I care about, what I write about, and how I choose to spend my time. It’s what made me write (Re)Focus (Premium) almost exactly one year ago, an article I can condense into a single, declarative sentence so powerful in its simplicity that I made it the tagline on my Twitter profile too: “Personal technology, with a focus on productivity, mostly Microsoft.”

I care about Windows so much that I freak out, publicly and loudly, every time Microsoft undercuts its own desktop platform with advertising---the “slippery slope” I first warned of when Windows 8 launched in 2012---crapware, privacy invasions, and, worst of all, Windows as a Service (WaaS), the ill-fated attempt to force Windows users to install two major version upgrades every year and an interminable number of other updates every month. And I’ve bristled every time the firm has lied to its customers about promised Windows features that never seem to materialize or how WaaS is going just fine, thank you very much. Hell, I called out Satya Nadella when he claimed over 6 years ago that he wanted users to love Windows.

Well, I do love Windows, as much as anyone can love something non-biological. And while I approach the coming Windows announcement---which promises to unveil “the next generation of Windows”---with an uncomfortable and unwarranted level of excitement, there’s also a concern in the back of my brain that I just can’t shake. This is a firm that has categorically ignored Windows for years, at its tradeshows, during its earnings releases, and most problematically during the two year period between the time that Windows chief Terry Myerson announced he was leaving Microsoft and Panos Panay took over; during that time, Windows was leaderless and had no representation on Satya Nadella’s senior leadership team. That’s shameful.

Well, thank God for COVID-19. OK not really. But it took a freaking pandemic for Micro...

Gain unlimited access to Premium articles.

With technology shaping our everyday lives, how could we not dig deeper?

Thurrott Premium delivers an honest and thorough perspective about the technologies we use and rely on everyday. Discover deeper content as a Premium member.

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC