Why Windows in 2019 does not steer, or ChYDNT?

Based on the article Why is Windows XP still driving in 2019, or why? I had some thoughts that later arose after article 7 of the Linux development directions in 2019 , and the usual event was the catalyst: I had to put together a typewriter for “entertainment and YouTube”, or rather, HTPC. I bought a fashionable housing Fractal Node 202 and diligently stuffed it with [almost] top-end stuffing, even put a video card from the workstation (Nvidia Quadro). Here I am so well done. And then it was necessary to start this machine, and for this it was necessary to install an OS on it, and I realized that ... there was suddenly no choice! And what I have no idea under what this miracle unit will work. At least I thought so.

Of course, at first I wanted to buy, as a cultured person, Windows 10. Just at work I was given a new laptop with this system, and I liked it. Before that, I used Windows 7, and I also liked it. I was almost going to do it, but then there was a New Year, I was full of chocolates, which made my mind dimmed temporarily, and then gave out at all - it shouldn't be like that anymore. Because, how much is possible.

No, I will not fan holivar. And I'm not a schoolboy, who unexpectedly downloaded the first Linux that came along and saw that it was suddenly working. I just want to analyze and structurally state the thoughts about the problems with which Windows has become, and which are already beginning to become blocking (for me, for sure). Surely I’ll miss something or gossip with subjectivity, therefore, comments on the case are welcome: it’s not for nothing that I called the article in the same way as a colleague in the industry.


But to start a little bit of history, because I really like to nudge. So, the end of the 1990s in Russia remained famous, including the mass appearance of the first computers everywhere in the national economy. MS-DOS was popular at the time, but not so much; it was too boring and already irrelevant for mass use by the younger generation of Pepsi. Then everyone (well, almost) had Win9x or NT 4.0. Free, of course. There is an opinion that free of charge was de facto legitimate, in order to then use the right of a monopolist and take the license in full. I just can not comment, but it sounds logical. And not the fact that only in Russia. Anyway, in 10 years, an environment has emerged in which WIndows was installed throughout the monopoly, and that was good. Nobody wanted to hear about Linux, and poppies were a wonder. Pocket PCs haven't really appeared yet, the phone was just a phone and it’s good if without a disk (pretty hard). Windows XP was very good - so much so that even 15 years after its release, it is still, in some places, alive.

No, stealing is of course bad. I am not talking about this in the sense in which the vagabond from the book “One-story America” offered to take money away from all rich people, but be sure to leave them a few million, and not a cent more. I really think so. It's normal that activation appeared in Windows XP. In Windows Vista, it has evolved. And then it was also developed, and more. And then we got Windows 10. It would not be a sin to install it, because this is not a problem. The problem is different: perehotelos.

1. Collection of personal data

Windows 10 came not only with the usual activation, but also with the so-called "telemetry". What's bad about it? Any software is now engaged in collecting personal and not very information, with the consent of the user, of course. Only Windows no longer asks. And you can not disable. The system revolves services that I completely failed to remove, and they do not know what they collect. I can not refuse them. Even if you carefully cut them - where is the guarantee that everything will not fly off at the next update? Yes, and there is no desire, nor, I confess, qualifications to pick the bowels of the Windows registry in search of malicious references to spyware binaries.

And that's not it. From now on, if you install 20-year-old software with a built-in money emulator for a machine with WIndows, you can get an unpleasant demand , because Microsoft has partners who ... also collect data about you and your system through Windows. This, by the way, started back in Windows 7, but it's hard to say for sure.

You can, of course, block connections on the firewall and so on, but this is too much. Putting a pirates, I’m talking about this again, is wrong (although there are extenuating circumstances in this case). It is just as bad to collect user data without his permission. The offender must be punished, and for the collection of data must pay extra or provide a discount, and not vice versa, to charge, or at least provide a choice. I think so.

In the comments I am accused of exaggerating the problem, and that the article was written to order. I still advise you to go to the Microsoft website and examine what data it collects (according to her assurances). The text is large, I highlighted the most relevant, keeping the context, highlighting the interesting.


Now that with this data is supposed to do. There are many goals, I will highlight only those that I liked the most, the rest I propose to study on my own.


And here is one of a number of examples of such use.

2. The system has become too fragmented.

It was convenient to work in Windows 9x or XP, because the system looked quite holistic. Internet browser transparently integrated into the shell and perfectly fulfilled its functions. Then he was taken out separately, the integration was broken. Here, of course, antitrust requirements could have affected, but what prevented the preservation of integration? Changes affected the control panel. In Windows 10, a certain “Windows Settings” shell appeared, which looks like an unfinished prototype and duplicate control panel. Worse, now not everything can be done through the panel, while Windows Settings do not work normally. For example, I want to connect to a VPN from a window with a list of network connections. I right click on the VPN connection, select Connect, the result is a window with an alien interface in which ... nothing happens!



Now I need to select the connection again in the new interface, and only then connect. It is also impossible to use only Windows Settings, because there is not everything that is in the control panel.

To the very distribution, too, questions. More than 10 years have passed since the transition to the 64-bit architecture, but Windows still has a lot of 32-bit binaries, native, installed along with the bare system. Their number multiplies after the installation of Microsoft Office (2016). Delivers at least this picture from the control panel:



Office is inextricably linked with Windows, and often it’s just what you need on a PC, and it’s not compiled in any way.

One of the basic tasks of the user OS distribution is working with text. We still have the same Notepad.exe, almost unchanged for 25 years. Moreover, it has not yet learned how to work properly with UTF8 / Unicode, but also the problems with opening large files are not resolved - it still slows down and crashes. . It turns out that to view trivial text logs, you need to install third-party software, and where to get it, what is the quality of it? In my opinion, this is not something that I want to have in a commercial modern system, I do not want to think about it!

Yes, Windows has a lot of Legacy legacy for compatibility in places where it is still being reworked. But it does not work, because there are examples of software that compatibility does not help. Example: OZI Explorer, disabled under Windows Vista and higher, until the manufacturer has released a patch. We'll keep silent about DOS applications, this is not so important anymore.

Each such fragmentation is insignificant, but there are many of them, in general, the impression is that the system is not optimized, created by different teams, anyway how it is put together and looks like Linux wallpaper pasted with a cheap master.

3. Legacy interface

In Windows, an interface called “classic” that first appeared almost from the very first Windows (we will not recall <= 3.1), namely Windows 95 and NT 4, gained popularity. It was simple, convenient, not demanding to resources and concisely beautiful. Without a doubt, it is outdated. In NT 5.1 (XP) there was an attempt to modernize it, which looked like a miserable hand-made curve. Fortunately, it turned off.

In Windows 7 / Vista, the classic interface was destroyed. It is still available, but it doesn’t look a bit real and seems to work in some kind of compatibility mode. That is, it does not work very well. The base is the Aero with its clumsy borders and window control buttons. This, of course, is better than XP, but can not be called stylish and modern. Why are only the borders of the window and the contents written in them with colors from the days of Windows 9x. Even the terminal does not scale to full screen, and the font in it is still the same killer. The Windows 7 interface would be nice in the 90s, but in 2010 it was somehow not very.

Apparently, understanding the problem, Microsoft did not stop experimenting and again changed the appearance in Windows 10. This in itself began to annoy. Although, in fairness, it looks better. And the terminal window is now in order, almost like in Linux (finally, after so many years!). But what happens with the long-suffering window control buttons ?!



This is the diversity that I see right now in the work environment. Perhaps there are more variations. I suspect that the matter is in the excessive perseverance of designers and in an excessive orientation towards Legacy (which does not work). It looks sloppy (perhaps the software producers are also guilty of this, tired of playing MS with the interface and using their libraries). The coloring of the windows themselves was better, but still the same strange - half in a modern style, half “hello 90s”. So what, this is nagging! Maybe. But sloppy, I insist. And the fact that it looks carelessly, as a rule, is done carelessly, and works the same, even if objectively it is not.

4. Poor iron support

Problems with the support of hardware always have all the OS of any version. Windows has become exactly the system where there are no such problems. Or almost not. There were some difficulties when switching from Win9x to NT 5 (2000, XP) systems, I don’t remember any more. They appeared with Windows 7 and got worse with Windows 10.

For example, Tekram's infrared USB port did not work for me, I could not find a way to start it. The port was used for an old Nokia phone. IR support is even in Windows 10, and in Windows XP it worked properly on the driver from the distribution of the system. Then he was thrown out, and the device there too. Well, bad example. Using IR causes damage to the image even more than using floppy disks (they, fortunately, still work in Windows). Therefore, I also broke my phone and threw it away.

Well, another example. NetGear GA302T network interface. Good iron hygienic network card. In Windows XP, it (and others like it) was installed and worked automatically without any problems. There are drivers for it in the freeBSD distribution. And so in Windows 7.

Windows 7 has made the user very aware that he either has a driver or he has got. Most laptops today are sharpened for a specific version of Windows, it is not always possible to install Windows 7 on a new one, but on the old Windows 10, as the drivers are incompatible, and hardware manufacturers are in no hurry to release drivers. The problem is very similar to the situation in Linux, where it has historically been a sore subject, and now Windows has obviously caught up with open source in terms of the rake size.

Well, I admit, the examples are tight, but here’s another one: Intel Optane in caching mode. Briefly and clearly. If the drive is connected directly to PCIe to be used as a boot drive, as my colleagues explained to me, Windows 7 will not be installed there, and there is no way to do it (just use a SATA disk for the bootloader, which isn’t true), the Intel site also says Win10. The Intel drive is not a Chinese infrared USB port, and Win7 support for 2019 is still not over. Update not released.

And it is stretched? I agree, if Optan is so much needed, you can also buy a new Windows (although the accumulated rake is enough to notice them).

Ok, let's remember the traditional APC SMART UPS. In Windows 10, I did not find the old service "UPS Service", which was at least since the days of Win2k. Bespereboynik connects to a COM port, and everything works properly. Now you will have to either change the UPS to the one that has USB and which pretends to be a HID-battery, or install third-party software from APC. The service worked fine, but it is no longer there. In freeBSD, on the other hand, the apcupsd service did not disappear anywhere, and the bespeerator moved there, and a new one was bought for Windows, because it was still needed - it was lucky.

Not convinced? Wait a minute Here's another. I have a Windows 7 key. For my HTPC, I chose a low-cost but fast Core i3-7350K processor . I looked at the vendor (I must give him my due) says: "These processors are designed to work only with Windows 10. Previous versions of Windows, including Windows 7 and 8.1, are no longer supported, more precisely, they will not receive critical updates from Microsoft."

It turns out that either I am sitting on the hardware of the times of Windows 7 and under Windows 7 (we also remember Windows 8, which lives 3 years longer), either I buy Windows 10, or I refuse to support. There is not a single choice that is beneficial for me, but there is at least one that is beneficial for Microsoft.

UPD: in the comments I was told that this is not so significant. I agree with that. You can always find a way out, including replacing iron. But it reminds me of Linux - there is also a bit of that, so immediately "not an OS problem, you should have bought normal hardware."

5. Not all software exists or works well under Windows.

The statement looks holivarno and unfounded. Much more groans about software for other operating systems, but to say the same about Windows is ridiculous. Wait a minute though. Let's just look at examples.

• Torrent client in service mode. Running uTorrent in this mode is a bit of a crutch by itself, and its web interface is terrible. In Linux and BSD, this works almost out of the box.
• Photoshop. He, of course, is under Windows. Not everyone knows, but normally he never worked in it. There is a problem with memory management. Whether something is leaking there, or cannot get free in time, I don’t know, but it has been like this since ancient times. PS has a cache for historicity and acceleration of manipulations, including with layers. Everything goes well until the cache is consumed. Usually, 50% RAM or so is allocated for the cache, this is set in the PS settings. Then start the brakes, which are treated by restarting. The newer the PS version, the less this is noticeable, and the influence, however, is less with increasing memory, but with dense work with multi-pixel photographs, the problem is still relevant. For this reason, the Mac is more native to the PS system. Honestly, I did not check it myself, but those photographers who have poppies are very pleased with the quality of PS work.
• After the release of Firefox on the new Quantum engine, I really liked it, I decided to install it on an old laptop with 2 cores of 1 GHz for Windows 7. I know it does not depend on the browser, and the fact is that modern online stores are wildly slow on my laptop - malicious web page scripts dead dead processor under the shelf. So much so that the site really does not move. From the latter, I experienced this effect on the site of the Hoff store when I was looking for balls for a New Year tree. I'm tired, I tried under Ubuntu 04/14/5 - and lo and behold! The shelf has not disappeared anywhere, but at least it became possible to use the browser, it now does not hang, it reacts to user actions.
• Programming is increasingly moving towards open source and cross-platform, among developers, Linux is increasingly becoming the native environment. Borland VCL shot itself in the leg with expensive licenses, MFC was buried alive by the manufacturer to please .NET, which is not everywhere, which is why more and more programs are written for open virtual environments. And that means more and more documentation, examples, approaches, auxiliary utilities, sharpened for it - the same docker, although under Windows it also exists. Okay, this is not the right steppe.
• Skype For Desktop finally got it. Something terrible is happening there all the time. Changed the protocol. A couple of years ago, it was cut out of him support for Windows XP. This wonderful software constantly wants to be updated, refusing to work, and you never know what a surprise will come with the update. Well at least Skype For Business does not touch (although no, touch, just not so much). In general, I demolished it, and it seems that he lives better on an iPhone. There at least you can decide when to update it. And if it wants to call somewhere on the PSTN, then either a simple mobile phone or an Orthodox SIP.

I will not give examples of industrial software that I have. I showed at least a pair of purely user scenarios that there are performance problems. For a Photoshop photographer, this is an icon (nothing analogous exists anymore), all the work is done in it, and it should function as best as possible. Everyone needs the Internet, and Mozilla is very good (Internet Explorer will not be seriously considered, okay?), But, alas, not under Windows (perhaps, under the 10th laptop, it would work better, but think about the drivers - I don’t have a new desire to buy) .

findings

It should be noted that the role of the desktop PC has changed over the past 10 years. Now he is no longer needed by many. It has become a tool for professionals who produce digital products or automate production. This fact in itself saved users from the need to master a complex tool in the form of a PC, because there are a number of special devices: iPhone, Chinese / Korean Android devices, game consoles, SMART TVs, etc. The user-consumer is often enough of this + cloud services. For professional use, it is important how the tool meets the needs. And here it turns out that the tool is relatively expensive, ceases to arrange, if you will, it gets worse. Strangely, there is no much better alternative. There are similar ones. There are different. Corporate employees, due to conservatism, including healthy, have nowhere to go. Мультимедийщики (дизайнеры, фотографы, музыканты, киношники) традиционно любят мак, если, разумеется, могут его себе позволить (думал прикупить его для обработки фото, но цена удручает). IT-специалисты традиционно посматривают в сторону open source — я установил Debian-based Linux'ы на 2 из 4 домашних компьютера и неожиданно заметил, что они довольно хороши, не то, что раньше. Ну а на рабочих виртуалках RHEL уже не знаю сколько лет назад стал стандартом. В 2019 мир все сильнее перестает быть однополюсным и становится многополюсным.

Дополнительные выводы

Комментарии показали, что статью восприняли как холиварную. Я против такой трактовки. Смысл в другом — показать, что то, что раньше было хорошо, стало хуже. Тот факт, что другое стало лучше, важен, но он не отменяет первый факт. Также я не агитирую переходить на линукс, и вообще не агитирую. Я не имею ничего против платного ПО. Пусть оно будет платным, пусть будут разные системы, включая Mac, Android и др. Хотел просто обратить внимание на то, что «хакерские» времена прошли, а Windows из чрезвычайно гибкого и удобного инструмента превращается в раздражающую вещь и заставляет искать альтернативы. Последние тоже несовершенны, и проблем там выше крыши. Это удивило меня и заставило подумать. Нахожу странным неспособность лидера настольных ОС сделать наконец современную качественную систему, которая не мешала бы и не напоминала бы вечную альфу. Также я ничего не упомянул и ничего не имею против игр, по простой причине — я в них не разбираюсь и не играю. В очередной раз призываю воздержаться от холиварных высказываний.

Расширенные выводы

В комментариях мне в очередной раз справедливо указали на незавершенность статьи. А именно, непонятно, что же я конкретно пытался донести. Добавляю, буквально следующее: «в последнее время я стал готов отказаться от некоторых возможностей, доступных преимущественно в Windows, лишь бы не терпеть ее увеличивающиеся недостатки». Я не говорю что отказался — нет, я лишь готов, и отказался частично. Возможно, этот процесс продолжиться. Подчеркиваю, сейчас нет инструмента, который не имеет недостатков, но примечателен сам по себе факт, что изменения в продукции лидера настольных ОС стали такими неоднозначными.

Остановлюсь поподробнее, каков есть выбор прямо сейчас, чем он плох и хорош.

• Продолжать использовать предыдущие версии Windows. Прежде всего, Windows XP. Это рабочий путь, но без будущего. То же относится и к Win7. Через несколько лет с ней будет то же самое, хотя сегодня она еще актуальна (MS старается это дело исправить). Если заморозить свои требования к ПК, метод очень простой и действенный. Отваливающиеся функции (такие как скайп, ютуб, web, новые форматы файлов) придется заменять другими устройствами, таким образом, постепенно мигрируя на них. Если умрет железо, тоже хорошего будет мало, но заграница нам здесь поможет. Способ хороший, но временный.
• Использовать продукцию Apple. Способ, вероятно, самый действенный и пожалуй единственный, который подойдет многим. Не без минусов: дорого, и от некоторого ПО придется отказаться, хоть и в пользу некоторого другого ПО (либо качества его работы). В ОС от Apple есть недостатки, та же телеметрия, но они мне видятся не такими явными, какими стали у MS. В общем, главный блокирующий фактор — цена и смена привычек. В остальном хороший вариант.
• Использовать Linux/BSD/etc. Тоже годный путь, но слишком тернистый. С железом дела нынче обстоят как никогда хорошо, почти также хорошо (то есть плохо), как в Win, это больше не блокирующая проблема. С софтом похуже. Софт для фото в принципе есть, но низкого качества. Нет даже нормального проигрывателя музыки (Rhytmbox глюкавенький и не поддерживает CUE, те, что поддерживают CUE — выглядят вырвиглазно и имеют иные проблемы), что уж говорить про остальное, включая промышленное ПО. Путь можно признать как условно-рабочий, а условием будет наличие доступа к другим устройствам, которые работают под теми ОС, где нужный функционал можно выполнять хотя бы в качестве резервного варианта. То есть похоже на использование старых Windows, но уже с перспективой (пусть и туманной) наличия будущего.
• Отказаться от ПК. В самом деле, смартфонов/планшетов/приставок может оказаться достаточно. Не без потери функциональности, конечно. Но жили же как-то без ПК и без Windows давным-давно. А возможности этих устройств все растут. Способ для аскетов, дауншифтеров и гиков.
• Облака. Они развиваются, клиент при этом не сильно важен и может быть самым разнообразным. Очень много вопросов/ограничений, способ точно не рабочий, по крайней мере пока.
• Экзотика. Например Chromium. Затрудняюсь прокомментировать, но на первый взгляд похоже на что-то среднее между линуксом и облаками, или на недоделанный мак. Способ слишком сырой.

Пишите в комментариях, предлагайте свой способ.