[TomMasz]

Windows 7 was the last really good Windows. MS lost sight of the goal after that.

[zdw]

I really wish MS had stuck with the Windows 8/Phone direction - bright square blocks that didn't waste space, which felt like it was a full refutation of the transparent everything of Vista that was still there to some extent in 7.

Looking at macOS 26, it's hard not to compare it visually to Vista given the transparency emphasis. Hopefully in a few years an Alan Dye-free Apple will move in a different direction.

[papageek]

Funny enough, the awful UI in Windows 8 (especially the start menu) drove me to become a mac daily driver.

[honeycrispy]

Nadella lost sight of the goal. Windows 7 was Ballmer.

[skrebbel]

Nadella more than 10x'ed the value of Microsoft. I doubt many MS execs think it was the wrong call to move Windows work to the B team.

EDIT: somehow people seem to think I'm defending MS here. I'm not, I'm concurring that MS willingly turned Windows to shit (by moving it to the B team) because they thought they could earn more money elsewhere (and they were right). I don't like it, but I bet the people who got filthy rich over it do.

[Incipient]

Microsoft CHANGED the goal. Cloud makes bucket loads more than consumer - it also has awesome vendor lock-in and juicy monthly fees!

MS didn't lose sight of anything. They've been after the money for a while, and they just followed the money.

I don't like what Microsoft has done, but I annoyingly admit they're doing what's in the best interest of their bank balance.

[stronglikedan]

I find Win10 to be a much more refined and polished experience, only ruined by telemetry.

[mschuster91]

Windows 10 is decent if you have the Pro version. 7 is good but is a PITA on touchscreen or HiDPI devices, although I have to say even 10 still has its bugs. Never tried 11 though, I'll keep riding 10 on my machines.

[Krssst]

Windows 10 was the start of the forceful push towards use of Microsoft accounts and telemetry, dark patterns to achieve that and weird features nobody wants like like Bing search in the menu or the help opening bing in Edge rather than an actual help or your browser of choice, all that to improve random KPIs without considering user satisfaction.

Compared to that, Windows 8 was misguided but not a strong attempt at disrespecting user consent.

[juujian]

Windows 7 kind of pulled me back from Ubuntu. Alas it was only for a few years.

[lunias]

Satya Nadella became CEO in 2014, mainstream Windows 7 support ended in early 2015. The dark ages continue.