Microsoft is seriously destroying Windows and users are leaving in droves. Every two or three days, there are articles popping up on Hacker News, screaming about how terrible Windows 11 is as an operating system. It's almost always the case that the authors have already made up their mind to migrate to Linux and swear to never come back. In the discussion, people would cheer them on, confirming their similar experience and applauding the decision to move away from this horrible, horrible product. Here are some of the recent examples:
From Microsoft to Microslop to Linux: Why I Made the Switch (01/26/2026) (Hacker News Discussion)
Windows 11’s Patch Tuesday nightmare gets worse — Microsoft says some PCs might not boot (01/25/2026) (Hacker News Discussion)
2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop (01/02/2026) (Hacker News Discussion)
I personally haven't used Windows for a long time, but I grew up with Windows as my default operating system. I have fond memories of playing games on it when I was a kid. I used Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 throughout my life. It's quite disheartening to see a once great product taking a hit to its reputation by its own doing.
Microsoft, we got it. Azure is your cash cow and you couldn't care less about Windows. Yet keep in mind that billions of your users know Microsoft not because of Azure, but because of Windows. In their minds, Windows is Microsoft. If you screw up so hard on Windows, what will people's impression of Microsoft be? Furthermore, are you really ready to give up on Windows, considering that it still has about 66% of the market share 1 for desktop computers and laptops?
The current state of Windows is extremely worrisome. On one hand, Windows 10 support ended on October 14 last year, which means the users can't get security updates unless they pay for it (by the way, there are still about a 44% market share for Windows 10 compared to about 50% for Windows 11 2, which itself should be a concern). On the other hand, Windows 11 has an absurdly unnecessary demand on the hardware for installation. Most of the machines are not functionally outdated at all, yet Microsoft determines that the newest hardware is required, rendering a lot of machines unable to upgrade to Windows 11. Not to mention that Windows 11 itself is a fiasco: buggy, bloated, full of ads, privacy invading and AI pushing. Microsoft works painstakingly hard to give its users no good choice.