Microsoft has restructured its Windows team to better position Windows 11 as a strong platform that people should want to use. Here's how it's going about that.
Windows is fine having all this bloat. However, power users, the kind of user who will buy a Mac, or who will build a PC with a blank drive and install Linux on it, doesn’t want all of that bullshit. So if Microsoft offers a new SKU, it doesn’t even have to be advertised, that is just core Windows with none of the bullshit, like a modern Windows 7, I think they could win a lot of people back. No ads. No telemetry. No packed-in Minecraft demo or links to fucking Candy Crush. No Copilot. No Office. Notepad is in there but no markup/Copilot shit. Just good old fashioned Notepad — only leave dark mode. And let it still be able to run all the software Windows can run, just… cut out all the shit people are asking to be taken out. Call it Power Edition or something like that, or Advanced Edition. I bet it would sell boatloads.
What I’d specifically do is, if I were in charge of the Windows team, is direct the Windows team to make this version first. Make it be compatible with all the bullshit… then add all that shit back in for the Home edition. Make Home free or dirt cheap (like $40 and it comes on a USB 3.0 flash drive that alone is worth like $25), make Pro whatever Pro is going to cost, and sell the Advanced Edition for the $100 that Home normally goes for. There are people who would pay more for just the basics and none of the bull.
That exists. You can’t easily buy a license, but Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is essentially that. I run it on my VMs for stuff that I can’t run via Wine.
Unfortunately, Microsoft is run by idiots. Business idiots. They live in a stupid bubble surrounded by other stupid people. The lower levels are filled with people gunning for their personal promotions and fiefdoms. It’s shit.
The company should be broken up so it has to compete, and with less headcount in one place there’s fewer absolute numbers of idiots gumming up the organization.
I’ve been saying this for years:
Windows is fine having all this bloat. However, power users, the kind of user who will buy a Mac, or who will build a PC with a blank drive and install Linux on it, doesn’t want all of that bullshit. So if Microsoft offers a new SKU, it doesn’t even have to be advertised, that is just core Windows with none of the bullshit, like a modern Windows 7, I think they could win a lot of people back. No ads. No telemetry. No packed-in Minecraft demo or links to fucking Candy Crush. No Copilot. No Office. Notepad is in there but no markup/Copilot shit. Just good old fashioned Notepad — only leave dark mode. And let it still be able to run all the software Windows can run, just… cut out all the shit people are asking to be taken out. Call it Power Edition or something like that, or Advanced Edition. I bet it would sell boatloads.
What I’d specifically do is, if I were in charge of the Windows team, is direct the Windows team to make this version first. Make it be compatible with all the bullshit… then add all that shit back in for the Home edition. Make Home free or dirt cheap (like $40 and it comes on a USB 3.0 flash drive that alone is worth like $25), make Pro whatever Pro is going to cost, and sell the Advanced Edition for the $100 that Home normally goes for. There are people who would pay more for just the basics and none of the bull.
That exists. You can’t easily buy a license, but Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is essentially that. I run it on my VMs for stuff that I can’t run via Wine.
https://massgrave.dev/windows_ltsc_links
Unfortunately, Microsoft is run by idiots. Business idiots. They live in a stupid bubble surrounded by other stupid people. The lower levels are filled with people gunning for their personal promotions and fiefdoms. It’s shit.
The company should be broken up so it has to compete, and with less headcount in one place there’s fewer absolute numbers of idiots gumming up the organization.