Weekend Question: Do you have a favorite version of Windows?

[PCG Jody]

I ask the PCG staff a regular Weekend Question and post the answers on the site. If you'd like to throw in an answer here, I'll squeeze the best into the finished article!

This week's question is: Do you have a favorite version of Windows?

The preview build of Windows 11 is already available for Windows Insiders, but instead of looking forward let's look back. What's your favorite Microsoft proprietary graphical OS? Are you old enough to remember 3.x introducing PC users to the wonders of a GUI, and Solitaire? Do you stan for Windows 95 thanks to the start menu and taskbar? Windows XP, but only with Service Pack 2? Windows 7 for rescuing us from Vista?

 

[Colif]

lol.

First windows I used was Windows 3.1 for workgroups

I don't have favorite versions of windows, I instead have less favorite versions. The ones that didn't work so well for me because of hardware limitations I had at the time, Windows ME & Windows 8/8.1 are the 2 that come to mind. First was painful and second I just skipped. Unlike others, I didn't find Vista that bad but much of that came from having a PC that came with Vista and was powerful enough to last 8 years. It wasn't good enough for 8 so I just skipped it.

I don't cling to versions after a new one is announced, I just accept the changes (for most part) and go with flow. I don't understand the need to make X version of Windows look like Y, I can remember themes that used to make windows look like Apple and I never understood them either, if you want to use another OS just go do it.

Windows 11 is just windows 10 with a face lift. And finished features. But same could be said about every version of windows since Vista so no real change. They saw Bethesda can keep doing it with Skyrim, why not just put a new layer of paint on. No one will notice if its got rounded corners and a glass look... hmm, glass, wasn't that a Vista thing. Progress or recycling?

 

[Brian Boru]

I started with Win 3.0, but went back to the excellent XTree Gold due to constant Win crashes. 3.1 was a big improvement, and 3.11 too—been on Win ever since.

I have 2 favs, Win95 and Win7.

95 introduced a lot of what we still have:
Taskbar;
Multi-tasking;
Start menu;
Notification area.
It was the real start of Windows as the dominant OS.

Win7 is the only version of Windows I bought in advance of launch—there was a great deal of 3 copies for $150 if I recall correctly, and all the beta testers I knew were saying it was nearly flawless. So it proved, 7 is definitely the best-ever Windows launch.

Win7 highlights were:
Rock-solid stability out of the gate;
Pinning to Taskbar & Jump Lists;
Libraries;
Proper SSD support;
Problem Steps Recorder;
XP Mode.

Honorable mentions to 98SE, XP SP2, Win10—and the unsung hero Win 2000, a better XP than the early versions of XP.

 

[mainer]

I started gaming with PC's back in the 1980s with MS-DOS (don't remember the version numbers), back when you often needed to create boot discs just to run games. Then moved on to Windows 3.1 around 1992, then on to Windows 95, 98, ME, skipped Windows 2000, then upgraded to Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, skipped 8.0/8.1, then finally Windows 10.

Of those versions, Windows 7 gave me the least problems when gaming, and was far less intrusive that Win 10. It would probably still be my favorite, but for 2 glaring issues: 1)It's no longer supported or updated by Microsoft, and 2)There are some games that now require Windows 10 to run. So it's far too limiting to use a PC with Windows 7 as an OS, though I do keep an older PC that I just use for backup storage that still runs Windows 7.

So my current favorite is Windows 10 which is on my current gaming PC. I've been able to get any game I've wanted to play to run, even games that are 10-20 years old (although some of those older games do require some tweaking or community patches to run well). My one major annoyance with Win 10 though, is how it updates without giving you any choice. Updates sometimes install junk in my task bar that I don't want, or at times can cause problems (an update a couple years ago completely borked my audio, took me hours to fix).

So while it's my current "favorite" OS, it comes with a big asterisk*. I wish I had more input as to what was actually installed and/or updated. I'll wait awhile on Windows 11 to see how it affects gaming, even if I miss the free upgrade.

 

[ZedClampet]

Windows was huge for those of us who used PC's before it. To be completely honest, though, I don't remember which version was my first, but I think it was 3.1.

Windows 10 is the only one that I have been sad to see leave, so I'll say 10 is my favorite. Unlike a lot of others, I never get pop-up ads or anything. It almost never crashes and launches quickly on my SSD (never thought I'd see that day). Just don't have any complaints right now. I even use Windows Defender as my anti-virus and have been pleased with its performance.

All that said, I'm fulling expecting Windows 11 to be an abomination.

 

[Pifanjr]

I've been using Windows since 3.11 and used every version except for 8, which I skipped. I don't have a favourite, but I will say that Windows ME was terrible. I'm pretty sure we averaged 5 blue screen of death a day. My brother actually managed to change the registry in such a way that it turned the screen red instead of blue (only took like 10 minutes after changing it to trigger the red screen of death). Of course he didn't really know what he was doing and so Windows wouldn't boot any more after that, but he'd gotten pretty proficient at reinstalling Windows at that point any way.

Windows Vista was also pretty bad. Not so bad that I switched back to Windows XP (though some of my friends did), but upgrading to Windows 7 was a great improvement.

 

[Brian Boru]

My one major annoyance with Win 10 though, is how it updates without giving you any choice

There's a trick if you want to hold off on Updates for a while, eg months—but I don't advise it despite the occasional annoyances.

Settings > Update & Security > Advanced options
Change the second option about 'metered connection' to 'On'—that should delay indefinitely, not sure how long as I only used it briefly 5 years ago.

There is also a 'Pause Updates' option at the bottom of that screen which allows delay up to a month.

What I do is image my C: drive—I use free Macrium Reflect—on the second Tuesday of every month, ie just before MS's main update run. If the updates ever cause me a problem, I'm less than 30 minutes from getting back to where I was. This is more robust than System Restore, altho that's pretty good too for smaller changes, installs etc.

The Windows versions I skipped were ME, Vista and 8—the reactions of early adopters were just too negative for all 3.

 

[Colif]

also helps to set active hours so it won't restart during those times - https://www.windowscentral.com/how-...oid-windows-10-sudden-restarts-during-updates

windows creates a restore point before updates so you could also use that to roll back.

Never had any problems with updates on win 10, but helped too many people to know it isn't always perfect.

 

[Pr0udCh0sen1]

Windows 95, take it back, take it way back!

 

[Pr0udCh0sen1]

Windows 95, take it back, take it way back!

this bundled with AOL, you've got mail!

 

[UrbanBiker]

This is my first post, so, Hello everyone. My first PC build ran MS-DOS and I've used every version except for ME, 2000, Vista and 8. Anyway I'd have to say that my favorite version of Windows has to be XP followed by 8.1.

 

[Colif]

but I do hope they implement being able to display a folder's contents as a picture preview again.

what do you mean?

not in a hurry to get win 11 yet, although I know I could. Whats rush, its just win 10 with a new UI.

 

[Colif]

Is that on desktop or in file explorer?

mine look different to the left on win 10 21H1

look same in file exploder and desktop

its possible its just a work in progress, They haven't finished playing with interface yet.

they have changed shape of the folder, even the empty ones look different, tab is on bottom of win 10 folders, top of win 11.

 

[Zloth]

Gonna miss that feature if it goes away. It's not just images that appear, PDFs and the like can show up as well. Maybe they decided it drains batteries too fast?

I presume its just the folders, not individual files?

 

[Krud]

[For an actual answer to the question, skip down to the TL/DR at the end.]

Despite a lifelong love of technology (that slowly morphed into a love/hate relationship, to where now I feel like someone who loved donuts until they worked at Dunkin Donuts for years and now they can't stand the sight of them), I've never embraced "change for change's sake," aka "if it's not broke, don't fix it." I admit that most of the time I'm in the wrong regarding this, as plenty of changes are for the better (though not all).

That said, I remember being figuratively dragged kicking and screaming from DOS into Windows. I had Windows 3.0, 3.1, and 3.11, because they were on the computers I often used, but I haaaated it. At the time I saw very little benefit to them, until 3.11 which was a necessary evil for early web-browsing. (Though honestly I wasn't even a fan of the early web because it felt like dumbed-down telnet only slower [unless I disabled images].)

When Windows 95 came along, I reluctantly accepted it and even saw some of its merits, as a few games managed to take full advantage of its GUI/interface. But my heart was still in DOS, and back when games had DOS/Win95 options, I often stuck with DOS, especially since Windows 95 was more or less sitting on top of DOS, same as Win3x. I was still into min-maxing the capability of my computers, and I saw Windows as an unnecessary drain on resources that could be put to better use elsewhere.

Fast forward to the 21st century, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bloat™, and I've more or less given up trying to force Windows to not hog resources, though I sometimes make a half-hearted effort. I'll disable behind-the-scenes features of functions I feel that I can do without, and maybe get a 1% gain somewhere as a result, if I'm lucky.

It always feels to me like Microsoft unleashes their newest OS just as the previous OS has been thoroughly figured out, tweaked, patched, etc. to a fully usable, comfortable state. Like right now, I've finally got Windows 10 the way I like it, without any of the fluff I don't need or want, and everything is working just so, and now 11 is around the corner, ready to annoy me all over again with its gimmicky layouts and visual effects and hand-holding and whatever else that'll reset/undo my years of fine-tuning.

It seemed like every other version of Windows was a crap version, depending on how you number them. I didn't like Win3x, but I liked 95. I didn't like initial Win98, but I liked 98SE. I didn't like ME, but I liked XP. I didn't like Vista, but I liked 7. I didn't like 8/8.1, but I like 10. So if this pattern holds up, I'm guessing I won't much care for 11. But we'll see. I don't want to assume anything.

===
TL/DR: My favorite version of Windows was XP. I got the most years of usefulness out of it (seven years, I think?), and it didn't feel like a total reinvention of what I'd grown accustomed to with Win95/98SE.

 

[MikeBrooklyn]

I love my Windows 10, and I want it back!! I accidentally decided to upgrade to Windows 11 but I don't like it all

 

[Reola]

To downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you'll need to perform a clean install of Windows 10. This means you'll have to back up your files and reinstall all your programs. It's essential to make sure you have a valid Windows 10 license key before proceeding with the downgrade.

Can you tell me where to find the license key? Or do I have to buy it?

 

[JarlBSoD]

Can you tell me where to find the license key? Or do I have to buy it?

There are a few ways, CMD command. Powershell or Registry key. the former 2 might not work though, depends.

 

[Brian Boru]

Windows 10, and I want it back!! I accidentally decided to upgrade to Windows 11

When? You have 10 days to revert to Windows 10, and it can be done after 10 days also, just not as easily.

 

[Colif]

win 10 only has 1 more year of support and then MS will want you to upgrade anyway...

What don't you like? Its almost the same as 10 anyway.

 

[ipman]

I seem to remember some hype about W10 being the last one.(I wonder how far it will go)

I've got W10(it was free anyway) but I've got rid of most of the bloat so it's more like previous versions.

Although I had done everything to get rid of Edge, including in the registry to stop it when updating, it still managed it again yesterday WTF!

 

[Colif]

Microsoft are a business who makes money selling software. Windows 10 was never going to be last, just like 11 isn't. I don't know why they started saying it was going to be last.

Windows is just constantly in a WIP state. Always adding half baked ideas that take several versions of windows to get right... or they just forget them and hope we do too.

There is no final version... though once win 10 hits end of life, you won't get much apart from them bugging you to upgrade. I look forward to that only as I have a Windows 10 VM and every time I load it, windows update takes control for about 20 minutes... which normally annoys me as I am in a hurry. With no updates, I might finally get my way.

Edge is a plague. It had added itself to my startup and was constantly running in background until I removed it. I don't use it, but every time I look at weather its like, do you want to swap default browser and I am like, no, no lobotomy today... i be fine.

 

[JarlBSoD]

These days Windows is juts a means to an end for Microsoft to sell other products, been a long time since Windows was their main source of income, today it is small potatoes compared to all the money they get from licensing office, data centers, storrage, etc etc. I prefer win 11 over 10 now, 11 was quite a buggy mess in the begining but now i like it more than 10.

 

[ipman]

Microsoft are a business who makes money selling software. Windows 10 was never going to be last, just like 11 isn't. I don't know why they started saying it was going to be last.

Windows is just constantly in a WIP state. Always adding half baked ideas that take several versions of windows to get right... or they just forget them and hope we do too.

There is no final version... though once win 10 hits end of life, you won't get much apart from them bugging you to upgrade. I look forward to that only as I have a Windows 10 VM and every time I load it, windows update takes control for about 20 minutes... which normally annoys me as I am in a hurry. With no updates, I might finally get my way.

Edge is a plague. It had added itself to my startup and was constantly running in background until I removed it. I don't use it, but every time I look at weather its like, do you want to swap default browser and I am like, no, no lobotomy today... i be fine.

So I'd say my favourite version of Windows is the one where they give us a basic OS and we get choices and options on what we want.
I'd be more inclined to try Edge if I didn't feel it was being forced on me.

It takes me time to remove all the bloat and their browser. I just don't know how they managed to sneak it through on that last update. I thought after all these years of it not getting through I was safe, curse you M.

 

[Brian Boru]

Windows 10 … I don't know why they started saying it was going to be last

MS may be the worst company for naming products and services—they must have a P&S Naming dept, which has to keep churning out names and supporting PR. 'Win10 The Last' was likely a genius new PR idea to draw attention to Win11 when announced, and make people go "Ooh what a shock" and send it viral on Apple and Linux social media—where people were likely to be in awe of the clever Product Name.

Windows was their main source of income, today it is small potatoes

Not really, it's still their 3rd-largest revenue sector. Not what it was of course, but well ahead of other notable sectors like gaming, LinkedIn, ads etc. I'd eat those spuds

Windows is just constantly in a WIP state

Well yes. Show me a product which isn't and I'll show you a product which is going to disappear very soon. How many hundreds of Linux versions are there / have there been?

my favourite version of Windows is the one where they give us a basic OS

You want Linux, that's pretty basic. Windows occupies the middle ground between Linux and MacOS, with a lot of components built in which customers demanded over the decades—eg remember all the flak MS took for not having security built in early on?

If you're not much of a PC gamer, then either of the others could suit, depending on whether you prefer very little or all-in-one.

windows update takes control for about 20 minutes... which normally annoys me as I am in a hurry

You can set it to update out of operational hours—my update always happens when I'm ready for it.

11 was quite a buggy mess in the begining but now i like it more than 10

Apart from Win7, that's the way it's been with Win.
3.0 mess until 3.1
98 mess until SE
XP mess until SP1
8 mess until 8.1
10 mess for 18 months
11 I haven't used, knowledgeable reports are currently favorable after a dodgy first ~18 months.

inclined to try Edge

If you can get past your distaste for MS's tactics, it's an excellent browser.

It takes me time to remove all the bloat

Win has always suffered from the 'bloat' tag by home users due to its core customer base being business, so that much of the packaged enterprise stuff was unnecessary for us plebs—even MS DOS was accused of bloat! They tried to fix this by introducing various confusing editions of each Win version—nice try

These days, the bloat problem has mainly moved to phones and comms apps.

Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot so expand are replaced by ones which can.
—Zawinski's Law

Anyway, there are 2 main aids, fyi if you're not aware: Windows Decrapifier for most of us and Windows Debloater for techies.

Remove the Fluff From Windows 10 With Windows Decrapifier & Debloater

Make Windows 10 feel like brand new by removing the bloat with two smart PowerShell scripts.

www.makeuseof.com

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