I think they still introduce small problems for people who run software they don't like. For example, if you run Linux on your desktop, and want to use a Windows VM for work, you can't run WSL2 or Hyper-V in the KVM/Qemu guest, even if nested virtualization is enabled and working with other operating systems. It used to work, but now it doesn't, and no know knows exactly why.
These situations are murky. I don't know that they broke it deliberately. Maybe it broke on its own and the problem affects so few people that they just don't care about it.
And you can't really demand that they spend their developer resources on things that they think won't help them. But on one hand, they wrote their own Wayland server for Windows 11, but on the other hand, they say, we can't make Teams work on Wayland.
They do lots of odd stuff. It's pretty easy, and pleasant, to run a headless linux server on Hyper-V, but setting up a proper desktop system on your own is hard. They don't actually create a wall you can't get around, but they create obstacles that make it easier to do the things they want you to do.
It's not fair or reasonable to get mad at them about this stuff. It's more that we should be clear about where they're coming from.
A while back, my Ubuntu LTS system kept badgering me to upgrade to a new Ubuntu. I finally relented, and installed the latest. It installed without any errors, but the display was all messed up.
After much fiddling and googling about, I deduced that apparently didn't support the graphics card anymore. It never said "don't install me, cuz it won't work with the card I used to work with." It just died on it. I wound up reinstalling the older Ubuntu.
I don't believe there was any conspiracy by the Ubuntu developers. No conspiracy is necessary - it's really hard to not break things. I knew some people who worked in appcompat at MS, and they had a lot of stories to tell about how hard they had to work to not break things. A lot of software misused Windows APIs making it hard for MS to improve things.
> I think they still introduce small problems for people who run software they don't like.
Linux, FreeBSD and Apple OSX operating systems routinely break without warning older software. I've had the fewest breakages with Windows operating systems.
Just in the last few months, I had to buy a new iphone because Waze, Twitter, and my banking app simply ceased working on it. No warning, no nothing. Those apps upgraded themselves, and just stopped. No check for compatibility with an older iphone.
Bought a new iphone, transferred the apps over, and they magically started working again.
Sorry I thought we were talking about deliberate and illegal anticompetitive business practices, not how well MS treats compliant consumers that spend money on it and help further its network effects by using Windows.
These situations are murky. I don't know that they broke it deliberately. Maybe it broke on its own and the problem affects so few people that they just don't care about it.
And you can't really demand that they spend their developer resources on things that they think won't help them. But on one hand, they wrote their own Wayland server for Windows 11, but on the other hand, they say, we can't make Teams work on Wayland.
They do lots of odd stuff. It's pretty easy, and pleasant, to run a headless linux server on Hyper-V, but setting up a proper desktop system on your own is hard. They don't actually create a wall you can't get around, but they create obstacles that make it easier to do the things they want you to do.
It's not fair or reasonable to get mad at them about this stuff. It's more that we should be clear about where they're coming from.