>Windows has had support for resolution independence where DPI is configurable across a continuum (rather than only available as 1x or 2x scale like on the Mac) for quite some time - the issue is that with a huge legacy application base, a giant morass of drawing technologies, and no shipped "HiDPI" or "Retina" Windows hardware until recently, there's been no real incentive for app developers to support it.
The same was true for even longer (IIRC) on the Mac. You could enable it with a hidden preference, but lack of app support, compatibility with existing stuff and lack of hidpi displays at the time made it take the back seat. And vector drawed apps only go that far, you need pixel assets at some point or another.
The 2x scale was just the solution finally used by Apple because of the same kind of issues as you describe for Windows.
The same was true for even longer (IIRC) on the Mac. You could enable it with a hidden preference, but lack of app support, compatibility with existing stuff and lack of hidpi displays at the time made it take the back seat. And vector drawed apps only go that far, you need pixel assets at some point or another.
The 2x scale was just the solution finally used by Apple because of the same kind of issues as you describe for Windows.