Windows 11 needs an XP SP2 moment, says ex-Microsoft engineer
- Reference: 1764603296
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/12/01/windows_needs_another_xp_sp2/
- Source link:
"It's time for Microsoft to have another XP SP2 moment," [1]said Plummer , who worked on Windows XP during a pivotal period more than two decades ago.
'Windows sucks,' former Microsoft engineer says, explains how to fix it [2]READ MORE
When the Blaster worm hit in 2003, Microsoft made a decisive switch. "We set aside all feature work," he recalled.
"For several months, all we did was improve security. We didn't add security features. We fixed bugs. Lots of bugs, until there weren't any security bugs to fix anymore. And then we fixed the ones we didn't know about yet."
The work on XP was one of Plummer's last hurrahs at Microsoft, but the experience of Service Pack 2 shaped his opinion on what Microsoft needs to do in order to get Windows 11 back on track.
[3]
"Put simply," he said, "we stopped trying to add value to the product through features that PMs [Project Managers] thought users would like and instead we focused on things that had been important for a long time but overlooked."
[4]
[5]
Fast forward two decades and Microsoft is stuffing Windows with AI features while seemingly ignoring user complaints about performance and reliability.
[6]MS Task Manager turns 30: Creator reveals how a 'very Unixy impulse' endured in Windows
[7]Windows keeps obsolete strings forever to avoid breaking translations
[8]Microsoft Task Manager now tasking PCs with running multiple copies of itself
[9]Microsoft's ancient icon library still lurks deep within Windows 11
Microsoft and its managers appear to be largely passing over user feedback regarding AI. Windows boss Pavan Davuluri recently [10]touted AI integration - getting a raft of negative user comments - while AI chief Mustafa Suleyman said he found it " [11]mindblowing " that some people weren't impressed.
Rather than reshape Windows as an "agentic OS", Plummer says the time has come for Windows 11 to focus on stability and performance.
Plummer's prescription is simple: dedicate one release cycle to stability and performance over features. "Just for one release," he [12]said . "Just till it doesn't suck." ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://youtu.be/w5GUbKPyFVM
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/07/does_windows_really_suck_that/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aS3JqnuukYlQ4dvL8GyFxQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aS3JqnuukYlQ4dvL8GyFxQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aS3JqnuukYlQ4dvL8GyFxQAAAJU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/12/thirty_years_of_task_manager/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/chen_windows_text_translation/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/31/microsoft_has_managed_to_break/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/21/windows_pifmgr_chen/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/17/windows_agentic_os_feedback/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/21/microsoft_ai_boss_comment/
[12] https://x.com/davepl1968/status/1993307885359583350
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Windows 11 is pretty bad
A few days ago, my work computer's keyboard, mouse, and sound stopped working when I woke it from sleep.
As I use a USB hub I checked cables, the hub, keyboard, mouse, speakers, but not the computer as I expected that to work. Turns out it was the computer as no USB port would work. It needed rebooting to bring them back.
Re: Windows 11 is pretty bad
I've noticed erratic USB performance after sleep on W11 (Dell laptop, enterprise build). Seems it's a feature.
Re: Windows 11 is pretty bad
A few weeks ago my work W11 laptop decided to upgrade the bluetooth drivers with no warning, displaying a note at the end that a reboot would be needed for devices to work again, leaving me with no mouse and headphones halfway through a meeting.
The tragedy is...
...that people like Dave here aren't valued any more. I'm not quite as old as Dave, but even in my 20ish year career* it's become very obvious that the older guys have been very deliberately replaced by people who won't argue with management when they decide to do something dumb for the sake of "shareholder value" or to chase whatever the latest fad is.
The ones who were there back in the day, when the company was first starting out and had sufficient seniority to turn around to their project manager and say "No, we're not doing that, it's stupid" and get away with it have been ground down over time until the only ones left are the burnt out just-coming-in-for-the-paycheque types who don't care any more, and the younger grads who either don't know any better, or are too afraid of upsetting their promotion prospects to speak out.
* Not at Microsoft, but the same thing has happened in every private business I've worked for.
Re: The tragedy is...
As a certified old buzzard, I can assure you that speaking out of turn is never welcome. I've never felt compelled to keep my politer opinions to myself, but experience is that this never resulted in me gaining a reputation as Badger The Enlightened, Who Went On To Great Things By Pointing Out The Errors Of Management , but it did result in a reputation of Badger The Curmudgeon, Who Was Frequently Bollocked, Was Passed Over For Promotion, And Top Of The List For the Next Downsizing.
And it's no help being right, either. If you're wrong, then of course it's unwelcome, but if you're right then it's doubly unwelcome.
So, kiddies, keep thy traps shut, tug thine forelocks, and openly admire the Emperor's New Clothes. Worship today's false god of AI (or before it blockchain and every other shitty fad), build your skills, take every training or development opportunity, listen to the old buzzards (but only in private), and move job every three years. Except when you get to late 40's, as (excepting some specific skills) business is remarkably ageist and past 50 your CV stands a 75% chance of going in the shredder just because the job spec they forgot to publish includes "young, dynamic arselicker required to agree with management". So in your late 40s you'll want to be putting down some roots, or looking for a role that will enable you to do so unless you got lucky and are already minted.
[Thinks: Can I charge for this invaluable advice]
What will all the m$oft employees do if you stop them from writing new features with yet more bugs to be fixed?
Personally, I think it needs a "Ratner moment".
Oh they do it all the time, but people are such OS masochists and keep paying to be abused.
There's no slowing down this fecal train
> Fast forward two decades and Microsoft is stuffing Windows with AI features while seemingly ignoring user complaints about performance and reliability.
Not seemingly, absolutely ignoring user complaints and very major performance and reliability issues, like the update they just released that tanked game frame rates by 30-50%. NVidia issues an emergency driver patch but that should not have been their responsibility. Windows 11 is on a long slippery shitslope with no sign of slowing down, sorry Dave. Nadella is firmly on the AI fecal hype train, can't admit he was wrong now.
If Valve ever releases a desktop SteamOS that I can just put on my current desktop I am seriously considering switching. Or at least spending most of my time in that (it's just Linux that can play a lot of games) and switching to Windows when absolutely necessary.
Wait
I can't wait microsoft to charge per keystroke or mouse miles.
I heard they stuffed Notepad with Crapilot now.
To be fair I wish that I could access Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot in Copilot, but that's maybe for Windows 12.
We need a cheapo version of win11
What we need is a cheapo massively reduced version like a realtime OS core with just the basics and a few essential "apps" no AI and no ads., spyware or MS account, but something that aalows adding the necessary libraries etc for other external or MS apps.
Many of us would be willing to pay more for less.
Re: We need a cheapo version of win11
Not going to get one of those tho, are we? Because let's be honest even the idiots at Microsoft know in their heart of hearts that that is the version that everyone actually wants, and the sales numbers would sink their "Everyone loves us for our excellent feature set and the massive value all our AI products add!" line by the end of the first quarter as everyone stopped buying the full-fat version.
CEOs making the same mistakes?
Nadella (and many others) need the Gelsinger treatment.
I just want an OS that works - Sick of all this AI crap I hardly ever use.
I've already moved a laptop over to Linux Ubuntu, because it fairly old and doesn't meet MS hardware requirements,
Can get it to work with Windows 11, using work arounds, but it was just too slow - so I erased Windows, and installed Ubuntu.
The 2 recently built towers, might follow, if MS keeps on faffing around and not listening to its users, or if they become too slow.
ATM they are fine - but every update is a constant dread - will it F*** up and cause me more grief.
CS
Well, one can dream
But you know, wish in one hand....
Win11 needs a different moment
One called
rm -rf *
"Just for one release," he said. "Just till it doesn't suck."
Those appear to be mutually exclusive, unfortunately.