Windows release notes

An overview can be found at on the Windows 11 page on Wikipedia.

Compared to the previous Windows version:

I think that favoring WSL2 over WSL1 is a step backward. WSL1 has better integration and does not cause issues with 3rd party virtualization software, maybe I should write a more detailed comparison.

WSA is a nice addition, albeit I am not sure how useful it is on a desktop.

It is now possible to install Android games on Windows, and if you are lucky the application your bank requires you to install somewhere for logging into the website too.

On the other hand, applications written for those that are mainly touchscreen devices do not work well on devices with a keyboard and a mouse or trackpad.

Being able to execute Android applications on Windows means that developers need to create a program only for Android and call it a day. For the end-user, it has both benefits (they can use the application immediately also on Windows, and the experience is not necessarily worse than using a native application) and drawbacks (the experience will generally be subpar).

I fear that most advantages are only short-term (being able to execute programs that are otherwise not compatible with Windows) and in the long-term, there will be more disadvantages (some programs that used to have a native version for the desktop will develop only the mobile one).

Considering that it was already possible to execute Android applications on Windows (for example with BlueStacks ^🗄️), I fear that the disadvantages overweight the advantages, except that developers might test their Android programs on Windows too to ensure that at least they start.

Update: Microsoft announced (4th March 2024) that it will end support for WSA, so none of my worries will be realized.

Windows 11 also drops (probably rightfully) support for older platforms (BIOS-only, 32-bit, …​) but also requires some non-essential features for the end-user (in particular TPM2).

There are surely improvements (better performance in some areas⁠^[1], bug-fixes, make some things more consistent …​) but what annoys me is that some components of the UI introduced a breaking change again, probably without a good reason (in fact, I would label some changes as regressions, check for example the Fitts' Law).

I am also unsure why newer Windows versions are still bundled with older applications. Would you expect Windows 11 to be shipped with Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8, and leave it to the user to install the Edge browser? Surely not. Then why bundle it with PowerShell 5, when there is already PowerShell 7 installable on previous Windows versions?

I know they are "different products" with more or less the same name, and the same functionality, but the same holds for Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer…​

Also requiring an online account is a bold move, not even Android requires it, it alienates (power) users, especially because it makes it harder to automate some operations, like setting up a new environment (virtual machines for example) automatically.

The UI change, TPM2, and requiring an online account might make sense from a business perspective, but as an end-user, they do not look like features, on the contrary, they lead to a machine where I have even less control over it.

An overview can be found at the Windows 10 page on Wikipedia.

Compared to the predecessors

Windows 10 did not introduce all those changes at once, the "Creators Update" is practically a new minor release, but as the product is always called "Windows 10" and not "Windows 10.1" it is hard to remember what feature came with which update, so I am listing most of them together.

During the minor upgrades, Windows 10 also did a good job avoiding breaking changes (both in UI and functionalities), but it frustrated users by resetting some preferences.

The biggest difference with previous Windows versions is WSL; new possibilities for working in a Linux environment, or for executing GNU/Linux programs on Windows!

WSL1 is one of the biggest additions to Windows, but one core piece of technology was already there since Windows NT 3.1(!).

The Microsoft POSIX subsystem and Windows Services for UNIX were not able to execute unmodified GNU/Linux binaries. I’ve never used those subsystems, so I am not sure how well they were integrated with the rest of the system.

WSL1 integrates with other Windows programs, even if there are some limitations.

WSL2 took WSL in another completely different direction, as Microsoft decided to ship a virtual machine as a subsystem. This technique has another set of limitations, in particular

The UI changes I am most grateful for are virtual monitors and a default dark theme.

Both of those features could be partially accomplished with third-party apps, but the system integration was not as good.

In particular for the dark theme. As there is now a default dark theme, more software providers are developing a dark theme too for their applications.

Unfortunately, Windows 10 also continued the trend that began with Windows 8, adding an application that requires an internet connection, collecting data, and services like Cortana, web search, and insisting on creating an online account …​

Different products that rely on virtualization technologies (for good or bad): WSL2, and Windows Sandbox.

While both are interesting and useful, unfortunately, the virtualization technology, as implemented, seems to make it difficult to use another program for handling virtual machines like VirtualBox ^🗄️ or VMWare. Thus, as those are much more versatile, I prefer to rely on those instead of the new Windows features, and disable the offending features ^🗄️.

It seems that Windows 10 has been developed (or managed) by two different teams. One to add "innovative", generally welcome and long-requested features to be explicitely enabled (WSL, virtual monitors, black theme, …​) and another more interested in graphical interfaces and automatically enabled settings (telemetry, moving settings between "classic" panel and new interface, resetting settings during updates, installing games automatically, …​)

This Windows version could have been the most IT and developer-friendly version one would have wished for, and without alienating normal PC users.

Windows 8.1 is more of a minor release but still has some notable changes compared to Windows 8.

The most welcoming change is that it undoes some changes introduced with Windows 8. There is a customizable desktop, there is a start menu.

Now it looks more like a computer than a tablet.

It also changes some defaults which makes it much more user-friendly. For example, the desktop is shown by default.

The start menu is the metro desktop, but it’s better than Windows 8. There is an arrow that points downwards (granted, another symbol might have been better), and there one can find most, if not all applications: both Metro applications and classic. There is also a shutdown and search button.

Metro applications now have something similar to the system menu, which unfortunately disappears after some seconds, with a close and minimized button. Those applications are also shown on the desktop, for example in the system bar(?), providing better integration between the classic and metro desktop.

Like previous Windows versions, the changes in the UI are more evolutionary.

Windows 8 introduce following changes

The biggest change in Windows 8 is the interface. But contrary to previous Windows versions, where the changes were "evolutionary" (as in the main concepts were always the same and not too disruptive), Windows 8 came with an alternate UI paradigm, which finds its root on Windows Phone.

Most of the metro UI makes sense on a relatively small screen, where most of the time you are using only one maximized application. This would explain the absence of the title bar in metro applications.

What is also strange, is the absence of a tutorial or introduction guide. In particular considering that some elements are hidden in the metro UI, and are activated with gestures.

First, the most obvious, less important but at the same time most confusing change: there is no desktop and start menu. This means that more or less everyone will be confused, as those two components have always been there as there has been a GUI on Windows.

Gigantic icons might work well for touch devices…​ but the icons are too big, and there is a lot of wasted space on any type of monitor. On the other hand, most programs do not have a touch-friendly interface (unless using a pen), like the new ribbon interface in explorer.exe or the "classic" menu in notepad.exe, as those controls are often too small for fingers.

I’ve never used Windows 8 except on rare occasions, so I’ve decided to give it a try again.

After booting up, I was really disoriented.

Most of my solutions relied on using keyboard shortcuts, but what if you have a touchscreen device? Or you are one of those people who use the mouse for everything except typing text?

It is true that for any new system, there will be disorientation. But since most people already worked with another Windows version, one cannot simply dismiss all old patterns and habits.

The UI changes again, with fewer 3D effects, and fewer transparency/glass effects.

Adds support for new hardware, like SSD, and has an integrated online driver search.

Some editions had an integrated virtual machine called Windows XP Mode (it reminds me a little bit of WSL2, but I suppose that the used technology is a different one)

Windows Vista enhanced the UI in multiple places. Most settings are where they were in previous Windows versions, but there are a lot more visual effects, like transparent borders (glass effect), and 3D effects when switching windows.

Compared to Windows XP, Windows Vista introduced UAC, which makes it easier to execute a program as another user.

While Microsoft claims that UAC is not a security feature ^🗄️⁠^[2], it is the feature that makes it possible to apply one of the most important defenses in cyber-security: use the PC as a "restricted user".

And obviously, take advantage of UAC to execute the program that needs administrator rights from time to time.

To understand the importance of UAC, one needs to consider that until Windows XP, the "normal" user was the one with administrator rights. It was possible to configure the PC in another way, but many programs would not work correctly, because they expected to be able to write and read in system directories.

Having UAC changed the status quo, and forced developers to be more careful where to write their data. It made the system usable, imagine having to switch user accounts because you want to execute one program that needs administrator rights (and at the time, it happened far too often with older programs). Many people turned off UAC at the beginning, but in the meantime, it is not necessary anymore.

Part of UAC is also the integrity levels. Those can be used for limiting where programs can write their data, as described on this article ^🗄️:

Windows Vista also introduces a 64-bit version able to execute existing 32-bit programs. Note that having more than 4GB of RAM was still rare at the time, but 64-bit CPUs already existed.

Another change was support for multiple languages. With Windows XP, changing the language after having installed the system was hard, if possible at all.

Some versions of Windows Vista (apparently Ultimate and Enterprise ^🗄️) supported changing language out of the box.

Another new feature is the transactional filesystem API. In theory, it could have simplified some processes. For example, avoid an installer leaving a half-installed application on the disk. Apparently, there are some downsides, the API is currently deprecated (but still present). Given its status, it does make little sense to use it.

The biggest disadvantage (at the time) of this Windows version where the resource usage (and I also remember some stability issues), and the fact that upgrading from XP was not free. Windows Vista added (compared to Windows XP) "a lot" of background processes, the biggest offender, probably, was file indexing, for providing an "instant search". At the time it was at least easy to disable.

From time to time I wish Windows had certain features.

So why not list them here, and see if something changes?