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Windows "SUCKS": How I'd Fix it by a retired Microsoft Windows engineer

Dave's Garage

1.1M subscribers • 9 videos on Hallway

YouTube
  • Recommended by 3 people: 3 on Hacker News.
  • Presented by Dave Plummer, retired Microsoft engineer
  • May be out of date. The tools, versions or practices it shows have likely moved on.
  • An opinion. It argues one side of a question engineers disagree on.

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

578K views12 months ago3 recommendations

Systems programmingSoftware designOperating systemsInside tech companiesDeveloper productivity

Retired Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer critiques modern Windows usability issues and proposes practical ways to fix them.

"Windows Sucks" is the most frequent comment I get - here's what I really think and how I would address the most common Windows annoyances: a love letter to Windows wrapped in a rant. Free Sample of my Book on the Spectrum: amzn.to/3zBinWM Check out my new merch store at: davesgaragemerch.com/ Check out ShopTalk, our weekly podcast, every Friday! youtube.com/@davepl

Why it's here

3 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as an evenhanded and entertaining critique of Windows from an insider's perspective.

noir_lordon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Microsoft executive closes replies after Windows 11 "Agentic OS" backlash”

That's an entertaining read. I binned Windows 11 recently (only kept it around for gaming) because I didn't like the direction it was clearly going (and has been for a while - including their shoehorning of AI into everything when I don't want it or need it) and don't game enough that I care much any more. For the first time since the 80's I'm not running a Windows OS on any of my machines. I doubt they'll care, I'm one user of hundreds of millions but I don't have to consider whether every update is going to turn on something I don't want/hate so I care. The linked video (via a linked post) from Dave Plummer does indeed sum up my feelings pretty well - link to this video

pipeson Hacker News • Recommends

On “2025 was a disaster for Windows 11 as bugs and intrusive features erode trust”

The average home user probably won't know what power shell and GitHub are. I can't run the scripts you are talking about on my work pc. I can sympathise with your point of view but it does feel a bit like "works for me because I know what I'm doing". Also how long before another Windows update that undoes what the scripts do. I used to be very pro windows simply because of backwards compatibility and hardware support was ridiculously good. I can't recommend Linux to relatives as they'd be utterly confused. Dave Plummer, ex windows kernel dev does a good job of explaining what the issues are: link to this video

GeekyBearon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Windows UI evolution: Clicking an unassociated file”

I find this take (from the guy who wrote the Windows task manager while at Microsoft) to be evenhanded. > Windows "SUCKS": How I'd Fix it by a retired Microsoft Windows engineer. link to this video

accrualon Hacker News • Mentions

On “1M Downloads of Zorin OS 18”

Dave Plummer, retired Microsoft engineer from the early days, made a video on this 2 weeks ago: > Windows "SUCKS": How I'd Fix it by a retired Microsoft Windows engineer link to this video