I honestly have no issues with the current Windows 11 user interface. In fact, I like it.
And I've been through a lot of operating systems, starting on the PcJr and DOS in the 80s, and every Windows version ever released.
I'm a software engineer and occasional gamer. I use Windows every day for both my job and for everything else, and I have no issues with it.
That's why I find all of the nostalgia a little weird. Some think Windows 95 was the "peak" Windows, others point to 7 and want their "aero glass" back, others say 10 is the best and refuse to upgrade to 11, some install the old start menus in the new versions, etc.
It's the same every time a new version comes out. Eventually people years from now will look back and want to try to make their desktops the way they remember their Windows 11 desktop looking.
> That's why I find all of the nostalgia a little weird.
This is an often repeated excuse. It certainly isn't nostalgia. There need to be adaptations, mainly for decent scaling for higher resolution devices. But that doesn't mean the latest iterations are good. Windows 7 wasn't good either, but it was better provided you have your standard hardware setup.
Same with the start menu. I don't install the old one, but I certainly don't use the new one either. My start menu is now win + e & win + r. Because the rest ist plainly useless. Granted, this was the case since Win7 too.
It isn't that people like the new version, they just have to use it and find a way to manage. And yes, people also said that the Win95 UI was crap too.
There were some geniune improvements over time, but they are rare. I couldn't name a single one for Win11 yet. There are a lot of negatives though that even surpass the negatives past updates might have brought about.
And I've been through a lot of operating systems, starting on the PcJr and DOS in the 80s, and every Windows version ever released.
I'm a software engineer and occasional gamer. I use Windows every day for both my job and for everything else, and I have no issues with it.
That's why I find all of the nostalgia a little weird. Some think Windows 95 was the "peak" Windows, others point to 7 and want their "aero glass" back, others say 10 is the best and refuse to upgrade to 11, some install the old start menus in the new versions, etc.
It's the same every time a new version comes out. Eventually people years from now will look back and want to try to make their desktops the way they remember their Windows 11 desktop looking.
But this is veering off topic.