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

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

Dave's Garage
3 HN recommenders · discussed 2025–2026
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About this video

Dave Plummer, a retired Microsoft engineer who wrote Task Manager, responds to the claim that Windows sucks. He describes how he would fix common annoyances, in what he calls a love letter to Windows wrapped in a rant.

Why it appears in the archive

HN people share it in Windows 11 backlash threads as an even-handed insider's view of what is wrong with Windows.

AI-generated summary and labels from the source dataset; verify important details against the video. Source & credits.

From the Hacker News discussion

noir_lord · 2025-11 · rec

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 - [VIDEO]

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pipes · 2025-12 · rec

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: [VIDEO]

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GeekyBear · 2026-06 · rec

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. [VIDEO]

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accrual · 2025-11 · reference

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 [VIDEO]

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