Microsoft seems to have listened to the year-long barrage of collective groaning, as it is apparently now focusing on improving the things in Windows 11 that matter. The Verge has heard from Pavan Davuluri, president of Windows and devices, who says the company needs “to improve Windows in ways that are meaningful for people.”
“This year,” Davuluri continues, “you will see us focus on addressing pain points we hear consistently from customers: improving system performance, reliability, and the overall experience of Windows.”
According to The Verge’s sources, which are “familiar with the company’s plans”, these changes will occur “in a process known as ‘swarming’.” Which presumably means getting as many engineers on-board as possible to “swarm” the most crucial issues and resolve them.
If you use Windows 11 more than just every now and then and if you spend even a little time online, you’ll no doubt already know what kinds of issues these are. We’ve seen it all, over the past year, from Task Manager refusing to close, to peripherals not working in the recovery environment, a surprise dark mode File Explorer flashbang bug, and even previous update bugs causing new ones. And those are just the stand-outs; Windows 11 has had a rough time of it.
That’s including the so-called features, either, including a metric ton of AI ones. I’m pretty used to AI slop by now, and even I was recently taken aback when I reinstalled Windows and was greeted by Microsoft Edge giving me a window-width message proclaiming it to be an AI browser. Or something similar—I can’t remember, to be honest, I’ve blocked out the sordid memory a little already.
A previous Windows 11 bug prevented Windows Task Manager from fully closing when you tried to close it, meaning when you opened it again you’d stack a new Task Manager process on top of the old one(s) that hadn’t closed. (Image credit: Future)
Then there are the nagging OneDrive pop-ups, web search being mixed in with local search, and just general poor performance in various areas. The list goes on, and on, and… you get the picture.
I think part of what’s annoyed many people about the state of Windows 11 is the fact that it’s forced many of them onto the OS from Windows 10. Late last year, the previous OS became kind-of-but-not-quite EOL, forcing many to upgrade if they wanted updates. Even with those updates extended for a year for opted-in users, that was just delaying the near-imminently inevitable.
People needed (or need) to upgrade if they want to stay on Windows, and the least such Windows 10-ers could ask for is to be greeted by an operating system that works. But alas.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
That’s why many seem to be trying out Linux instead. Even I, who swore off Linux after somewhat of a catastrophe on a work trip last year, am trying out the open-source operating system again—dual-booted this time, though. It’s not even a poor choice for gaming anymore, and with a new cross-distro collective forming and the Steam Machine soon to launch, things can only get better for the Windows alternative.
All that, plus Microsoft’s declining gaming revenue, must certainly be lighting a small fire under the company’s feet. I say ‘small’ because let’s not kid ourselves, Windows isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and home power users are only a small fraction of the Windows market. But the discontent isn’t nothing, either. So it’s good to see that Microsoft might be taking it all seriously, now, and focusing on what matters for a while. Assuming it’s not all talk, that is.
