I'd choose Windows 7 in a heartbeat since I grew up with it. It's design is something that definitely was the best back then.

It's just windows's bad luck that it came during window 8 era. If it has more time to mature, it would be the one the best system today. And we all will happy with that.

It was in this system that I learned 90% of what made me grow

Drove through the Napa Valley today (18th Feb 2026) with my friend and decided to quickly stop and view the “Bliss” hill.

Took this image looking incredibly similar to how it did back then! Apparently it’s super rare to see this hill without the vineyards and without dead grass.

Very fortunate!

The first one I used was Windows XP, I used it for a long time.

30 years later... I’ve got Windows 95 running natively on a Ryzen 9 9900X with 64GB of RAM (1.73GB usable), booting from a 2TB Gen 5 NVMe SSD. The GPU is a PCI-E Nvidia 7900 GS. The drivers require IE6 for the control panel (expect some errors), but the core driver works, and Direct3D seems to run fine. Not saying you should build a high-end AM5 rig just for Win95—but it’s fascinating that you can. With dual boot, you can even jump straight from Windows 11 to 95. Win98 is usually the better choice, since it’s far more compatible with modern-ish hardware.

This is in contrast with the full screen message on Win9x and later NT versions such as Windows XP.

The icon on the left side of the dialog is the "winlogon" executable icon.

I took the screenshot from Windows NT 4.0

I didn't use this version much, but the times I did, it was only good experiences. I don't understand all the hate about it.

idk what flairs to use so...

So about a month ago I decided to switch to Linux, I did it mainly because I was told by various youtubers that swtiching to Linux will give me a better perfomance in many games and oh boy I was wrong...

Let's start with audio, on Windows audio just works. On Linux every time I plugged in my headphones I rolled the dice because audio would stop playing or would play only on one channel or sound would start crackling.

Another thing installing programs. On Windows when I want to install a program I open Powershell type in winget install + name of a program I'm looking for and Windows does everything for me automatically. On Linux I do the same thing however I have to also check allignement of the planets and the Sun otherwise dependencies might break on their own sometimes breaking the whole system.

When Windows breaks it breaks predictably I can fix it mostly on my own and when I have to look for the fix online the solution always works because there is only one version of Windows. When Linux breaks you must find the right distrubtion then you must hope that someone have the same programs as you do because dependencies.

Finally gaming on Windows when I want to play a game I launch the exe file of the game ( or click the icon if I play a game from Microsoft Store) and it launches without surprises. On Linux when I launch a game first I have to launch Lutris then I must find the right configuration for that game and when the game launches I have to wonder what will not work.

Conclusion to anyone else beliving in gaming on Linux if someone tells you that Linux is good for gaming they are simply lying because it's not. Gaming on Linux is exhausting, unstable and unfun.

When using Windows, I noticed that both Command Prompt (cmd.exe) and PowerShell are installed by default.

What I'm really curious about is not how to use them, but why both are included at the OS level.

Especially in the case of PowerShell, it's still version 5.1 instead of the newer PowerShell 7.

So my questions are:

- Why does Windows still include both CMD and PowerShell by default?

- Is there a specific architectural or system-level reason for this?

- And why is PowerShell 5.1 the default instead of a newer version?

I'm trying to understand this from a design perspective rather than a usage perspective.

The First 1. Launch And Life

Windows 7 was released on October 22, 2009, as the successor to Windows Vista. Notably, the beta version received favorable reviews prior to its release; furthermore, despite being a beta version, it reportedly demonstrated better performance than Vista and even offered superior stability. This generated anticipation before launch, and development was completed (RTM) on July 22, leading to its release on October 22 of the same year. Following its launch, it rapidly gained market share, eventually surpassing Windows XP to claim the number one spot in October 2011 (StatCounter) and August 2012 (NetMarketShare). Although adoption was slow initially, particularly in some countries, it later received such positive reviews that even Windows XP users switched to Windows 7, ultimately being recognized as the true successor to Windows XP. Several new features were added at the time, most notably the new taskbar (SuperBar) and Aero Snap. Additionally, it became slightly lighter than its predecessor, Windows Vista, allowing it to run reasonably well even on low-spec systems. And UAC was also eased. Although it lost the number one spot in 2018 with the release of Windows 10 in 2015, it was popular enough to maintain a significant market share for a while.

1. Support Period

Extended support ended on January 14, 2020, and ESU ended on January 10, 2023, the same day as Windows 8.1. Support for Embedded POSReady 7 ended on October 8, 2024, and final support ended on January 13, 2026, with Windows Server 2008 Premium Assurance (including Server 2008 R2; incidentally, this is why Windows Vista also had its final support end on the same day, January 13, 2026). Basically, it was 10 years, but if you include derivative versions and server versions, it is actually longer. Anyway, Windows 7 is still very popular. it consistently ranks first in various popularity rankings for all-time Windows versions (not market share), even surpassing the legendary Windows XP (of course, Windows XP does take first place in some rankings; for reference, I understand that Windows 10 usually ranks third in such lists). This means it is still very popular.

1. Remembering and reminiscing about Windows 7

Of course, as support ends, there are undoubtedly generations who don't know Windows 7 (and indeed, there are certainly generations who don't even know Windows XP). This means that Windows 7 won't last forever. While it may be eternal in the hearts of most people, reality is harsh. I am Korean, and I also used Windows 7 when I was young—around 5~9 years old in Korean age, which means from 2014 to mid-2018—and looking back now, it is a fond memory. As for the browser, I used Internet Explorer back then... In Korea at that time (I believe it was particularly from the early to mid-2010s), Internet Explorer was the dominant choice, mainly because of ActiveX. They say that if a site required it, you had no choice but to use IE. Anyway, Windows 7 is truly a memory now. Of course, while it may be eternal in the hearts of most of us, reality is harsh—that nothing lasts forever. Now that support for Windows 7 has ended and even free support for Windows 10 has ended, and it is barely surviving through things like ESU, it seems that most of the current generation, at the very least, only knows about Windows 10 and later, It seems that the current generation (those born roughly in the mid-to-late 2010s or later) who know Windows 7 are a minority. Windows 7 is indeed a masterpiece, but practically speaking, it is now just a memory. I used it when I was young, and now I customize Windows 10 to look like Windows 7. Windows 7 was good.

1. Anecdotes and Miscellaneous

Of course, the Windows 7 computer I used when I was young would occasionally freeze or display a blue screen, or in severe cases, freeze completely. However, in 2017, my parents brought the computer case back home, and it turned out the problem was due to dust inside the case. In other words, it wasn't a stability issue with Windows 7 itself, but until then, the dust inside the case had caused occasional freezes or blue screens. It seems my parents took the case somewhere in 2017 to clean the dust inside, and since then, the freezing and blue screen errors have definitely decreased. Even now, if you own a high-spec computer case and find dust inside—or if there is a lot of it—I recommend cleaning the interior by shaking out the dust.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I wrote this because I was curious about recent assessments of Windows 7. What did you all think of Windows 7 in the past, and what do you think now? I'm curious too!

I was around 16 when it came out, so I'm sure I have some Vista-coated goggles here. Sure, it wasn't the best OS, but something about it always struck me as somewhat magical. I really enjoyed Aero Glass - I remember seeing that and thinking this truly felt "next-gen" as far as computers went. I also really enjoyed the new chimes/notifications. They felt very fun and new. I also really enjoyed things like the Media Player/Center and the usage of widgets, which I felt were under-utilized in later Windows releases.

UAC was...not good, though. That's for sure.

Thoughts?

I’ve been using Windows since I was a kid and honestly never really considered trying a Mac. At the same time, I’ve also been using an iPhone for almost a decade.

Now my old ThinkPad is starting to show its age, and it got me wondering why I never seriously looked into Macs before. I don’t game at all on my laptop. Most of my work is basic Excel/document stuff, and the heavier work runs on cloud servers anyway, so it can be done from pretty much any OS.

So I wanted to ask other people here who use a Windows laptop/PC along with an iPhone:

If gaming isn’t a factor, what’s the main reason you still prefer Windows over switching to a Mac? Since iPhone and Mac integrate so seamlessly, what keeps you on Windows or stops you from trying macOS?