There were many heated discussions regarding Windows 11, especially as it included a limited set of supported CPUs (post-2017, basically) and it seems to mandate either TPM 2.0 or 1.2 (I’m not sure they made up their minds). This is not an attempt to a serious analysis of the situation, but only a rather jocular reflection on Microsoft Windows and its future.

Stoopid sheeple

There is a global chip crisis. Taiwan chipmakers keep workers ‘imprisoned’ in factories to keep up with global pandemic demand. Windows 11 will leave millions of PCs behind (hundreds of millions would be more accurate)… or maybe not: Microsoft is letting OEMs ship Windows 11 PCs without any TPM chip. But this will change in 2025, the retirement date of Win10 Home and Pro. Microsoft is anything but “green”!

Most of the opinions of the sheeple on the social networks are favorable, though: why, Windows 10 is beautiful! Even some macOS people liked it. Who cares Windows is a spying machine, and that Federal law enforcement agencies secretly seek the data of Microsoft customers thousands of times a year, according to congressional testimony Wednesday by a senior executive at the technology company? Not even the press: I couldn’t find any other article on the routine spying by Microsoft!

The sheeple also wants it for some other reasons: they’re stupid enough to fall for the “all-in-one” concept: look, ma, Windows can run Linux (WSL2)! Look, ma, Windows will be able to run (some) Android apps!

Look, ma, what a nice gift!

The security argument: a fallacy

This is a fake argument, for two reasons:

  • Secure Boot and TPM were not designed to curb the malware and increase the security, but to prevent people from installing anything else but Microsoft Windows.
  • Despite the wave of ransomware attacks, and despite what the corrupt pundits are saying, the solution is not Secure Boot.

Fact: since August 2020, I don’t use any antivirus on Windows 7 (yes, seven), and I really disabled all the security features of the OS; it runs much faster this way. My wife’s old Win7 laptop doesn’t have any active AV either (Kaspersky changed from decent to pure crap). Only her new HP PC which runs Win10 has Microsoft’s own security features enabled, but I disabled Secure Boot (a bit painfully) to be able to test a few Linux distros using USB flash drives.

If ransomware owns you, you’re either an idiot, or you’re running unpatched server software.

Also, the major security issue nowadays is the dis-invention of the jumper.

https://twitter.com/ludditus/status/1409135676583469065

In such a world, there are idiots who designed NAS devices able to reset to factory via the Internet, leading to grotesque situations:

The proof that hardware and software designers, and electrical engineers are predominantly stupid can be found e.g. in the comments on Hacker News that follow this one:

I want hardware switches for:

1. firmware updating

2. write-enable for disk contents

3. turning the microphone on

4. turning the camera on

As I said, there’s nothing Secure Boot and TPM would or will fix. Nada. It’s engineers and their bosses who nid a fix. Like, being sent to Siberia, in the Gulag.

Let’s not forget that this Windows 11 is based on the same Windows 10 as the one Microsoft routinely fails to patch properly, even when they release patches: Microsoft Tries, Fails to Patch Critical Windows Vulnerability. Chaos Ensues.

Not everyone was happy, though

Dedoimedo, as a true mole, fell for Windows 11 (never trust anyone, they say). But some people made fun of Microsoft’s absurd requirements:

What’s really ridiculous is another “feature” of Windows

Does anyone know whether Windows 11 is able to create and delete files with names such as AUX.H, PRN.TXT, CON.JPG and the like?

LATE EDIT: The OP also wrote a blog post: Teaching an old ERROR new tricks.

Basically, unless they fix it, Windows 11 is nothing but a hugely enhanced, graphical version of CP/M (1974) that…

  • Cannot run MS-DOS or Win3.1 (16-bit) apps directly, because 64-bit versions of Windows have stopped supporting NTDVM.
  • Cannot create and manage files named CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, or LPT9, regardless of their extension.
  • And the reason is a design decision taken in 1974 in CP/M, then in 1981 by IBM, and in 1993 by Microsoft (Windows NT 3.1).
  • But again, Windows nowadays can’t run CP/M, nor MS-DOS software, except in an emulator!

Recommended products under the Microsoft brand

Late Edit BONUS