news
Windows won the desktop by being compatible with everything, but that's starting to look like a drawback
Quoting: Windows won the desktop by being compatible with everything, but that's starting to look like a drawback —
If you haven't dipped a toe into the world of Linux operating systems, some distros are atomic and/or immutable, usually both at the same time. Atomic means the operating system performs an A/B update process where it downloads the new system files to a new branch. When you restart, the operating system 'swaps tracks' from the old system files to the new ones, which is a lot more reliable than updating system files directly. Immutable means that nothing, not even software, can edit the system files, thus keeping the operating system clean from tampering.
These would both be amazing additions to Windows, but there's a problem. In order to bring in an atomic and/or immutable system, Microsoft would need to break decades of compatibility. For instance, it would need to scrap the Registry, which a ton of apps have relied on for decades now. And all kinds of legacy apps depend on installing or tweaking system files, which cannot be fixed by the developers simply releasing a patch for them. The dev teams may not even exist anymore.
Linux distros don't have this problem; they can add an atomic and immutable system to their software whenever they please. But Windows would be a lot harder, if not impossible, to do the same with.