This article nails a lot of the issues with Windows 11.

I bit the bullet and upgraded to Windows 11 late last year thinking it must be an improvement over Windows 10. It turned out to be a big step backwards.

- Changing the default browser is a lot of work instead of a single click.

- I can't move the task bar to the side, even though almost every monitor nowadays has much more horizontal space than vertical.

- All apps are not readily accessible from the start menu; I have to click another button to get to them.

- I have a 2-in-1 laptop, and turning it into tablet mode is wonky.

- I can't choose to not have grouped buttons on the taskbar.

- The context menus UX is horrible. Some context menu items are now two clicks away instead of one. Also what's with the excessive rounded corners and slim selection padding?

- The stacked notifications is confusing, and always shows the calendar when I open the notifications panel.

- Lots of crap pushed on me, like chat (aka Teams), widgets (which require a Microsoft account), 3rd party apps that look like they're installed but actually get downloaded/installed on first use.

I was able to fix a lot of those issues with ExplorerPatcher [0]. However, one day after a Windows update, Explorer didn't start at all after login (black screen, I thought Windows was hosed). This has since been fixed. But I decided enough is enough, and finally "upgraded" back to Windows 10.

The only good thing about Windows 11 is wslg, which provides out of the box support for Linux GUI apps (not available on Windows 10). But I can get the same result with an X server and some work.

[0] https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/wiki/All-features

I have a theory that the people who used the bar on the side and the people who turned the user metrics off are the same people (myself included). But I’m not sure how I feel about the results. In any case I hope shells like litestep make a comeback as a result of ever more hostile ui decisions, either that or everyone jumps ship entirely to put energy into making something else great.

The problem is that Windows with all its warts now is still far ahead of the competition in that department (desktop GUI). Whether that's due to monopoly or being actually better, it doesn't matter. The fact is competition is almost non-existent.

In what ways is Windows desktop GUI better than macOS?

The only thing Windows has going for itself is backwards compatability.

In my opinion, Window management on Mac is bad compared with everything that isn't Mac. On the other hand, there's lots to like about Macs, so I keep using them.

So I switched to Rectangle, which has optional Spectacle-compatible keybindings. https://github.com/rxhanson/Rectangle

I also add RightZoom: https://www.blazingtools.com/right_zoom_mac.html

With them, window management becomes basically as good as any other desktop I use, and delivers most of what I like from tiling WMs.