Why I've always loved Windows

Windows has been an important part of my life for a long time. I grew up on Windows. The first version I used was Windows 3.1, thirty years ago. I've used every desktop version of Windows released since then. I've spent a lot of time sitting in front of a Windows desktop. Back in 2010, I started writing professionally — largely about Windows. People really wanted to read about Windows: Tips, tricks, troubleshooting, editorials, and more. There's a good chance you've read my work at How-To Geek, where I started writing in 2011, building the website into a powerhouse of useful and informative articles. I eventually became Editor-in-Chief, growing the website into a huge operation that reached more than 30 million people each month. We covered everything at How-To Geek, but our primary topic was always Windows. - I spent years using desktop Linux (mostly during the Windows Me and Windows Vista eras). - I dabbled in the world of Macs, using a MacBook as my portable system when I was away from my Windows desktop PC. - I tried the iPad-browsing-on-the-couch experience. I explored the "World Beyond Windows" — I even founded a PCWorld column with that same name! But I always keep coming back to Windows. Now, here I sit, in front of a Windows 11 PC. It's what I enjoy using most. My desktop is a Windows PC, my laptop is a Windows PC — and the media center experience in my living room? You better believe that's a Windows PC plugged into a TV with a mouse and keyboard attached. If I can't do something comfortably on my phone, I'm definitely turning to a Windows PC and not a tablet. And there are so many tasks I feel much more efficient doing on a Windows PC and not a phone. So what is it that makes Windows so special? Well, Windows is bigger than Microsoft. Yes, a lot of talented people at Microsoft develop it. But what we really love is the PC ecosystem. It's always been interesting to me to watch the parallel between Microsoft users and Apple users: When Apple releases a new feature for macOS, there's a lot of hype. When Microsoft releases a big update or new feature for Windows, well... maybe we'll try it! Is it any good? We can always just stick with the old version of Windows. The Windows 8 era was the best example of this. PC users didn't love where Microsoft was going, and Microsoft eventually course-corrected. (That's all I'll say about Windows 8 in this email, I promise!) When Microsoft meets Windows users where they are, the result is amazing. While there are definitely things to criticize in Windows 10 and Windows 11, they're both very solid operating systems with lots of awesome improvements. Microsoft has been making a lot of good changes that make Windows more polished and efficient, and even power users can find a lot to like in the latest versions of Windows and their updates. So why do I love Windows? - You can install anything on it, unlike an iPad or some other modern computing devices. - The extreme support for backward compatibility lets you run software going back decades on a modern Windows PC. In a testament to how powerful this is, both SteamOS and macOS are using software that runs Windows games on non-Windows systems. - It's the glue that holds the players in the PC industry together, from PC manufacturers to peripheral makers to software developers, letting them all reach a large audience and letting us combine all these different things in a variety of ways. There's no easy answer that sums it all up. When I look at my life, Windows has always been there as an extremely important part of it, in one way or another — I went from dabbling with it as a kid to founding my career on it. Ultimately, what matters isn't the exact reason why I love Windows. What matters is that I do love it. Windows Intelligence is all about sharing my passion with you. Whether you love Windows as much as I do or you think I'm crazy for forming some sort of emotional attachment to an operating system (I totally understand!), I'm happy to have you here. Thanks for subscribing. I couldn't do this without people like you. Let me know what you think of the newsletter by replying to this email if you have a chance. We'll talk more soon! Chris You received this email because your address was signed up for Windows Intelligence. If you didn't mean to sign up or no longer wish to be subscribed, you can [unsubscribe or update your preferences here](=).