Essay argues 1990s Windows software was worse than today
Original title: Software may be getting worse, but it used to be horrible
A longtime user recalls blue screens, unsaved work, weak screensaver locks, and adware as the normal 1990s Windows experience.
A blog post argues that complaints about declining software quality ignore how unstable consumer computing used to be. The author recalls Windows dominating the market, frequent Blue Screens of Death from buggy drivers and resource leaks, and applications that lost hours of unsaved work. The piece also describes weak local security, including ending a password-protected screensaver from Task Manager, and routine advertising malware and viruses. It is personal recollection and opinion, not a new incident or research finding.
Unconfirmed: The account is one person's memories and is not a measured study of software quality.
- The author says Windows once held about 95% market share.
- Shipped disks and CDs imposed a one-time quality floor that updates later removed.
- A 2010 Google Docs metric showed Ctrl+S among the top non-editing actions despite autosave.
- The post describes adware pop-ups and Word-macro viruses as routine.
From the original article
11 min read at bitlog.comSoftware is degrading all around us, for obvious reasons. I've written about this before. All else equal, if you increase your code production by 10x but you don't reduce your error rate by a factor of 10, then your production app is buggier than it used to be.
By jakevoytko · bitlog.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.