I’m a Windows fanboy, but these 5 flaws still drive me crazy

I swear by Windows, just not by everything Microsoft is doing with it.

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer from Ahmedabad, India. As a long-time Windows and Android user, he has extensive knowledge of both operating systems and specializes in creating how-tos and troubleshooting guides.    Pankil has been writing about Windows, Android, and iOS since 2021. He has written over 1200 articles across reputable publications like MakeUseOf, GuidingTech, and TechWiser.

  Outside of his writing endeavors, Pankil is an avid football fan and loves to plan his international travels with his wife in his free time. I’ve used a Windows PC for as long as I can remember, and I genuinely appreciate it for what it does well. The software compatibility, strong gaming support, and seamless pairing with my Android phone are all big reasons I stick with it. But loving it doesn’t mean ignoring its flaws.

From Microsoft nudging users toward its own apps to the inconsistent mix of old and new UI and questionable privacy practices, the Windows experience sometimes feels unnecessarily more frustrating than it needs to be. Let me get this out of the way. I actually like a lot of Microsoft’s apps and services. But nothing annoys me more than the way Microsoft pushes, and sometimes practically forces, users to stick with its own apps.

For instance, Edge is a decent browser, but when I’m deliberately downloading another browser and Windows still throws a pop-up asking if I’m sure, it feels petty. If I've chosen Chrome or Firefox, that should be respected. Then there’s Bing. Windows lets you search the web from the taskbar, which is a great idea in theory. But those web results open only in Bing and only in Edge. If you don’t like that, too bad, because there’s no way to change that.

And Windows’ forceful nature isn’t limited to just apps. Setting up a fresh copy of Windows is no longer possible without a Microsoft account. Yes, cloud sync is convenient. Yes, OneDrive backups are helpful. But some of us just want a clean local account on our machines. If there’s one thing that perfectly sums up modern Windows, it’s this strange time warp where 2009 and 2026 live side by side on the same machine.

Open the Settings app and you get a clean, friendly interface. But dig deep enough, and you’ll be teleported straight into the classic Control Panel. Microsoft has been talking about retiring the Control Panel for years, and yet, it’s still there. There are also legacy tools like Device Manager, Disk Cleanup, Character Map, and Resource Monitor that carry the same dated look from older versions of Windows.

Even the update right-click context menu tells the same story. Microsoft updated it with Windows 11, but the classic context menu is still hiding underneath. Design can be subjective, of course. But at some point, Microsoft needs to commit fully. Either modernize everything or leave it as it is. Because right now, Windows feels like a mixed bag of old and new UI elements. Every long-time Windows fan has that one feature they still miss.

For me, it's the old taskbar. I used to love being able to move it to the top or sides with just my mouse. That, however, is no longer possible. The Start menu in Windows 10 was something you could easily resize, just like any other window. That’s also gone now. Even the older right-click menu was perfectly fine, but Microsoft had to ruin it with Windows 11. And it’s not just about these flashy elements.

Microsoft also killed one of my favorite built-in apps, Windows Mail. This was done mainly to push users toward the new Outlook app with its redesigned interface. The result is that longtime Mail users still miss it, and the classic Outlook fans feel like something familiar was taken away. I paid for Windows. You probably did too, whether it came preinstalled or you bought a license yourself. Which is why it feels so wrong to keep bumping into ads inside an operating system that’s supposed to be a premium product.

Open the Start menu, and you’ll see app suggestions in the Recommended section. Go to the lock screen, and you’ll see tips and suggestions that basically get you to use Microsoft’s apps and services. You’ll see similar suggestions in the Settings app too. Even File Explorer is not a sacred place anymore. And then there are those full-screen pop-ups that encourage you to finish setting up your device by enabling more Microsoft services.

The irony is, the more Windows promotes its own stuff, the less likely I’m to try it. Privacy matters, especially when you rely on your PC for work, banking, messages, and basically your entire life. Yet the default Windows settings are designed to collect as much data as possible. From the moment you set up your PC, Microsoft quietly collects your location history, diagnostic data, app preferences, and even your browsing activity.

If you want a reality check, just head to Microsoft’s Privacy Dashboard, and you’ll see everything that Microsoft knows about you. While I understand some of this information is used to improve the Windows experience, what bothers me is how scattered the privacy controls are. The average user is unlikely to spend an hour combing through them, which means more data for Microsoft and advertisers.

Windows is the operating system I grew up with, and I still recommend it to people all the time. I just hope that Microsoft remembers what made people fall in love with it and doesn’t slowly chip away at it in the name of control, monetization, or change for the sake of it.

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