Alas, I have started something that I cannot finish. During the summer and fall of 2024 I embarked on a project that would be first published in December 2024 called The Windows Chronicles. My objective was to explore Windows 10. My intention was to divide out all the background processes, analyze them, determine their value, and purge them if necessary. The operating system was in sore need of efficiency. Compared to the Linux platform I used daily, the Windows system was at best 1/10th as efficient as Linux. I decided I would apply the techniques I used as a performance analyst for a cloud center where I had to provide guidance on the construct of Windows servers, and reaching back further in my career when I managed Windows workstations utilizing centralized updates and configuration management.
So my journey began, posting a series of articles discussing my techniques and declaring the terrible state of affairs I encountered with Windows 10 and later Windows 11 in an article titled Background Noise. In it I concluded an important point about the evolution of the platform – that it was basically turning your computer into a glorified smartphone.
My optimism regarding this project did not wane during the early summer of 2025 as I continued to study processes and experiment with reconfigurations, application removal, and firewalls. A handful of future publications were evolving. But, alas, I got distracted. Even in retirement, I was involved in more gratifying things in my life such as remodeling an old home, re-establishing an orchard and a garden, and enjoying country life. Why hurry. But I did manage to get back to the project when in July or August I discovered that a process that I had intentionally blocked and documented, had suddenly re-appeared after a Windows 11 update. Then another appeared. I began to realize that this was not system management I was writing about. It was wack-a-mole.
Since that time I saw emerging in my YouTube queue commentary from former Microsoft engineers who observed the same trends. I found it reassuring that “it wasn’t just me.” I queried a couple of consultants I knew who still worked in the field and they concurred. The Windows platform was virtually becoming unmanageable. I could tell from my Reddit threads that there were thousands more out there who were very unhappy with Windows 11 (and Windows 10 before it), but when you see two former Microsoft engineers sounding alarms, you take notice.
Re-introduce life, you have to make decisions regarding whether a project is really worth it or not.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 11 IS NOT WORTH IT!
This was a huge decision for me to make. I had been deeply involved with the platform as a specialist since the mid-1990’s. I was all in with Windows 3.1! I loved working with Windows 95 and 98 and I enjoyed teaching server administration techniques using the Windows 2000 and 2003 server platforms. While I would spend most of my thirteen years with the US Forest Service working on AIX and Linux platforms, my level of expertise in Windows invariably drew the attention of my supervisor and I was asked to return to the world of Microsoft to address chronic issues with the USFS Windows servers.
I would retire in 2020. Yet what I began in 2008 was to experiment with the Linux workstations. So it was I settled into a life where I did not have to show up to work every day. Upstairs was my Linux workstation. Downstairs, in a satchel, was a Windows laptop. The latter I used while traveling and we traveled a lot. It was then I could see the radical difference in performance that was evolving. My workstation was ten years old, yet it outperformed a laptop I just purchased. Once I moved to Missouri in 2023 I built a new personal computer and at that point the Linux system wasn’t even in the same universe as the Windows system. The only time I really needed the laptop was for a long trip or to run custom software. Aside from using it to write The Windows Chronicles, it was basically useless for every day work.
When I saw all those purged processes re-appearing, I knew I lost control of the platform. What rolled into my mind was what system engineers for small businesses and large enterprises must be encountering: overloaded workstations, exponentially taking more bandwidth, exposing a plethora of security vulnerabilities for each “feature” it launched. Every handshake to Microsoft-corporate was another event that compromised corporate security.
So I decided to end it. My next purchase will be a Linux-certified laptop. It will most likely run Ubuntu’s distribution of Linux. The Windows laptop I have? It will be further marginalized. A day may come when it will no longer be necessary and the laptop will be reconfigured to run Linux.
Next – I will be doing a bit of thinking out loud. As an individual, to switch over to a Linux-only set up is one thing. As a small business, its an entirely different problem. And as an enterprise administrator, it is a challenge at a much higher level. Stay tuned. The next article will focus on how you (or your business) can transition to Linux workstations.
An Aside
I began writing this article on December 23, 2025. It was clear to me that I wasn’t alone regarding my observations about Windows. Since then, the YouTube algorithm has flooded my queue with videos addressing the same issues I bring up in this article. Almost all of them are transferring to Linux. The Linux platform is finally going mainstream. Nearly all the major computer manufacturers have either done so or are planning to provide options for customers to purchase computers with Linux already loaded, as well as the LibreOffice suite.
Below is a video I recently viewed that addresses the transition to Linux for both the single user and the enterprise, and provides some interesting data on the perspective of manufacturers. Microsoft, in an effort to make the operating system a cash cow, have significantly compromised the essential function of an operating system.
Dove-tailing into this discussion is how this transition will effect hardware. One computer lasted ten years for me. Microsoft made a bad decision to terminate support for Windows 10 because it was “too old,” rendering obsolete computers that were as young as three years old! Add to that the data that is confirming today what I observed five years ago as a cloud center operating system specialist, Windows requires more memory and CPU power to reasonably perform, costing customers. The apps that Microsoft has added that have nothing to do with an operating system are another problem, generating added customer support cost, compromising security and transferring the re-engineering burden to third-party specialists.
My guess is that in five years Microsoft will continue to be a strong presence in the market, but no longer dominant. And I do believe that they will get the message and produce a simplified, slimmed-down operating system.
© Copyright 2026 to Eric Niewoehner