The Fundamental Failings of Microsoft Windows r9 (See the current copy)

Why Microsoft Windows Can Never Be Fixed

Microsoft Windows is a poorly designed system. Most people would agree with this statement and cite implementation issues such as poor security, poor performance, and poor support systems. However, these issues can be addressed and solved over time. Microsoft Windows however, will always be a poorly designed system due to fundamental flaws in its design. These flaws are so fundamental that most Microsoft Windows administrators and users do not even understand that they are flaws at all -- instead they think of the limitations as features or do not think of them at all, and just accept them as the way things are.

  1. Drive Letters
    1. Artificial constraint for root nodes
    2. Some have argued that it is possible to overcome this limitation by treating "C:" as the root node. This is apparently not possible to do due to the way network shares are handled.
  2. Different Types of Executables
    1. Graphical versus Service versus Text Mode
    2. Makes it impossible to have one executable to execute in different manners according to context.
  3. Open Files may not be Deleted
    1. This is just retarded -- there's no reason not to allow this operation.

Windows users are the real prisoners as described in the UNIX-HATERS Handbook.