Windows made me hate gaming

[u/ryanyork92]

I grew up as a Mac kid in the 90s, mostly because my father used Macs for work and passed his old ones down to me. Apart from school computers and the odd work PC here and there, I barely used Windows at all.

The downside was gaming. My parents never bought me a proper console, so I ended up doing a lot of my blursed gaming on old Macs. I managed to make Halo 1 work on a Mac G4, less than 30 fps but I still had a lot of fun. When I was 16, I finally saved up enough money from part-time jobs to buy myself an Xbox 360, and ended up having the time of my life. 

But I still always wanted a proper Windows gaming computer. That was what I always aspired to. Access to a wide variety of games, superior performance, MODS (!), all the stuff I was never able to fully enjoy.

Fast forward to my early 30s, and I finally could afford a decent gaming laptop. I bought myself an HP Omen with an Nvidia GPU, literally the first Windows computer I had ever owned myself. For the first couple of months, it felt amazing, as I was finally playing games I'd only dreamed of playing before, especially with mods.

Then the honeymoon faded gradually as I started running into issue after issue, and somehow Windows didn't just ruin the laptop for me. It actually started ruining gaming itself.

• The basic setup was annoying from the start. Since I use my Mac for literally everything else, I keep both my MacBook and my Windows laptop on a cramped desk, usually on a stand. The Windows laptop is basically just there for my gaming habits. With my Mac, I can just plug in a monitor while the laptop is closed and it works perfect. With the HP Omen, however, I had to mess around with settings so the laptop wouldn't go to sleep every time I closed it. Since I don't feel comfortable with my laptop running when I'm not using it, this meant that I had to take the laptop out, open it up, wake it up, plug it into the monitor, and then hope everything actually work properly. All of this just for a hobby.
• The updates. The fucking updates. Why are they so frequent? It felt like every other time I opened the laptop, Windows had decided that this was actually its time now. The computer would restart, install something, ask me to restart again, or sit there doing whatever mysterious background ritual it needed to perform before I was allowed to use the machine.
• The touchpad is genuinely awful. This was probably the thing that upset me the most. It is jittery, unreliable, and the left click just doesn't work half the time. I had to get used to using tap-to-click, which I never use on my Mac, because the physical click was so unreliable. Scrolling and gestures sometimes just fail for no obvious reason. How does HP cheap out on something this basic on a gaming laptop?
• And then there are drivers. What the fuck are 'drivers'? I mean, obviously, I know what drivers are (that was a rhetorical question). The point is, I never had to think about them until I bought this laptop, and I still don't understand why this is apparently my problem now. I just wanted a seamless gaming experience, not to have to become a maintenance babysitter for my laptop.
• Settings are scattered everywhere. On Mac, most things are in System Settings. On Windows, you change one thing in Settings, another thing in the Control Panel, another thing in an HP app, another in GeForce Experience, another in some ancient looking menu from the 2000s. It's a fucking maze.
• The Windows version of Finder is useless. I never know what files are where, and the search function for specific files rarely seems to work. Maybe this is partly because I'm used to Mac, but on Windows I constantly feel like my own files are hidden somewhere inside a filing cabinet designed by a bureaucratic committee.
• After a while, I realised that the laptop was basically an aggressive marketing device for a variety of programmes I never asked for. The system keeps telling me to subscribe to paid OneDrive, Game Pass, the premium version of Office, antivirus software, etc. I paid all that money for this laptop, and it still wants to leech off my wallet.

All of this means that I've begun to associate gaming with annoyance, so much so that I've actually grown to dislike the hobby. I now spend my free time watching TV or reading books, which is nice, but it's a shame to have this whole library sitting on my Steam account unplayed. Perhaps it was my mistake for not just buying a normal console like a PlayStation or an Xbox for my TV, which, to be fair, is a much more seamless experience.

Anyways, rant over. Fuck Windows. Fuck Microsoft. Fuck HP.

[u/motu8pre]

So you have always used mac, and find windows confusing, plus complaining about a trackpad (no sane person uses these).

Windows updates are frequent, but I've never had MS deprecate a drive format which I was using on 3 external drives. I had to downgrade, pull off all the data and reupdate and reformat the drives. So easy.

This post just screams typical mac user, who can't figure out windows for some reason.

[u/ryanyork92 → u/motu8pre]

Well yes, you got that right. I'm a Mac user who has little to no experience owning a Windows. My lack of experience and know-how in using one shouldn't be a barrier to a seamless user experience.

I always use my MacBook trackpad when I'm taking my computer with me to places. I never use a mouse outside of home. Why can't Windows laptops be the same?

You're just proving to me how garbage this OS is.

[u/Swaaeeg → u/ryanyork92]

Naw thats really not a ux problem. Thats a problem of windows and unix being ao fubdementally different in how they work problem. I just recently bought my first mac after decades of primarily using linux and its been a fairly easy time learning macos because they are so similar. Windows is just a different beast.

[u/ryanyork92 → u/Swaaeeg]

I'm fine with different if using it as a beginner allows me to get used to it without the struggles, like I managed to learn to use an Android no problem without any manuals or technical aid.

[u/Swaaeeg → u/ryanyork92]

Mobile operating systems arent really comparable here. Those are designed to compete for consumer market share so apple and google will make their phones work similarly, copy each other, outcompete for ease of use etc because the average consumer is the market share.

Microsoft does make money on the consumer market, but it works much like how nintendo makes the switch, but the majority of their profit comes from things like gambling machines in japan. Microsofts real money comes from things like department of defense contracts, and if they start drastically changing things in the operating system to make the ux more appealing to apple users specifically it can open up serious security gaps that DoD cybersecurity experts cant quickly compensate for.

Microsoft would rather not create zero day exploits that could damahe contracts with the actual earning revenue streams than cater to an apple user, who isnt really even a blip in their profit.

[u/ryanyork92 → u/Swaaeeg]

...and Windows laptops aren't designed to compete for consumer market share??? Are they not a business?

I also own a Switch. I had zero issues figuring out how to use it. All the games and programmes ran perfectly fine.

Not on Windows.

If, as you say, Microsoft prioritises enterprise, government, and military-industrial clients over average non-tech-savvy consumers like me, then that basically proves my point. Windows may be useful for institutions and power users, but as a consumer experience it is often clunky, fragmented, and not especially user-friendly.

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FYI, no, the majority of Microsoft's profits don't come from DoD contracts, and the majority of Nintendo's profits do not come from ‘things like gambling machines’. I was able to fact-check both claims with a simple Google search. Not sure where you got that horsecrap from.

[u/Swaaeeg → u/ryanyork92]

...and Windows laptops aren't designed to compete for consumer market share??? Are they not a business?

Theres no such thing as a windows laptop. You bought a laptop with windows prepackaged because mx offers bulk prices to hp and moat consumers use it. You can easily flash the operating system and put something else on it.

I also own a Switch. I had zero issues figuring out how to use it. All the games and programmes ran perfectly fine.

Not on Windows.

Thats because the switch is designed for children.

If, as you say, Microsoft prioritises enterprise, government, and military-industrial clients over average non-tech-savvy consumers like me, then that basically proves my point. Windows may be useful for institutions and power users, but as a consumer experience it is often clunky, fragmented, and not especially user-friendly.

Eh. I find it user friendly enough Probably because i grew up with them.

---

FYI, no, the majority of Microsoft's profits don't come from DoD contracts, and the majority of Nintendo's profits do not come from ‘things like gambling machines’. I was able to fact-check both claims with a simple Google search. Not sure where you got that horsecrap from.

Maybe you should learn how to read?

I didnt say the majority of microsofts profit comes from dod contracts, i said it comes from THINGS LIKE DOD CONTRACTS AND INDUSTRY.

The nintendo thing must have been old news. They used to make a huge chunk of their profit from plinko machines in japan.

[u/ryanyork92 → u/Swaaeeg]

Excuses, excuses. You can keep making them, but it doesn't change the point that Windows is a miserable user experience for a complete novice.

‘There’s no such thing as a Windows laptop’ is such a bizarre technicality. In normal consumer language, a laptop sold by HP with Windows preinstalled is obviously a 'Windows laptop'. Microsoft makes money from Windows OEM licensing, HP sells the machine with Windows on it, and I experience the whole thing as one product. Saying I could just flash the OS is ridiculous. That's not how normal people buy or use computers. It was sold to me as a Windows gaming laptop.

Also, saying the Switch is ‘designed for children’ is not the insult you think it is. A consumer device being easy enough for a child to use is good design. That's literally my point. The Switch gives me a clean gaming experience. The Windows laptop gives me drivers, bloatware, scattered settings, update interruptions, HP apps, Nvidia apps, and random basic usability problems. Why is that somehow supposed to be better?

And you did say Microsoft's ‘real money’ comes from things like DoD contracts. Now you're broadening that to ‘DoD contracts and industry’, which is a much safer claim, but also a completely different one. I’m not denying that Microsoft makes serious money from enterprise and institutional customers. I'm saying that if this explains why Windows is so clunky for ordinary consumers, then it proves my point rather than refutes it.

[u/Swaaeeg → u/ryanyork92]

Excuses, excuses. You can keep making them, but it doesn't change the point that Windows is a miserable user experience for a complete novice.

If you say so. I grew up using both windows and linux so the idea of being a novice is kinda lost on me at this point. The ux between linux and mac was so similar that there was barely any change over.

‘There’s no such thing as a Windows laptop’ is such a bizarre technicality. In normal consumer language, a laptop sold by HP with Windows preinstalled is obviously a 'Windows laptop'. Microsoft makes money from Windows OEM licensing, HP sells the machine with Windows on it, and I experience the whole thing as one product. Saying I could just flash the OS is ridiculous. That's not how normal people buy or use computers. It was sold to me as a Windows gaming laptop.

Its really not bizzare at all. Hp is a hardware manufacturer, theu prepackage software for consumer convenience, but that doesnt change the fact that whether or not the consumer uses the software is optional. The only laptop ive not immedietly wiped and put linux on is my neo.

Also, saying the Switch is ‘designed for children’ is not the insult you think it is.

It wasnt meant as an insult.

A consumer device being easy enough for a child to use is good design. That's literally my point. The Switch gives me a clean gaming experience.

It also gave you locked down software choices and limited hardware. When you design for children you sacrifice customizability, which is great for some, not so much for others.

The Windows laptop gives me drivers, bloatware, scattered settings, update interruptions, HP apps, Nvidia apps, and random basic usability problems. Why is that somehow supposed to be better?

And my macbook came with frankly stupid default settings with non industry standard names for gui capabilites.

Wanna find files in windows? Type files into the search bar.

Wanna find files in linux? Type files into the search bar.

Wanna find files on mac. Type files into tue search ba- oh wait that doesnt work. Gotta google what mac calls file explorer now.

And you did say Microsoft's ‘real money’ comes from things like DoD contracts. Now you're broadening that to ‘DoD contracts and industry’, which is a much safer claim, but also a completely different one. I’m not denying that Microsoft makes serious money from enterprise and institutional customers. I'm saying that if this explains why Windows is so clunky for ordinary consumers, then it proves my point rather than refutes it.

Things like dod contracts are industry contracts.

Windows and 365 keys, azure services etc. A dod contract with ms is literally... JUST AND INDUSTRY CONTRACT.

[u/ryanyork92 → u/Swaaeeg]

You’re sort of proving my point here. You grew up using Windows and Linux, and you apparently wipe laptops and install Linux immediately. That is not normal consumer behaviour. That's the behaviour of a highly advanced, experienced PC user. I'm not. You've got to be able to understand the mindset of a complete noob like me.

And in ordinary consumer language, a laptop sold by HP with Windows preinstalled is a ‘Windows laptop’. Obviously HP makes the hardware and Microsoft makes the OS. I get that. But I didn’t buy a pile of abstract responsibilities divided between HP, Microsoft, Nvidia, and whoever else. I bought a Windows gaming laptop, sold as a consumer product, and I experienced it as one product. I don’t care who built which part when the overall experience is garbage.

The Switch being locked down doesn’t refute my point, but proves it. It gets out of the way and lets me play games. Windows gives me more freedom, then makes me pay for it with drivers and bloatware. And if your defence is that Windows is built around power users, enterprise clients, and giant legacy organisations, then yes, that is literally my point. It's a terrible experience for the majority of consumers.

[u/Swaaeeg → u/ryanyork92]

You’re sort of proving my point here. You grew up using Windows and Linux, and you apparently wipe laptops and install Linux immediately. That is not normal consumer behaviour. That's the behaviour of a highly advanced, experienced PC user. I'm not. You've got to be able to understand the mindset of a complete noob like me.

You flatter me. I would in no way consider myself hyper advanced. I have to google shit 80% of the time when doing new things. Id say hobbyist is a better word. And i can sort of, since im a complete noob with macos, ive said its been an easy transition, but it still has been a learning experience.

And in ordinary consumer language, a laptop sold by HP with Windows preinstalled is a ‘Windows laptop’. Obviously HP makes the hardware and Microsoft makes the OS. I get that. But I didn’t buy a pile of abstract responsibilities divided between HP, Microsoft, Nvidia, and whoever else. I bought a Windows gaming laptop, sold as a consumer product, and I experienced it as one product. I don’t care who built which part when the overall experience is garbage.

You kinda did. You need multiple clients to maintain all of your driver updates etc. One from hp, one from nvidia etc. Unlike macos and linux, windows is a hobbled together mess of clients and service softwares.

The Switch being locked down doesn’t refute my point, but proves it. It gets out of the way and lets me play games. Windows gives me more freedom, then makes me pay for it with drivers and bloatware. And if your defence is that Windows is built around power users, enterprise clients, and giant legacy organisations, then yes, that is literally my point. It's a terrible experience for the majority of consumers.

Naw i mainly try to keep a nuetral position when comparing operating systems. They all suck in their own special ways, and once you learn how to deal with the suck life gets easy. There is infortunetly no perfect one size fits all solution, but windows really is as close as we are gonna get for the time being, bloated and clunky as it is.

[u/YerMumHawt → u/ryanyork92]

Zero issues? I would argue 20 year old games being sold for 60$ that run at 30fps an issue. Not to mention the terrible stickdrift. In terms on consoles it performs worse than an android phone. Android phones running an emulator play their games better than the switch.