Dave Plummer, who created Task Manager and helped bring the famous Pinball game to Windows, says it’s about time Microsoft creates a special version of Windows 11 without new features, AI and bloat. Microsoft should have another Windows XP SP2 moment, according to Plummer, but is that something the company would ever do? I highly doubt.
“No more AI, no more features, just fixes,” Plummer says. “When I was working on Windows XP, the Blaster worm hit. That was a big enough deal that we set aside all feature work. For the next several months, all we did was improve security.”
If you have never used Windows XP, you probably don’t realise why Windows XP SP2 was a big thing.
What was Windows XP SP2?
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) was not just a major update to Windows XP, as it was almost a re-release of the operating system with dozens of security-focused features. It arrived after worms like Blaster and Sasser showed just how vulnerable always-online Windows PCs really were, especially at home, where there were no corporate firewalls.
SP2 fundamentally changed XP’s default security model and it almost felt like “XP 1.5,” moment. The operating system was all about patching major security issues, and fixing bugs without adding too many features that add little or no value. That’s what Windows 11 needs.
“I argue that it’s time for Microsoft to have another XPS2 moment. No more AI, no
more features, just fixes,” Dave Plummer, who created Task Manager said.
Up until the blaster worm attack, Microsoft was focused on adding features that the company thought users would love. After blaster worm hit, the company decided to put all fancy feature on the back burner and focus on getting the OS back on track
“I argue it’s time for Microsoft to stabilize, improve, and make the system more performant and more usable for power users like me and probably like you,” Plummer argues.
Plummer is not wrong here.
You can add AI, but still ship a stable OS
Whether it’s Apple or Google, all of Microsoft’s rivals are adding AI features to their products. The difference is that we’re not seeing reports of major stability issues on macOS or ChromeOS. It is possible to have both AI and stability, and most users wouldn’t mind if the AI features were disabled by default.
At this point, we just want a stable Windows 11 without bloat.
If you’ve been reading WindowsLatest.com, you probably know how bad the state of Windows is right now. There’s a new bug with almost every cumulative update. Last month’s update triggered the BitLocker recovery screen, and now we’re seeing reports of an issue where the password icon disappears from the lock screen.
Worse, Microsoft also managed to break Task Manager with a bug that duplicates the process every time you close it, and
None of this makes sense. How do you break basic features like the password icon or Task Manager when they’re used every day by the same employees who build Windows?
A Windows XP SP2 moment is all Windows 11 needs
Windows needs to go back to the drawing board and Microsoft should bring back the testers it fired years ago, and focus solely on fixing bugs, UI issues and performance concerns.
A decent update focused entirely on bug fixes is all the company needs at the moment. We don’t mind whether you call it SP2 or Creators Update.. what do you think?
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