I've been saying for many years that it seems most UI "designers" are just art school dropouts. Art school graduates would have a better sense of style, even if they weren't HCI experts.

Windows 2000 was peak Windows UI. Yeah, it wasn't visually exciting, but it was the peak of functional and discoverable UI. Of course, the Windows 10/11 UI isn't visually exciting either, and in many cases it's more boring looking, and definitely less functional. I would pay money to go back to the Windows 2000 UI, but I guess Microsoft isn't sophisticated enough to do that any more. The current Windows UI is less customizable than Windows 2. Yes, you heard me right. Windows 2.1 was more customizable than Windows 11.

> The current Windows UI is less customizable than Windows 2.

I'm guessing that's just Microsoft conditioning people to accept that Microsoft owns their computer. Same with their "we'll reboot your computer/make changes/revert your preferences whenever we feel like it" philosophy. Personalization leads to a sense of ownership and control that could undermine the feeling of learned helplessness they're hoping we'll fall into.