Edit: also there are ways to install modern windows without all the bloat/AI/recall features. I think the process should be much simpler, but as it stands I feel it's still worth the trouble to avoid running an outdated/insecure OS.
Windows 10 and 11 are insecure systems by design, and classified as
malware as per Microsoft's own admittance (e.g. keyloggers) since the Windows 10 launch.
Security, privacy, stability and superior UI and UX design are
the reasons Windows 7 remains so popular today and into the future.
This is no exaggeration: You think you can remove
all the evil and ultra-invasive stuff, but you can't. Not 100%. And even with what you
can remove, it necessarily leaves your system in a broken and unsupported state. In no way, shape or form should it be the default option for anyone.
Aside the 1st party keyloggers, spyware and the massive malware behavior of the AI and other "features", lack of consent with OneDrive and so on, users keep losing their data due to several AI slop bugs that govern Microsoft's software updates, breaking Windows in ways that have caused terabytes upon terabytes of data loss worldwide, be it from the terror of various BitLocker bugs or other forms of irreversible destruction.
Microsoft is very open about the malware they push. Now imagine all else they
aren't being open about. It only gets
worse with time, not better, so the further you are able to go back, the more you go forward where it actually counts.
Remember:
Where there is a risk, there needs to be a choice. It's no one's business but their own what other users decide to use for themselves. At minimum, the best we can do is not to try to take away that choice from them. If I develop Windows software, I won't go out of my way to ensure it's broken on Windows 10/11 to protect users from the various infringements caused by their poisoned OS of choice. The best I can do is educate, and let them come to their own opinions and decide.
Windows 8 and 8.1 are also problematic, although to a lesser degree. Still should be avoided nonetheless.
Incidentally, for what it's worth, it should be known and made clear that Windows 7 (and even Vista)
have been
officially supported by Microsoft until January 2026, meaning until just know, way before ModMii 8.0.0 was released. Perhaps you just didn't know of it, but not only there were ESU updates, but also PA (Premium Assurance) updates. They are for Server 2008 and 2008 R2, whose non-Server counterparts are Vista and 7 respectively, and work equally on them.
With or without the updates, though, Windows 7 SP1 has TLS 1.2 support, various modern tools, apps and webbrowsers (if you try and look), and extremely solid security overall. What's essential to ANY operating system, above all, is
how you, the end user, use it. If need be, you
can harden its built-in security even further for any given edge case, simply ask around the "Windows XP Vista 7 fans" Discord community from where the likes of
VxKex originated from, as well as a lot of general good advice.
TL;DR I think you meant well, but please consider not fighting how users use their systems. They might know something you might not. This is not to say you are guilty of the following, but
never impose anything onto others over the
terrible pretext or premise of "because it's good for you" or "I know better than you". Thank you for making ModMii for all these years.
