Sarang Sheth published a thorough piece on Yanko Design this week cataloguing how Microsoft broke Windows. The TPM 2.0 lockout. Stealth OneDrive syncing. TikTok pre-pinned to a fresh install. Thirteen years of two competing settings interfaces. Updates that break the machines they’re supposed to protect. It’s a well-argued indictment.
I agree with nearly all of it. Where I part ways with Sheth is his conclusion: that Windows remains the most practical OS, that there’s no clean exit, that MacOS is “paternalistic by design,” and that the MacBook Neo is “genuinely less of a laptop and more of a netbook.”
Every one of those claims is wrong.
The exit is right there
MacOS is the most coherent, integrated desktop OS available in 2026. No bloatware on first boot. No fragmented settings. No cloud upselling through your file system. No Copilot key where a useful key used to be.
A Mac works out of the box. You don’t need an IT department, a Reddit thread or a YouTube tutorial to keep it running. Every complaint in Sheth’s piece is a problem Apple solved years ago. And “paternalistic by design” is doing a lot of heavy lifting — macOS lets you install whatever you want. The learning curve is roughly a week, after which most switchers wonder why they waited.
Desktop OS matter less than you think
Desktop operating systems matter less in 2026 than at any point in computing history. Your email, documents, design tools, communication, entertainment — it’s all in the browser. Figma, Slack, Linear, Spotify. The list of things requiring a native Windows app gets shorter every year.
The OS is increasingly just the thing that launches your browser. The web dissolved Windows lock-in a decade ago.
The MacBook Neo is not a netbook
Sheth dismisses the Neo as a netbook. This reads like someone protecting a thesis rather than engaging with the product.
The Neo runs full macOS on Apple silicon that embarrasses budget Windows laptops. Build quality, trackpad, display, battery life — all at around A$1,000. Calling it a netbook is like calling a Corolla a golf cart because it’s cheaper than a Land Cruiser. Power users have the MacBook Pro range. Everyone else now has a proper Mac at a price that ends the debate.
The virtualisation escape hatch
Some industries run Windows-only software with no alternative. But Parallels Desktop 26 on Apple Silicon runs Windows better than Windows runs itself. No driver conflicts, no blue screens from bad kernel drivers. Clean, predictable, sandboxed. Run your one weird Windows app without subjecting yourself to the entire Windows experience for the other 95% of your computing life.
Habit is not a strategy
Strip away the corner cases, the price objection the Neo demolished, and the “need Windows for work” argument the browser demolished years ago. What’s left? Habit.
Sheth’s own opening anecdote captures it: he paused before recommending Windows. The right response to that pause isn’t to keep recommending it anyway. It’s to follow the instinct.
Microsoft had one job: make Windows get out of your way. Sheth makes a compelling case that they failed. Where he goes wrong is the conclusion that there’s no alternative.
There is. It’s never been more affordable. And it’s never been easier to switch.
Sources:
- Microsoft broke the only thing that actually mattered (yankodesign.com)