Windows 11½
- ID
- 29499
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 29 Sep 2026, 1:51 AM
- Fetched
- 29 Sep 2026, 4:59 AM
- Provider
- Hacker News
- Category
- dev-community
- Original URL
- https://definitelynotwindows.com/
- Source URL
- https://hnrss.org/best
Summary
- Score
- 5.5
- Created
- 29 Sep 2026, 5:00 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_coderssaas_founders
What happened
A parody site at definitelynotwindows.com presents a fake "Windows 11½" desktop that lampoons modern OS bloat: a boot message reading "Preparing your ad experience…", a recommended-apps row containing Temu and a monetized Solitaire, an entry labelled "Your actual file — We buried the useful thing under recommendations", a "Local Account (for now)" option, and update choices estimated at 4 minutes. It includes Clippy 365, Copilot, Recall, and OneDrive icons, plus a note that the system sounds are "suspiciously original" so lawyers can relax, and an explicit disclaimer that it is unaffiliated with Microsoft. The site assigns each browser a random anonymous visitor number via browser storage, no name, email, password, or fingerprint required.
Why it matters
Read it as a labelled catalogue of dark patterns rather than a joke: it names the exact moves that make users distrust a product — burying the core action under recommendations, upselling a subscription to people already paying, offering "Local Account (for now)", and forcing 4-minute update cycles. If you ship a consumer or SaaS product, use the list as a design review checklist and check whether any of your screens has a direct equivalent; the parody's own anonymous-ID-in-browser-storage mechanic is also a useful example of client-side identity you can inspect in devtools.
Discussion angle
Go through the parody's fake UI live and ask which of these anti-patterns your own product has shipped — the "Local Account (for now)", the upsell to paying users, or the buried primary action — and whether removing one would cost you revenue or earn you trust.