I like Windows 11. A lot. And I write that knowing that this system was designed for the masses and not for technology enthusiasts like myself. But now that I’m on my third build of the new platform—after a single leaked build, the first official build, and then the first revision via a cumulative update—I can already see the old Microsoft, and the old Microsoft problems creeping in. And while it’s not too late for the software giant to avoid disaster, I feel like it’s going to fall into the same old trap of trying to please everyone. And that’s a shame.

What Windows 11 should be is a mulligan, a do-over, not so much for Windows 10 but rather for the combined and often superfluous additions that Microsoft made to Windows over several releases. In the past, I’ve compared Windows to an architectural dig, where new layers of technology sit on top of older layers of technology that themselves sit on older-still layers of technology. It’s easy to find Windows Vista-era user interfaces in Windows today, and there are even Windows 95-era bits in there if you dig long enough.