Microsoft Outlook

There is a problem with the proxy server's security certificate.

Outlook is unable to connect to the proxy server autodiscover. (Error Code 80000000).

Windows Fan Page

A LOVE LETTER TO WINDOWS

A sincere and measured appreciation of the world's most thoughtfully engineered operating system. Below I have outlined the features that, in my professional opinion, make Windows the undisputed pinnacle of personal computing.

Curated Software, Pre-Installed

It is genuinely thoughtful that Microsoft includes Candy Crush Saga on a fresh installation. After spending hundreds of dollars on a new machine, the last thing a serious professional wants is to manually install premium entertainment software. Microsoft has done the work for us. I often find myself in a strategy meeting and think, what a relief that I do not have to visit the store to find Candy Crush. It is already there. Waiting.

Manual Window Management is Superior

I have looked into so-called 'tiling window managers' and frankly, I do not see the appeal. I know exactly where my windows are at all times, even when they are hidden behind four other windows and one of them is a notification from 2019 that I have not been able to dismiss. Cluttered? No. I would call it spatially aware. The mind is a tiling window manager.

Microsoft Edge: A Permanent Companion

Some operating systems allow you to remove the default browser. This is reckless. Microsoft Edge cannot be uninstalled because it is needed by other services, sometimes, occasionally, you never know when. This is not bloat, this is robustness. It is comforting to know that even if I install Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Arc, and a fourth browser I forgot about, Edge will still be there if a help link decides to open in it without my permission.

Intuitive Settings, Two Times

The Windows Settings experience is exceptionally easy to navigate. If you cannot find what you are looking for in the new Settings app, simply click a link that takes you to the Control Panel, which then opens a sub-window from 2003, which links you back to the Settings app, which opens a flyout that links to a Microsoft support article that links to a different part of Settings. The animations between these pages are subtle and not at all disorienting. I look forward to changing my default audio device every single time.

Cortana Knows Me, And That Is Fine

Having a built-in artificial intelligence assistant that has indexed every file on my computer is a tremendous productivity win. When I search for a document I last opened in 2017, Cortana finds it instantly, along with seventeen Bing web results, three suggested apps from the Microsoft Store, and a news article about a celebrity I do not recognize. This is what computing was always meant to be. Cortana, Copilot, Recall — a beautiful family of helpers, all watching, all ready.

Updates: A Thoughtful Reminder

Other operating systems quietly install updates in the background. Windows respects you enough to interrupt a presentation and demand a fifteen-minute restart cycle, often accompanied by the message 'Working on it.' What is it working on? That is between Windows and itself. The mystery is part of the relationship.

In Closing

To dismiss Windows is to dismiss decades of careful, considered design. Every pop-up, every advertisement in the Start menu, every full-screen prompt asking me to finish setting up my PC — these are not bugs. These are features. These are friends. I would not trade my OneDrive sync conflicts for all the tiling window managers in the world. Thank you, Microsoft.

← back to home page