I used Windows 2000 in a VM about a month ago so my memory is fresh. The warts are real, of course, but I was struck by how cohesive, clean and friendly it was compared to every Windows version since. It still feels like peak Windows to me. Once they merged and consumerified NT, it was all downhill from there.
Windows 2000 just gets out of your way and works. It's such a refreshing feeling in 2018 using computer software that doesn't try to sell you anything or steal your data.
You are right about the boot times but on a modern-ish system with an SSD, it's no big deal. And obviously, if you were to do this, you would also backport support for newer hardware like Wifi, USB2 and 3 ;)
I don't miss a lot of UI things from newer Windows, either. I do like being able to hit the Windows key and start typing to find stuff. Also, being able to snap windows to the left half/right half of the screen.
So the ideal Windows would be Windows 2000 with the hardware support and selected UI improvements of Windows 7 :)
Windows 2000 just gets out of your way and works. It's such a refreshing feeling in 2018 using computer software that doesn't try to sell you anything or steal your data.
You are right about the boot times but on a modern-ish system with an SSD, it's no big deal. And obviously, if you were to do this, you would also backport support for newer hardware like Wifi, USB2 and 3 ;)
I don't miss a lot of UI things from newer Windows, either. I do like being able to hit the Windows key and start typing to find stuff. Also, being able to snap windows to the left half/right half of the screen.
So the ideal Windows would be Windows 2000 with the hardware support and selected UI improvements of Windows 7 :)