After Windows Update, Password icon invisible, click where it used to be

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Here are the three most prevalent themes from the Hacker News discussion:

1. Poor and Declining Quality of Modern Windows Releases (Especially Windows 11)

Users frequently expressed frustration over numerous bugs, regressions, and features they viewed as hostile, leading many to actively avoid or block upgrades.

Supporting Quote: One user summarized the general sentiment: "It's a buggy mess that harasses you." ("doubled112")
Supporting Quote: Another characterized the priorities pushing this decline: "Windows is an OS that forces cloud logins, tracks and records every interaction, steals email credentials, shoves ads and full screen nags everywhere, sabotages competing software, turns perfectly good hardware into e-waste, and won't take no for an answer from users." ("soraminazuki")

2. Distrust of AI/Copilot Integration in Software Development

A significant portion of the discussion focused on a specific GitHub pull request where AI tools (Copilot) seemed to hinder rather than help development, leading to cynicism about Microsoft's reliance on these tools and the perceived decline in manual QA.

Supporting Quote: Observing the complex, looping interaction in a PR: "lmao. They had an AI create a PR, then a human to review it, but then the human ended up using another AI to review the original AI." ("gruez")
Supporting Quote: Regarding a simple bug fix: "Fixing an invisible icon is a four month CoPilot job? It's been broken since August." ("mrweasel")

3. The Appeal and Necessity of Switching to Linux

Contrasted with the frustrations over Windows, many users celebrated moving to various Linux distributions (like Debian, Arch, or Fedora Silverblue) for better control, stability, and freedom from intrusive corporate practices (ads, mandatory accounts, forced updates).

Supporting Quote: A user described the positive outcome after switching: "Moved to Arch 6+ months ago after 25+ years in Windows, it's been SO nice. My computer belongs to me again, lightning fast, no ads and BS every update, no 500 background processes." ("QuadrupleA")
Supporting Quote: The core difference in update philosophy was highlighted: "Most Linux distros can be trusted to be left alone for 24 hours without coming back to find they've rebooted themselves, potentially losing work... without permission." ("dspillett")

🚀 Project Ideas

AI-Assisted UI Bug Triage & Repair Tool (IconGuard)

Summary

A tool designed to diagnose and suggest fixes for intermittent, visually apparent UI bugs (like missing icons, context menu inconsistencies) where developer comments suggest AI/co-pilot interaction is failing or causing confusion.
Core value proposition: Automate the tedious, visual debugging loop that seems to plague modern OS development (especially related to hard-to-reproduce graphical state issues).

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Developers working on complex, desktop operating systems or large Electron/native applications (especially those integrating LLMs/Copilot).
Core Feature	Capture screenshots/screen regions flagged for visual issues, use an external, specialized vision model (or small local CV model) to compare the current state against desired reference assets, and generate an actionable diagnostic report or even a minimal remediation script (e.g., forcing a specific redraw/re-render command).
Tech Stack	Python/PyQt for the GUI, OpenCV/Pillow for image processing, potentially fine-tuned open-source Vision Transformer (ViT) model for icon recognition/comparison, or leveraging commercial Vision APIs.
Difficulty	Medium
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: Directly addresses the frustration where developers (and users) see obvious bugs (like the invisible password icon) but the suggested AI tools fail to resolve them ("How hard is that to fix? Aren't they using CoPilot?"). It proposes a tool to actually look at the screen.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: Highly relevant given the explicit discussion about Copilot failures and visible UI regressions in the dotnet PR thread. It offers a way to "debug the debugger/AI helper."

Granular, User-Controlled Update Manager (ControlDesk)

Summary

A cross-platform (or Windows-focused desktop application) service that intercepts all OS/system component update requests and applies user-defined policies, separating security patches from feature/UI/telemetry rollouts.
Core value proposition: Give users the explicit control they demand over what gets updated and when, resolving the complaint that Windows forces undesirable updates and reboots ("I use Windows Update Blocker... but [Microsoft] will ninja-download and ninja-install").

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Power users, sysadmins, and anyone currently relying on third-party tools like Sordum or ChrisTitusTech scripts to manage Windows updates.
Core Feature	A simple TUI/GUI dashboard allowing toggling between modes: "Security Only (Approved Patches)", "Security + Critical Bug Fixes", "Notify & Stage (No Install)", and ensuring non-security/feature updates (AI components, UI changes) are never silently applied or forced.
Tech Stack	Rust (for low-level service interaction and performance), TUI library (like `ratatui`), interacting with Windows Update APIs or potentially using low-level file permission manipulation (like the discussed `wuaeng.dll` takeover).
Difficulty	Medium/High (Interacting reliably with proprietary Windows Update mechanisms is complex and prone to breaking with every patch.)
Monetization	Hobby

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: It directly addresses the desire for the granular control users claim they had in older Windows versions ("During the early XP days Windows had granular updates where you could decline everything but security updates"). It solves the "security boogeyman" issue by providing a responsible path forward.
Potential for discussion or practical utility: Creating a reliable, modern alternative to manual blocker scripts is a high-value utility project that would generate significant community discussion on implementation details.

Legacy OS Compatibility Container (AppSandBox Retro)

Summary

A lightweight containerization or virtualization layer specifically focused on running older, high-utility desktop environments (like Windows 7/10 Enterprise/LTSC) in a modern, internet-isolated sandbox environment.
Core value proposition: Allows users who rely on legacy software or need to avoid the "enshittification" of modern Windows (ads, mandatory MS accounts, telemetry) to do so safely on modern hardware, without needing complex dual-booting or full VM setups.

Details

Key	Value
Target Audience	Users deliberately avoiding OS upgrades (like those staying on Win 10), developers needing access to specific older OS features, or users who want to run older, proven software stacks.
Core Feature	Pre-configured, disposable container images built from low-bloat sources (like W10 LTSC evaluation) that are automatically firewall-isolated from the host network for telemetry/cloud login attempts, while allowing controlled access for necessary file sharing or specific port forwarding.
Tech Stack	Docker/Podman or specialized lightweight hypervisors like QEMU/Hyper-V/WSL2 integration, combined with custom Ansible/Packer scripts for base image hardening.
Difficulty	Medium

Notes

Why HN commenters would love it: It respects the sentiment that "When Windows 12 is announced, Windows 11 may finally be usable" by enabling users to keep specific environments exactly as they like them ("I have a few windows 10 VMs around and they all are firewalled from Microsoft. They don't like it, which pleases me.").
Potential for discussion or practical utility: Focuses on the necessary evil: running Windows, but stripping out the monetization features discussed in the thread (ads, forced cloud logins) safely.