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NTDEV
Personal blog · ntdotdev.wordpress.comsystemsprogramming
NTDEV is a personal blog at ntdotdev.wordpress.com about systems and programming. Since 2021, 16 different Hacker News readers have linked it 20 times, most often “State of the Windows: How many layers of UI inconsistencies are in Windows 10?”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-01-25, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (15) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link NTDEV's 'State of the Windows' analyses of UI inconsistencies in Windows, and its guides to building a stripped-down Tiny11 Windows 11 install. Several commenters cite these posts for Windows UI and debloating topics.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 15 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Trying stuff so you don't have to.
Most-linked posts?
- State of the Windows: How many layers of UI inconsistencies are in Windows 10?7 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2021-06-19
- How many layers of UI inconsistencies are in Windows 11?3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-01-02
- Did Windows 10 slow down with each feature update?2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2021-06-19
What Hacker News says?
You can find much more than just windows 95 icons, check this out https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2021/02/06/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Windows 96”Submitted State of the Windows: How many layers of UI inconsistencies are in Windows 10? as a story · 501 points
HN discussionI've not bothered since switching from Win 10 LTSC to Win 11. Win 11 is definitely faster and better for everyday use in 2025, IMO. I start with installing a Tiny11 build: https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2024/01/08/the-complete-tiny1 ... Massgrave it to pro. Then I debloat: https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat And you end up with a super zippy install that I've had zero compatibility problems with over the last ye…
Comment linking /2024/01/08/the-complete-tiny1
on “Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account”Submitted Did Windows 10 slow down with each feature update? as a story · 406 points
HN discussionIsn't it a pain to get a working key for Win 11 LTSC? I've not bothered since switching from Win 10 LTSC to Win 11. Win 11 is definitely faster and better for everyday use in 2025, IMO. I start with installing a Tiny11 build: https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2024/01/08/the-complete-tiny1... Massgrave it to pro. Then I debloat: https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat And you end up with a super zippy install that I've…
Comment linking /2024/01/08/the-complete-tiny10-and-tiny11-list/
on “Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account”Submitted State of the Windows: What is going on with Windows 11? as a story · 70 points
HN discussionI've started using Tiny11 on all my setups, then running DeBloat afterwards. This removes every piece of crapware* and none of them seem to try to reinstall on update (so far, fingers crossed). https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2024/01/08/the-complete-tiny1... https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat * be warned, this also removes Edge, so you have to grab your own browser installer of choice
Comment linking /2024/01/08/the-complete-tiny10-and-tiny11-list/
on “No I don't want to turn on Windows Backup with One Drive”Submitted How many layers of UI inconsistencies are in Windows 11? as a story · 28 points
HN discussionInteresting read. There's also "State of the Windows, part 2: Did Windows 10 slow down with each feature update?": https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2021/02/21/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2021/02/21/state-of-the-windows-part-2-did-windows-10-slow-down-with-each-feature-update/
on “State of the Windows: How many layers of UI inconsistencies are in Windows 10?”Submitted State of the Windows, part 2: Did Windows 10 slow down with each feature update? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSo, yet another level of UI inconsistencies[1]. [1] https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2021/02/06/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Introducing Windows 11”> This is completely orthogonal to look-and-feel. Not completely orthogonal, as several different generations of MS GUI APIs implement different look and feels. And bundling it with the OS means devs aren't forced to update their apps to the new APIs. It also makes it impossible for MS to automatically switch the look and feel (they could try for trivial things, but they wouldn't be able to properly accomondate old…
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Why I quit using SwiftUI”These kind of "conspiracy theories" for this or that what amounts to negligible money always make me cringe. Not that companies don't do shitty things for money. But they don't do things like that for negligible money compared to their other operations, especially since there are far more important reasons to do them... The reason is platform coherence and control, and lock-step updates. To avoid cases like this: ht…
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Why I quit using SwiftUI”If you find yourself needing to install Windows 11 for some reason (I'm doing my best to avoid it), you can try this to create a stripped-down Windows 11 installer with most of the crap removed: https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2025/09/06/tiny11-builder-sep...
Comment linking /2025/09/06/tiny11-builder-september-2025-release/
on “Microsoft to force install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app in October”> And because every Linux distro uses a different theme and one of a dozen UI libraries/DEs/etc. the downloaded GUI application will look bad because it won’t fit in. As opposed to, say, Windows, where there is only one GUI and one theme by one company so everything is perfectly match- wait, no, they have bits and pieces running every GUI they've every invented all the way back to the 90s ( https://www.dvhardware.ne…
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Why Linux is not ready for the desktop, the final edition”tl;dr The author [0] describes a simple ticketing system that his very busy coworker, Peter Högfeldt, created in 1986. Basically, it checked in numbered files to their version control (CVS, at the time) that could produce reports with grep. This system's simplicity lead to its longevity, as people could learn it easily and trust that its bugs had been ironed out long ago. This is in contrast to some OS software that…
Comment linking /2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-11/comment-page-1/
on “Minimal Viable Programs (2014)”There are still some 3.1 dialogs in Windows 11 https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-11/
on “Essence: A desktop OS built from scratch, for control and simplicity”Good time to repost this article, detailing the various UI inconsistencies that persist to this day in Windows: https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2021/02/06/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Fluent 2 Design System”> the UI is higher quality, more consistent and more discoverable The last thing that can be said about Windows is consistency https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2021/02/06/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2021/02/06/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-10/
on “Microsoft to Support Windows 11 on Apple M1 and M2 Macs Through Parallels”Judging from the screenshots, that doesn't produce Windows 11 style UIs, right? I.e. it contributes to the problem exploree at https://ntdotdev.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/state-of-the-windo...
Comment linking /2023/01/01/state-of-the-windows-how-many-layers-of-ui-inconsistencies-are-in-windows-11/
on “Windows native app development is a mess”
