Windows 11 needs an XP SP2 moment, says ex-Microsoft engineer

The Windows operating system is buckling under AI features that seem designed more for shareholders than users, and retired Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer says it's time to hit pause.

"It's time for Microsoft to have another XP SP2 moment," said Plummer, who worked on Windows XP during a pivotal period more than two decades ago.

When the Blaster worm hit in 2003, Microsoft made a decisive switch. "We set aside all feature work," he recalled.

"For several months, all we did was improve security. We didn't add security features. We fixed bugs. Lots of bugs, until there weren't any security bugs to fix anymore. And then we fixed the ones we didn't know about yet."

The work on XP was one of Plummer's last hurrahs at Microsoft, but the experience of Service Pack 2 shaped his opinion on what Microsoft needs to do in ...