> Microsoft knew that, so they made sure to be ABI compatible so they could keep updating the OS.
That's just not true. A lot of hardware support was stranded by OS version updates, especially pre-Vista and Win7. It's reached a point where Linux deals a lot better w/ some older hardware than any currently-supported Windows version.
There were a lot of drivers who will not work with new windows versions. Due for examples of changes in things expectedv in the inf file or the registry. Installing drivers in windows was a lot of pain.
Not just hardware but even older Windows applications run way better on WINE than on Windows 10. Microsoft doesn't care about reverse compatibility or long-term support for consumers.
> Microsoft knew that, so they made sure to be ABI compatible so they could keep updating the OS.
I don't remember it that way. I remember buying motherboards and receiving CDs full of drivers for the many Windows versions. I remember having to scour the internet for drivers and finding a different one for each Windows version. I remember failing to find drivers for new versions of Windows because the manufacturer couldn't care less. I remember incredibly shitty manufacturer applications that took over one minute to display a window on the screen. I even managed to reverse engineer one of those into a free software user space driver.
> I remember buying motherboards and receiving CDs full of drivers for the many Windows versions.
There haven't been "many" Windows versions in the entire existence of Windows. I bet you don't remember getting different drivers for every service pack or security update.
