SysAdmins Hate Fragile Windows Apps
12 posts across 5 communities since Jul 2026; 67% from r/sysadmin.
“Me neither. I had a guy at an old job who insisted we keep it installed but I can't think of a single time in the 10+ years I worked there that anyone mentioned it at all. [re: Microsoft kills off publisher]”
“The problem with 10 was that it was pushed as a "security update" on Windows Update. It was force-fed to unwitting/unwilling Windows 7 users like caged geese at a foie-gras farm.That betrayal was arguably the first step towards the near-total enshittification of Windows that we…”
“So... I just moved back to Windows because the laptop prices are crazy right now and my Macbook died on me. It looks like Windows hate Notion and other apps they have not developed. It blocked the app with a pop up saying it is not verified. Something I could easily fix on…”
System administrators express frustration with the instability and uninstall issues of Windows applications, particularly those distributed through the Microsoft Store. They reminisce about simpler times in software installation and lament the complexity of managing dependencies and security scans.
SOURCES (17)
“Me neither. I had a guy at an old job who insisted we keep it installed but I can't think of a single time in the 10+ years I worked there that anyone mentioned it at all. [re: Microsoft kills off publisher]”
“Not so much a tool but windows store deployments for intune apps, literally around 50/50 if they would install, hoping enterprise app catalog will be better but already came across one that doesn't install at all.”
“This will never happen because it goes against the very fibre of why people stick with Windows. Windows on ARM was already very contentious until the x86_64 emulator achieved something similar to what Apple's Rosetta could do. Every time people state something like this, they're lying. They want Windows. Every time they said "oh I want Windows XP but with Bluetooth 5, WiFi WPA3, etc", they really just mean the paint job, because they already have Windows with those things.”
“I really wish they someday separated windows in two channels, ideally one you could swap between. One implementing only modern functionality and the other being a classic. They already kind of did it with Windows RT, but because windows RT was a spin off, nobody took it seriously . It would be like a return to NT but backwards. There are clear advantages to it, you could extract much more money from the legacy version down the line. If you get users to move to the slimmer more modern version. Fu”
“The problem with 10 was that it was pushed as a "security update" on Windows Update. It was force-fed to unwitting/unwilling Windows 7 users like caged geese at a foie-gras farm.That betrayal was arguably the first step towards the near-total enshittification of Windows that we see today, if you don't count the introduction of product activation with Windows XP.”
“So... I just moved back to Windows because the laptop prices are crazy right now and my Macbook died on me. It looks like Windows hate Notion and other apps they have not developed. It blocked the app with a pop up saying it is not verified. Something I could easily fix on MacOS, though never happed with Notion. I have been searching for hours how to fix this. The explanations on their forum or Copilot leads no where. They mention the Windows Defender history, but it is literally empty. Has anyo”
“Tempting but I need Windows for a few design tools that don't play nice elsewhere.”
“i will use every day and I'm not experiencing the issues that you state above. I agree that is a poor written software with an anti-intuitive UI, but it works. Yes, it's not easy to make it work, but it work. PS: I will onboard all devices as owner, with Android QR code enrollment at the first screen of a factory restored device.”
“I think it's just because the apps are really old and outdated by today's standards. They're made for windows 7 lmao They directly ask for admin privileges or just refuse to work properly otherwise. And what makes it worse is that there are multiple apps that connect with one another The apps are Prinergy Workshop and Preps 7-8, among others”
“Why do those programs need Admin? I have found that the majority of apps that need admin are just badly written and their need for admin stems from improper use of registry keys or folders. Specifically trying to update hklm or program files instead of the associated user level locations. So use process monitor from sysinternals to locate those locations, grant the required permissions to just those locations, and then use a shim or update the executibles manifest to remove the required admin. Y”
“Hey, thanks for the great program. I have a request. A new option: I want programs to run their own uninstallers first, then Uninstalr to delete leftovers. This is exactly how it already works. Also, I don't know what "Automatically run uninstallation scripts to finalize the uninstallation." option does exactly. Should I keep it on or off? It uses Windows batch files to potentially remove any remaining data. You should keep it on. Also, even tho I choose everything to be deleted du”
“Has anyone at any point made these employees aware that they shouldn't be installing these things?”
“Thats the point of firing the WORST 10%, they didnt have any useful institutional knowledge to begin with. However it doesn't seem to be working for Microsoft, though I based on what I hear from colleagues working there, its not really due to stack ranking.”
“They always break. I don't get it. Why is the app ecosystem so fragile? I routinely have people who can't open the calculator or view photos, because the apps fail after updates. Why is the calculator even a windows app? On top of that, I have old .net frameworks for windows apps (installed in the store) that just won't uninstall. They are staged, they have no dependencies... but won't uninstall. They are flagged on some security scanning, so it is really annoying.”
“Ah, the era when "installing" meant copying an .exe to a floppy and hoping your autoexec.bat had enough free conventional memory to run it.”