A Fond(ish) Farewell to Windows 10

The tiles now fade, their colors dim,
Those god awful squares that smiled smugly at my face
A bold hello that felt, for some, too grim,
While others found in them a useful grace.

You forced hour long patches when we chose to delay,
Rebooting mid-presentation, mid call, mid-session,
Left thousands cursing, frustrated, confused,
As "Working on updates" screens could not be fought.

But oh, you were the bridge we walked between
The old and new, the desktop and the touch,
You stabilized what 8.1 couldn't clean,
And asked of us, perhaps, not quite too much.

DirectX 12 arrived beneath your hood,
Windows Hello recognized (?) our face,
The Windows Store (for better, bad, or worse)
Made apps more central to your interface.

You served us through a pandemic's darkest days,
Hosted Zoom calls, remote work, online school,
For billions, you were there through the fire
Reliable, familiar, steady tool.

Cortana tried (we'll give you that, at least),
Your dark mode came eventually around,
And gaming on you? Actually quite decent,
Your Xbox integration was quite sound.

So here's to you, Windows 10, farewell,
You weren't perfect; far from it-
But you were home to many, something dear.
Salud!