Why has there been such a push to nerf UIs? Is it just trying to ape mobile? Mobile UIs are more basic because the screen is so damn small and the use case is more casual.
Most use cases for Windows are casual. I don't want to hazard a guess but I'd say easily more than 70% of Windows users may be basic? The type to not go particularly deep into the options and explore these menus and instead leave it up to the experts or get systems configured for them
For all these people, the new UI is actually pretty good. My parents find the settings they need easily enough. Most business people I work with use Windows and rarely want to configure anything more than the wallpaper. For all these people, the "nerfed" UI is more accessible than a wall of options in the control panel. It's a shame for us power users but most people actually like these changes or at least find them usable enough
For casual users these UIs are catastrophic. Casual users just straight don't change settings - they tend to live with the most insane easily fixable problems.
Whereas for me, person who has to give phone support, every version of Windows has made important settings harder to get too, which means I can't muscle memory train casual users about what setting they need to review if the problem recurs.
The new UIs are all attempted flash over substance, and idiom breaking - buttons and interactive controls are not clearly highlighted and information density is low.
