I miss the days when Windows came to play

Windows 10 is nearing its end of life, and while I contemplate whether I should just move to Windows 11 as my sole daily driver or stick around with my existing operating system for a little while longer, I'm also reminiscing about my time with Windows 10 and other versions of the OS before it. A brief phase of nostalgic reminiscence just now also reminded me that I kind of miss when Windows used to have lots of preinstalled games.

Earlier installations of Windows, especially Windows 95 and later, typically included multiple games bundled in the OS. Some popular examples include Solitaire, Minesweeper, FreeCell, Hearts, and the iconic 3D Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet. This trend continued well into 2012, before Microsoft abruptly decided to get rid of all bundled games with the launch of Windows 8.

This wasn't some consumer-friendly decision to remove bloatware from the OS from the goodness of Microsoft's heart. Rather, it was a way to encourage customers to use the brand-new Microsoft Store (known as Windows Store at that time) to download apps and games. As we know, this move didn't pan out particularly well, thanks in part to the negative critical reception to Windows 8 itself (although some of our staff at that time did like it).

As such, Microsoft moved back to bundling games in Windows 10 and Windows 11, but this effort has been scaled back quite a lot. You get your Solitaire Collection in the OS itself, as well as Surf in Microsoft Edge, but that's about it. Earlier installations of Windows 10 also included Candy Crush Saga, but now the game is seemingly just promoted via Windows Search.

I am personally not in favor of bloatware, but the kid in me does miss the era of enjoying casual games on Windows. I remember spending countless hours on 3D Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet, trying to beat my dad's and brother's high scores. I remember trying to figure out the rules to Minesweeper, failing every time, and then just randomly clicking on cells, hoping that I would somehow win the game. I remember watching my dad play Solitaire and then hypnotically watching stacks of cards fall one by one after he had won the game. I remember going to my grandparents' house in another city, knowing that I won't have decent internet there, but at least I can play 3D Pinball on their PC.

While Windows 10 and 11 still do contain games, it's clear that this initiative is on the way out. A big reason for this is that the internet has become much more accessible to everyone, and if you want to download games, you can do so in a matter of minutes. You don't need to sleuth for websites that offer free games, wait for the webpage to painfully load piece by piece on a dial-up connection, then wait a couple of hours for the handful of megabytes to download onto your PC, while praying that the internet connection stays stable. Those days are long gone.

And I do get it, preinstalled games are bloatware after all, and you don't really need them in this fast-paced digital age. I am not urging Microsoft to reconsider its strategy and just give me 3D Pinball, I'm just reminiscing days gone. If I still had those dozen or so games preinstalled on my current PC, I doubt I would ever consider opening them, but as I consider switching my OS, I'm just reminded of the unbounded excitement I used to have for playing preinstalled games on Windows.