> Why should Microsoft produce a hack for a particular piece of software?
Because if software app Foo works fine on Windows X, and suddenly breaks on Windows X+1, users don't care if Foo is actually buggy or not. It worked on Windows X. What they see is that Windows X+1 broke Foo. And they talk to each other - "Do you use Foo? If so, don't upgrade to Windows X+1, it breaks Foo!"
And if there's another app Bar which has a different bug that nevertheless works on Windows X but breaks on X+1, those users will chime in saying "Oh yeah, we noticed it breaks Bar too!"
And then you get the general conversation go around "Don't upgrade to Windows X+1, it breaks random software!" Do you rely on some niche app, or even a semi-popular one made by anyone who isn't Microsoft? If so, better stay away from Windows X+1 - it breaks a bunch of random apps dontchaknow.
Because if software app Foo works fine on Windows X, and suddenly breaks on Windows X+1, users don't care if Foo is actually buggy or not. It worked on Windows X. What they see is that Windows X+1 broke Foo. And they talk to each other - "Do you use Foo? If so, don't upgrade to Windows X+1, it breaks Foo!"
And if there's another app Bar which has a different bug that nevertheless works on Windows X but breaks on X+1, those users will chime in saying "Oh yeah, we noticed it breaks Bar too!"
And then you get the general conversation go around "Don't upgrade to Windows X+1, it breaks random software!" Do you rely on some niche app, or even a semi-popular one made by anyone who isn't Microsoft? If so, better stay away from Windows X+1 - it breaks a bunch of random apps dontchaknow.