As a Windows user from the beginning and one that's always followed Windows news, there are certainly some revisionism going on here. NEVER in the history of Windows was it perceived in tech circles as a solid, high quality, secure OS. Not ever. So let's get over that nonsense. Some versions were better perceived in tech circles, Windows 3.x, 95, XP SP 2 and Windows 7. But solid, high quality and secure, nope.
That is true. No one that knows better has ever really liked the dumpster fire of a security PITA that is windows. In the early days hey MS had to stay ahead of the jones and rushed things, in the middle years they where a combo of lazy and evil, now they are full on greedy. The early days stuff most people can excuse a bit... not like MS could sit on things there was actual competition. The middle years are terrible... they did fight for and win a lead, and translated that into evil attempts to control everything including the internet itself. MS current mode seems to be a greed driven lazyness that is hard to describe. Considering the rise of alternate computing platforms where MS has no product, and the growing quality and capabilities of competing platforms. MS perhaps should get their house in order if they plan to still sell operating systems.