> There was a time when if you wanted an app, it had to be for Windows. [...] Desktop computers have never been a free for all.
You're not going back far enough (as shown by your statement mentioning only Windows). Back in the MS-DOS days, there was no technical block to doing whatever you wanted with your system. It's no coincidence that Linux originated in these days; the openness of PC clones running one of the DOS variants (MS-DOS wasn't the only one) allowed for the full replacement of the operating system with nearly zero effort. You didn't even have to change the boot sector; a DOS program (LOADLIN.EXE) could completely switch the currently running operating system.
Things are much more locked down in desktop computers nowadays, and the only reason they aren't completely locked down is that Linux had already become popular enough to convince Microsoft to allow for a backdoor (actually a pair of backdoors: signing by Microsoft for popular distributions, and manual disabling for less popular distributions and development).
> [...] people learned to be terrified of installing software. [...] Microsoft claims 60% of users never leave that mode to install even one app outside the Microsoft Store. That’s how much the “Normie” has learned to fear programs, [...]
Is it fear, or is it just convenience? If everything you want or need at that moment is on whatever software store you have (be it the Microsoft Store or Steam or something else), there's not much incentive to look beyond it. It's like what's been said about video streaming providers: once every show you wanted was on a single streaming provider, there was not much incentive anymore to look around on seedy corners of the web for movies, but once that convenience is no longer available (because said provider no longer has the media you want), people once again look for alternatives.
(As an aside, think about the reason "developer mode" in more recent Android versions is hidden behind a secret knock on a disused corner at the bottom of the settings application: if it weren't a hidden setting, "normal users" would enable it. The same with bypassing some security warning pages in the desktop Chrome browser. If "normal users" really feared freedom, they would stay away from these options without the need to hide them.)
You're not going back far enough (as shown by your statement mentioning only Windows). Back in the MS-DOS days, there was no technical block to doing whatever you wanted with your system. It's no coincidence that Linux originated in these days; the openness of PC clones running one of the DOS variants (MS-DOS wasn't the only one) allowed for the full replacement of the operating system with nearly zero effort. You didn't even have to change the boot sector; a DOS program (LOADLIN.EXE) could completely switch the currently running operating system.
Things are much more locked down in desktop computers nowadays, and the only reason they aren't completely locked down is that Linux had already become popular enough to convince Microsoft to allow for a backdoor (actually a pair of backdoors: signing by Microsoft for popular distributions, and manual disabling for less popular distributions and development).
> [...] people learned to be terrified of installing software. [...] Microsoft claims 60% of users never leave that mode to install even one app outside the Microsoft Store. That’s how much the “Normie” has learned to fear programs, [...]
Is it fear, or is it just convenience? If everything you want or need at that moment is on whatever software store you have (be it the Microsoft Store or Steam or something else), there's not much incentive to look beyond it. It's like what's been said about video streaming providers: once every show you wanted was on a single streaming provider, there was not much incentive anymore to look around on seedy corners of the web for movies, but once that convenience is no longer available (because said provider no longer has the media you want), people once again look for alternatives.
(As an aside, think about the reason "developer mode" in more recent Android versions is hidden behind a secret knock on a disused corner at the bottom of the settings application: if it weren't a hidden setting, "normal users" would enable it. The same with bypassing some security warning pages in the desktop Chrome browser. If "normal users" really feared freedom, they would stay away from these options without the need to hide them.)