Yes: DirectX. Just make sure that it runs in Wine or Proton.
Nit: DirectX is a bunch of APIs and libraries, not a language. Same for Wine and Proton.
The level of disregard for quality from MS is just obnoxious. We are really crossing some kind of line here, I think, where taking the pain of migrating once seems easier than dealing with all this nonsense.
(I had to clean install Windows after that infamous update with system check infinite loop at boot time).
While it would, yes, likely avoid the problem happening again, it shifts the responsibility to the party that should not be at fault.
Meanwhile the harasser is like “what’s wrong? I took an anti-harassment class?”
Weird analogy - it's telling someone who is paying to be abused to simply stop paying...
If Windows was actually free, as in download a copy and use it as you wish, then sure, maybe you might have a (very tiny) point, but it's not like that at all.
I don't think they ever stopped. Maybe they ceased advertising it, but installing Windows 10 over 7 or 8 would silently inherit the license far past the original terms. The time-limited offer was just a FOMO-inducing marketing scam.
In a real life abusive relationship that would look like both calling the cops and leaving. In the case of software, demand reform and also switch OSes.
in other industries, you can sue product manufacturers if their defects cause you inordinate grief, lost wages, or excessive repair costs.