Even these "simple" operating systems managed to pack an incredible amount of complexity - again, just to deal with hardware, portability, different APIs, etc. Consumers - we, we demanded all of that.
If we really wanted/needed simpler software, OpenBSD is right around the corner. I've used it on&off as a daily driver for a bit, and it has an incredibly high ratio of code quality/readability vs how practical it is for everyday things (while remaining very portable). But simplicity is an uphill battle.
Windows 95 was almost 30: https://ia803207.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/22...
Another fun article currently on the front page, diving into the insanity that is 8086/286/386 addressing modes: https://blogsystem5.substack.com/p/from-0-to-1-mb-in-dos
Even these "simple" operating systems managed to pack an incredible amount of complexity - again, just to deal with hardware, portability, different APIs, etc. Consumers - we, we demanded all of that.
If we really wanted/needed simpler software, OpenBSD is right around the corner. I've used it on&off as a daily driver for a bit, and it has an incredibly high ratio of code quality/readability vs how practical it is for everyday things (while remaining very portable). But simplicity is an uphill battle.