It’s Not “My Computer” Anymore - It’s “This PC”, Apparently.

Once, Windows greeted us like owners. Now it treats us like temporary visitors.

You’d open My Computer and feel a sense of authority. It was your digital territory. Your domain. Your badly named folders and questionable downloads, all under rightful ownership.

Now instead of My Computer, we get This PC, which sounds like something said by someone refusing responsibility:

“That’s not my problem. That’s this PC’s problem.”

In Windows 8 and 8.1 Microsoft quietly replaced My Computer with This PC. No explanation. No transition memo. Just identity theft via UI update.

The Psychological Downgrade

The Shift from Ownership to Borrowed Access

Let’s be honest. Our PCs don’t even belong to us anymore. Between Microsoft accounts, OneDrive nags, and AI pop-ups, the operating system behaves like it’s doing us a favour by letting us use its hardware.

• Sign in to access your files stored somewhere in the cloud you never asked for.
• Accept updates or be rebooted against your will.
• Click Maybe Later only to be asked Again Right Now.

The Cynical Explanation.

Microsoft doesn’t want you to think of your computer as yours. Because eventually Windows won’t be something you own. It’ll be something you subscribe to. The dream is Windows-as-a-service.

When that happens, it won’t be My Computer.

It’ll be Microsoft’s Computer (Licensed to You Until Further Notice).

The Less Cynical Explanation

To be fair, “My Computer” was presumptuous.

• What if multiple people use the same machine?
• What if it's a shared office PC?
• What if you own three laptops. Which one is the “My”?

So Microsoft chose the Switzerland of naming conventions.

This PC.

Neutral. Non-committal. Emotionally distant.

It doesn’t assume ownership. It doesn’t ask questions. It just points and shrugs:

This? Oh, this thing? Yeah. It’s the one you’re on. Probably.

Modernization or Repossession?

Microsoft framed the change as “modernizing the interface”. And sure “This PC” aligns nicely with their new aesthetic of cloud accounts, shared devices and AI assistants who think they’re your manager.

It also neatly supports the message:

You don’t own this machine. You merely have login permissions.

Where This Is Going

At this rate, the next versions of Windows will rename it again:

I miss My Computer. It was aspirational. It was empowering. It was delusional, sure but it was my delusion.

Now I just work on this PC.