I was describing how this metrics-driven style of development infected not just the core Windows team, but peripheral teams like the PowerToys group.

PowerToys used to be a rather benign system enhancement. It didn't take away any features I already relied on, it just added new features.

So when I saw that there was a new PowerToys for Windows 10, I installed it. I figured it wouldn't get in the way and I would discover its enhancements over time.

I didn't know at the time that it would disable a basic system keyboard shortcut that I had relied on decades.

Couldn’t you just open PowerToys and disable the feature though, or does that not restore the other shortcut?

Of course I could, and I did, eventually.

The problem was that in the moment, I did not understand why my Alt+Space shortcut that had always worked before instead brought up this weird launcher window instead of the standard system menu I was expecting. After fiddling around for some time, I gave up and rebooted and lost data.

Once I learned what was going on, I switched the shortcut in PowerToys.

That does not excuse the PowerToys team for disabling a fundamental Windows shortcut key combo.