But as you've outlined multiple times, the flaws of the OS are not the problem here. Changing OS, the same poor decisions can and have been made. Windows can be locked down or configured to a very stable level, and Linux can be configured to a shitshow.

I don't like Windows, but embedded edition has been the most common operating system you encounter in the physical world for decades, and broadly it works so well you don't know. I don't see a good argument that something on the Windows end needs fixing here.