I ruined my vacation by reverse engineering WSC

Acronyms and readability

• Several commenters were confused by “WSC” and “CTF” not being defined early.
• Some argued the article technically defines WSC later, but too far “below the fold” to be helpful.
• Suggestions: expand acronyms at first mention in the intro, use standard patterns (term + acronym in parentheses), or HTML <abbr> for tooltips.
• CTF is clarified in the thread as “Capture the Flag” cybersecurity competitions; readers note this was never defined in the post.

Motivations for disabling Defender / WSC

• Use cases cited: low‑RAM or old machines where Defender dominates CPU/RAM, kiosks, air‑gapped or industrial systems, labs of “8GB potatoes,” and users who consider themselves highly skilled.
• Some want a clean, official “I know what I’m doing” switch instead of hacks via WSC or file manipulations.

Methods and their implications

• Techniques shared: renaming Defender directories from a Linux live USB, creating placeholder files, or taking ownership/deleting Windows Update binaries.
• Others note Windows has integrity checking for binaries but not for program data; harsh file-level changes are the “I wasn’t asking” approach.
• Counterpoint: updates and repair tools can undo such changes, creating a cat‑and‑mouse game.

Security vs updates: risk perceptions

• One camp: disabling updates/Defender on internet‑connected systems is reckless; attackers still target old stacks (Windows, SCADA, DOS networking).
• Opposing camp: with modern browsers and generally patched ecosystem, unpatched Windows may not be trivially compromised; browser security is now the main front.
• Some emphasize that skilled, cautious users (or Linux/Android/iOS users with lighter protections) often manage fine without heavy AV, but others argue you can’t truly know you’re clean.

Performance and “power user” tension

• Disagreement over how “resource‑crippling” Defender is: some say it’s negligible on modern laptops; others report severe slowdowns on old hardware or workloads with many small files.
• Exclusions can help but are reported as unreliable by some.
• Broader frustration: Windows seen as increasingly locked‑down, requiring scripts and debloating to reclaim control; some suggest “install Linux” as the real off‑switch.

C++ and implementation details

• A long subthread dissects the project’s C++ “defer” macro: how it uses RAII and lambdas to run code at scope exit, why the syntax feels “cursed,” and alternative patterns (macros, scope_exit, Abseil cleanup).
• General view: the technique is valid and useful, but the macro style and non-obvious syntax may confuse readers/maintainers.