Note: the dates of past events are only approximate. The other half of the timeline is wildly speculative and hypothetical.
2035: in most countries, messaging apps (including email clients) are considered “critical applications” that must undergo government approval before publication.
2034: VPNs are mostly outlawed worldwide.
2033: Media player apps must implement DRM checks in order to be publishable on any app store.
2032: Chrome drops official support for Linux, citing the impossibility to satisfy Web Environment Integrity (WEI) checks and its subsequent shrinking relevance as a desktop OS.
2031: Chrome ships with website blocklists provided by the user’s local government. Patching them out marks the browser as untrusted by WEI.
2030: The market share of ARM-based Windows machines overtakes x86_64. Manufacturers must enforce bootloader locking to be listed as a compatible “Microsoft Trusted Partner”.
2029: Windows 14 Home makes “S mode” permanent, preventing execution of third-party apps. Enterprise customers who depend on legacy programs can restore the feature through a paid subscription.
2028: Ad-blocking extensions are banned from the Chrome store. Forcing the
