Why dont operating systems make sounds anymore
It seems like almost no operating systems make sounds anymore. I remember the old Ubuntu installers and mac/windows boot noises from when i was young, when did these go away?
The sounds were loud and lasted several seconds. These were removed because most computing devices are now mobile. The sounds are extremely annoying and disruptive to hear from a stranger's laptop every few minutes during a meeting, a classroom lecture, wifi shop, cubicle environment, auditorium, airplane, etc... They could also be embarrassing to anyone who just revealed that they were not paying attention.
Sound effects used to be common in the GNOME desktop. I think they were added because of Sun's involvement in improving the usability of the desktop. There is a wealth of research that indicates that sound clues can improve usability. See f.e.: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/014492999119066
But the sound effect support was never complete so some buttons and icons in Nautilus (the file manager) would make sounds when pressed but not those in the window manager. I think that is why they were dropped. Because if some buttons make a click sound when clicked but not others then the experience becomes confusing. And making all Linux desktop apps comply with the same sound effect "theme" (or whatever) would be very difficult. KDE apps would undoubtedly use different sound effects than GNOME apps and so on. It's a feature I sorely miss though.
If my operating system makes sound, I immediately look for the way to remove all sound notifications.
Let me ask the opposite question. Why did operating systems make any sounds? Is the rationale for them making sounds still valid? What information does it provide you that isn't otherwise obvious?
I will be the one to go against the grain and say that OS sounds are not necessarily annoying. What is annoying is OS sounds that are slow to start so that by the time you hear them, the action has already been completed and you've performed the action twice or thrice more.
A good OS sound is instant and lets you know something important or different happened.
My Mac Mini (i7 bought in 2020) running Big Sur makes a startup sound.
A fun fact: IBM OS/370 never made sounds, but it was the terminals that did! You would expect to hear a horrible screeching sound every time you press Return or a function key - that's how you would know that you got a response from the system and the screen was updated (which could take a few seconds).
Annoyance, probably. My question is, why do websites play sounds by default? Specifically, when I'm in a zoom meeting and a company-wide email goes out, I tend to hear three or more echoes of the Outlook notification sound.
I remember windows 95 made a sound when it started. Maybe now that boots are fast there is no need to notify a user who may have focused on something else while waiting ?
Sound effects communicate information while you can't look. Looking is the primary output of computers now, so we no longer need to hear that which we can't see; Because we see everything.
In art, audio creates mood. An operating system isn't a piece of art to marvel at, it's the blank canvas upon which apps and games are painted. Those make the richest sounds to date!
I have linux mint with cinnamon, it makes sounds, if desired, for many common actions.