Posted byHarry McCracken on October 8, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I’ve just delved into a pretty exhaustive detailing of all that’s unsatisfactory about Windows Vista’s User Account Control (UAC), the security measure that’s famous for asking you if you want to perform the task you just said you wanted to perform. And the funny thing is, I did so at Engineering Windows 7, Microsoft’s official blog about the next version of its operating system.
The post is by Microsoft’s Ben Fathi, and while it’s understandably somewhat defensive about UAC–it says that it’s less obtrusive today than when Vista debuted, for instance–it also acknowledges that UAC is annoying and confusing, and that the tendency of many folks to click to allow actions without thinking about it impacts its ability to protect users against unauthorized actions.
As both WinHEC and PDC 2008 move ever closer, talk among Microsofties has increasingly turned to Windows 7. Specifically, talk among bloggers has begun to focus on whether Microsoft will continue what it began with Vista by segmenting Windows into (arguably too many) various editions.
Let’s look at Vista as is stands now. Five seperate editions round out the line — Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise. A sixth, Windows Vista Starter, is aimed at developing markets.
The launch of Vista changed Microsoft’s previous policy of having a single operating system for consumers, expanding it to three seperate editions. Microsoft’s decision became instant fodder for Apple, which used the somewhat confusing offering in its highly popular Mac vs. PC ads.
Was this a wise move? Probably not. If you picked the Basic version, you basically got a reskinned version of XP with security enhancements. In order to get the “full” Vista experience, the Premium edition was necessary. Microsoft’s own chart clearly shows how hobbled Basic is when compared to the other editions.
Posted byHarry McCracken on October 5, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Last week was one of comings and goings. iPhone NDA? Gone! Windows Cloud? On its way! RealDVD? Here, then gone! Windows XP? Six more months before it might be gone! And iTunes? Still here, thank heavens! Continue Reading →
This is still a rumor at this point. But every time I meet with a PC company and ask them whether their business customers are ready for Vista, the response is amazingly similar, and amazingly negative. They always bring up the January 31st deadline, and when they mention it, you can see the fear in their eyes.
If the desire in corporate America to retain the XP option is so strong a few months from now, I don’t see how Microsoft can give XP its final heave ho. There’d be an uprising among PC buyers, and that uprising would prompt one among Microsoft’s PC manufacturer customers. There might have been a time when Microsoft could have told the world to stuff it, but I don’t think that time is now.
And if Windows 7 really does come out in early 2010 or so, extending Windows XP’s availability until the second half of 2009 would allow companies to sidestep Vista altogether if they so chose. (Not that most of them will go to Windows 7 quickly, no matter how good it is: 2011 is about the earliest that corporate adoption would really kick off.)
The Register’s scuttlebutt may or may not be true–maybe Microsoft will not simply extend the current situation but instead move to some new policy that allows it to save face without ticking off the entire planet–but I’ll be startled indeed if XP does indeed simply vanish at the end of January….
Posted byHarry McCracken on October 1, 2008 at 5:06 pm
As far as I’m concerned, one of the most interesting topics to speculate about in all of personal technology is the fate of Windows in an increasingly Internet-centric world. And Steve Ballmer just gave us more fodder to chew on: This IDG News Service story says that the Microsoft CEO told attendees at a London conference that Microsoft will announce something code-named Windows Cloud in about a month. (That timing would coincide neatly with PDC, Microsoft’s big annual conference for software developers.)
The IDG story describes Windows Cloud as an operating system, but I’m assuming it’s not an OS that’s in any way akin to Windows as we know it as a desktop OS. Rather, it’s more likely a development platform and/or set of services for Net-based apps, possibly in the same vein as some of the stuff Amazon is doing with its Web Services offerings, which are used by lots of significant consumer services. (See Ina Fried’s story at Cnet News for more on this idea.)
Posted byHarry McCracken on September 27, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I still run hot and cold on the prospects for Google’s Android OS. With this week’s launch of the T-Mobile G1, though, I’m feeling fairly upbeat about it. For now, at least… Continue Reading →
I think that’s potentially a very encouraging sign about Microsoft’s priorities for W7. Operating systems shouldn’t be about e-mail or photo tweaking or movie making–they should be about being a fast, reliable, and intuitive platform for all of those applications and thousands more. By insisting on making those programs part of earlier versions of Windows, Microsoft hobbled both the apps and the OS in multiple ways:
–There’s no way that applications that move at the speed of OS development can keep up with the rest of the world. Windows XP shipped in 2001; how could a photo app tied to it compete with services like Flickr that arrived years later, even if it received updates?
–Applications bundled with operating systems are destined for mediocrity–nobody pays for them, or even chooses to use them. They’re defaults–at best, they get good enough to be good enough. And then they stagnate.
–Bundled apps are just a distraction. There’s so much fundamental stuff that Windows could do better on every front, from performance to security to usability; why lard up the OS with apps that are clearly optional and which have strong third-party rivals?
I don’t think Microsoft would nod its corporate head in agreement with all of the points above, but some of the things it told Ina about its decision aren’t wildly different in terms of the bottom line. That’s a striking reversal from marketing for Windows XP and Vista, both of which often played up the bundled applications that came with the OS. Here, for instance, is the XP ad with Madonna’s “Ray of Light”:
It’s also strikingly different than Apple’s OS-application strategy. It too makes an operating system and creative applications, but OS X and iLife only get bundled together on a new Mac. iLife will only live as long as it’s compelling enough to get real people excited enough to pay real money for it. Otherwise, they’re standalone products that must be purchased separately. Good for OS X; good for iLife; good, ultimately, for Mac users.
I think Microsoft could go way further with this basic idea: Should it be a given that Windows comes with Windows Media Player or even Internet Explorer? Maybe Paint should be retired after 23 years? (That’s apparently not going to happen–actually, it’s apparently getting a major makeover, with the Office 2007 Ribbon interface and multi-touch support.) But losing some apps is a good start–and I think that Windows Mail, Photo Gallery, and Movie Maker all stand a better chance of being really competitive if they stand on their own and only get used by people who make an effort to find, download, and explore them.
Posted byHarry McCracken on September 21, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Okay, enough about Windows ads. Let’s talk about a far more important topic: Windows itself. Windows 7–the working name for the next version–to be exact. According to no less an authority than Steve Ballmer, it’s supposed to ship in late 2009–but this is Microsoft time we’re talking, so let’s say early 2010.
Microsoft has had shockingly little to say about W7 so far–more about that in a moment–but details are starting to leak out. This blog, for instance, has a bunch of screen shots from what it says is an early version of the OS–Windows 7 M3 Build 6780, to be exact.
Posted byHarry McCracken on September 20, 2008 at 7:47 pm
The T-List is changing a bit: From now on, it’ll be a weekend roundup of the week’s biggest stories. And the past seven days sure provided more than their share of fodder, some of it downright bizarre. Continue Reading →
Posted byHarry McCracken on September 19, 2008 at 9:45 am
Good news! We’re now officially awash in new Windows ads. Not only are the first commercials in the second phase of TV spots out, but Microsoft has posted some new ads that will show up in print publications. It’s no surprise that these ones are a bit more explicit about Windows as a product line, compared to the almost-entirely-emotional print ads. I can’t imagine anyone having the sort of violent negative reaction to the print campaign that some people had to the first TV ads, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun picking them apart in excessive detail.
I’ve just delved into a pretty exhaustive detailing of all that’s unsatisfactory about Windows Vista’s User Account Control (UAC), the security measure that’s famous for asking you if you want to perform the task you just said you wanted to perform. And the funny thing is, I did so at Engineering Windows 7, Microsoft’s official blog about the next version of its operating system.
Last week was one of comings and goings. iPhone NDA? Gone! Windows Cloud? On its way! RealDVD? Here, then gone! Windows XP? Six more months before it might be gone! And iTunes? Still here, thank heavens!
The Register is reporting something that’s both really interesting and totally unsurprising: 
Good news! We’re now officially awash in new Windows ads. Not only are the