The Secret Origin of Windows
told from the point of view of the product manager /via slashdot
Posts tagged operating systems
The Future of Windows
In 1985, almost all PCs sat on desktops, the Internet was a Defense Department research project, and the cell phone revolution had barely gotten underway. It was also the year that Microsoft launched a DOS front-end called Windows 1.0.
Over the past quarter century, Windows has evolved many times, and it will change again in light of Microsoft’s investments in cloud services, mobile platforms, and other new technologies. And as the way people compute and communicate morphs faster than ever, the challenges ahead for Windows are huge.
With that in mind, Technologizer asked some of the industry’s big brains about what Microsoft needs to do to keep its operating system relevant in the years to come. Their advice ranges from merely simplifying the interface to borrowing ideas from other Microsoft products such as the Xbox to giving the OS a complete reboot. Here’s what they (and we) have to say.
» via Technologizer
The 'year of the Linux desktop' has passed
For those still waiting for the year of the Linux “desktop,” I regret to inform you that it has already come and gone.
Through the efforts of the open-source community, in conjunction with independent hardware and software vendors, as well as Web developers, Linux is well beyond its toddler years and is almost past its rebellious teenage years. Did you notice?
» via CNET news
Netbooks: The Disruptive Dual-OS Future
I also completely disagree with those who see Chrome OS as “a nuclear bomb” aimed at Microsoft. It’s exclusively focused on the netbook market, not desktops and servers. It’s more of an experiment than a nuclear bomb.
Let’s assume that the Chrome OS cloud-only model does alienate users. In that case, could Google reposition Chrome OS as a secondary, instant-on operating system that might ship alongside other operating systems, or simply be downloadable to use that way? Could it be the OS that you hop into for a crash-proof, cloud-based experience, just as many people hop in and out of the Chrome browser for its stability and other reasons?
Seen at GigaOM
[Google’s ] success is not about whether a lot of people use Chrome OS, but whether a lot of people end up using Web applications.
Microsoft targets 2012 for Windows 8
When we first started posting news tidbits regarding Windows 8, we warned readers not to expect the operating system to arrive until 2011 at the earliest, and we noted that 2012 was more likely. After the problems caused by the long gap between the releases of Windows XP and Windows Vista, Microsoft said that starting with Windows 7, the company would work really hard to follow a three-year release cycle. Windows 7 was released on October 22, 2009, so it makes sense that Windows 8 will get here in 2012, assuming no delays. That might be a slightly harder feat to achieve given that Windows 8 will be a major release (like Windows Vista was, as opposed to a minor one, like Windows 7 was) but since Windows 7 arrived less than three years after Vista, Microsoft should be able to pull it off.
Maybe Instead of Two Cars, You Just Need a Car and a Bicycle | Daring Fireball
John Gruber again makes a great point in this post about why the Litl and Google ChromeOS make sense.
One thing that strikes me about Chrome OS and Litl is that neither bother trying to do everything Windows or Mac OS X can do. Not even close. I don’t think either even bothers trying to serve as one’s primary computer.
The idea that they’re designed to serve as secondary computers is a big part of the opportunity I see for new Web-focused OSes. I think that’s one of the implicit factors that define what people call “netbooks”. How many people use one of those as their one and only computer?
If you start with the assumption that a computer will be a secondary machine — something purchased because it’s cheaper, smaller, and lighter — you can make all sorts of different assumptions about what it needs to be capable of.
Brin: Google's OSes likely to converge
Google’s dual-pronged operating-system strategy will likely produce a single OS down the road, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Seen at cnet news
How Microsoft blew it with Windows Mobile
Microsoft Windows continues to dominate the PC market with a 90 percent market-share stronghold, but when it comes to smartphones, Microsoft is getting beat up worse than a mustachioed villain in a Jackie Chan movie.
Windows Mobile has lost nearly a third of its smartphone market share since 2008, research firm Gartner reports. Windows Mobile had 11 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, and last quarter Windows Mobile’s market share plummeted to 7.9 percent.
Meanwhile, Apple’s global market share grew from 12.9 percent to 17.1 percent, and RIM saw a rise from 16 percent to 20.8 percent, according to Gartner’s figures.
Seen at CNN
Google Chrome OS explained perfectly in 3:21
This is really neat, and such an important step forward for the world.
IF YOU want to understand what’s going on in the mobile phone business just now, think of it as a hen coop into which two foxes have recently arrived.
Chrome OS is a different product in a different target market. One way to think about it is that Android is really targeted to people who are phone-centric. We all understand what phone-centric means. It’s a mobile device. It has a Wi-Fi connection, you carry it. If it isn’t a phone, it’s something like a phone, a tablet or something like that. The Chrome OS is really targeted at the PC Netbook-centric user and that’s somebody who is at a desk, they’ve got a keyboard, or something like that. They’ve got a reasonable screen and they’ve got a good processor. The uses are different and we don’t think that the two completely overlap.
Apple and Google: Our OS Future
As Apple takes mobile computing to the next level with its immanent tablet computer, and Google continues to be a rejuvenating force for Apple’s mobile competitors with its Android OS, I think…
Vista peaks, starts decline in share as Windows 7 surges
Microsoft’s Windows Vista lost market share last month for the first time in almost two years, a sign that users are already abandoning the oft-ridiculed operating system in favor of the new Windows 7.
According to Web metrics firm Net Applications, Vista dropped 0.2 percentage points during September to end the month at an 18.6% slice of the operating system pie. It was the first decline for Vista since a 0.3 percentage-point slip in January 2008.
Seen at ComputerWorld
Original Content — Copyright © 2010
Christopher D. Barth.
Excerpted Content — Copyright held by the original publisher. Email copyright inquiries.
