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Fuzzy Logic Microsoft’s painful blister: Windows Vista
Fuzzy Logic Microsoft’s painful blister: Windows Vista | Microsoft’s painful blister: Windows Vista |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 27 November 2007 | |
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On the graphical front, both Vista and OS X 10.5 have sported some nice eye candy, but the eye candy award of the year has to go to the Apple iPhone interface, bringing the interface of handheld devices into the 21st century and showing desktop interfaces a thing or two about human interaction. Amazingly, Microsoft shares this award thanks to the Surface Computer, which as you likely already know by know is a bit like a coffee table sized version an iPhone-like computing device, what with its multi touch interface that goes even beyond what the iPhone is capable of thus far. In regards to Vista’s place as the successor to Windows XP and thus the operating system that is destined to become the world’s most popular, a title that currently belongs to Windows XP, competition from OS X and Linux are starting to put more pressure on Microsoft than ever before. Apple Macs now able to run Windows natively or virtually giving you two computers in one, while Linux has become much more compatible, more sophisticated and easier to use for more people than ever before while having plenty of eye candy to offer users too. A fantastic example of a popular and easy-to-use Linux PC is the new low cost US $199 (AUD $499) Asus Eee notebook PC that comes pre-loaded with Linux, Firefox, Skype, Open Office and dozens of other applications. Ultra portable with a 7-inch colour LCD screen, Wi-Fi, 4GB of storage, an SDHC slot, USB slots, a Linux OS that has been streamlined to be ultra simple to use (see the very cool demo) with applications you already use or could easily start using, along with instant start up times, it’s reportedly flying off the shelves with Asus claiming it is ‘America’s most wanted Christmas gift”. This Linux powered PC could well be the first Linux PC to truly capture the public’s imagination with features and capabilities that not only easily mirror what is possible on a PC, but with an interface that looks ultra simple to use, even more so than Windows, although a model of the Eee PC running Windows has also been promised for the future. The Eee PC has been getting rave reviews and then also reviews from those who are unfairly comparing it to a $1500 notebook, but as a device sporting a consumer level OS that runs applications I already use on my Windows PC, it represents a serious challenge to Microsoft’s operating system dominance, especially when, as with Mac OS X, it isn’t quite the target of viruses and malware that Windows is. Couple this with more powerful models that are sure to come, with larger storage and larger screens, along with web based ‘software as a service’ coupled with offline apps that give you access to your data even when the connection has gone down, and Microsoft has a huge challenge ahead in keeping Vista relevant. So, what has gone wrong with Vista over the past year, and what has gone right? Please read onto page 2 to continue... |
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