Windows 7 to be the end of the line?

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 08:25

IT Industry - Development

An academic has predicted that Windows 7 - which ships later this week - may be Microsoft's desktop OS swan song.

This story has been updated - please click here for the new version.

Associate Professor Sanjay Chawla, head of the University of Sydney's School of Information Technologies, said that desktop computing is becoming less important as cloud computing and virtualisation become increasingly commonplace.

"Users won't need new, more powerful operating systems for their desktops if the tasks they need to perform can be done by cloud computing," said Chawla.

Cloud computing and virtualisation "expand the Internet from a communication medium to a computing platform in its own right," he added.

While cloud computing does have a number of advantages - including the ability to access programs and data from practically any computer and many handheld devices, the removal of the need to update applications, and a reduction in the cost of the hardware needed to run heavyweight applications - it also has drawbacks.

"The downside of emerging systems is the lack of trust in cloud computing. People need more convincing their data is safe in the 'cloud' before they commit to it. The privacy offered by desktop operating systems means they still hold a lot of appeal," said Chawla.

There's also the issue of the bandwidth required to support cloud applications, and the cost of using it (which can be considerable for those who rely on wireless connectivity).

But Chawla doesn't think Microsoft is a spent force. He believes it has "other products in the pipeline offering scope to redefine the computing landscape".

"As a large organisation, Microsoft finds it difficult to react to rapid changes in the market on a timely basis," he said.

"But with its largesse comes a huge R&D budget of $10 billion a year, so it will remain a formidable player in the market regardless of the future of desktop computing."

Microsoft officials were unavailable to comment on Chawla's suggestion at the time of writing, but the company has been pursuing a 'software+services' strategy to blend the advantages of desktop and cloud software.