Windows 7: Vista Mark II

Sam Varghese
Friday, 29 May 2009 06:18

Opinion and Analysis

The latest marketing tactic with Windows 7? Extending the beta test period to July 1. And reminding people that the release candidate will expire in June 2010. Hurry up and buy the real thing, full of tasty DRM. There's a reminder that "Microsoft respects your privacy." Thanks, guys.

Those nice folk in Hollywood plus the RIAA have combined to add features to Windows 7 that make it unique. It will ensure that every downloader of films and music suddenly starts going to Sunday school.

It may even lead to mass conversions and a resurgence of the fundamentalists in the US as people try to "do the right thing."

I'me left wondering - how much of this bullshit will Windows users, several of them extremely good souls, take? What does it take to goad a Windows user into rebellion? Or have they, en masse, swallowed too much of the kool-aid to ever react?

Apple has a great operating system if you want a proprietary system that works a treat. It may put anti-virus vendors out of business for the most part but it will save users a lot of time and effort. Ultimately what you pay is about the same as for a Windows PC if you factor in all the lost time, effort and headaches.

If you're the kind who likes freedom, then GNU/Linux is there in all its glorious flavours. You have the out-of-the-box working kind, or you have the fiddly kind where you learn things that make you appreciate the hard work that goes into creating a multiuser, secure operating system.

A search for "Windows 7 a dud" brings up a fair number of hits. Google has spoken, friends, and as we know Google is never wrong.