Saturday, January 24, 2015

Window 10 is coming!

Windows 10 is coming soon to your (insert device name here). Microsoft has found the one true OS, the OS to bind them all. Personal computers, phones, tablets and game consoles shall bow to Win10.

C/Net reports you’ll be able to switch effortlessly with Continuum between your PC and tablet. Touch versus mouse is of no concern in Microsoft-earth. Notifications will sync between devices faster than a Nazgul on his fell beast. Apps made by the clever hands of Misty Mountain’s dwarves will work as expected in the hands of Rohan’s men. Spartan, like Sauron’s Eye, will see all that the internet can offer. Oh, and Cortana will learn your idiosyncrasies and only share your personal desires. Wait, not done, Hololens is coming. We should bow to Win10.

Cynical? Okay, a little. I’ve lived through Microsoft announcements since Windows was a gleam in Bill Gate’s eye, a gleam reflected from an Apple computer. I bought my first personal computer in 1978, pre Microsoft. In the early eighties, my business started using MS Dos compatible computers because they offered software that was not pretty, like Apples, but worked. MS Dos was a workhorse and served the business world well. Business enterprises and a good contract with IBM made Microsoft a success. Other factors contributed, but a relationship with business is, I believe, much more important to Microsoft than many people understand.

The company has put pressure on its business relationship more than once. For example, there was a time when different operating systems were required depending on the CPU chip used in a computer. Many applications written for a 286 chip wouldn't work on a 386 chip. Finding out witch apps worked was left to the business users, not the most profitable use of their time. Then Windows 1 and 2 were released, coming close to destroying business’s relationship with MS. Windows 3.1 saved the day, that and a massive rewrite of applications by Microsoft’s third party developers. 

My take on just some of the Windows variants since 3.1. WWYT= What were you thinking?

Windows XP = okay. 
Windows ME = WWYT. 
Windows Vista = WWYT. 
Windows 7 = Okay. 
Windows 8 = WWYT. 


What will Windows 10 equal?