I Said So Long Ago
I have said long ago that Microsoft should focus solely on their operating system and their play console. Here’s why.
Office and Browser — Go Elsewhere…
I have pointed out how OpenOffice is free, and runs on all platforms: Linux, Windows and MacOS (under so-called X11). It can do things many Office versions couldn’t do without plugins, yet was unknown to many until recently. Now, people can see that there is no need to be a criminal and use illegal software when you can download legal software that gets the same job done at a fraction of the cost involved in acquiring the Microsoft Office suite.
In the same way, FireFox and Opera have long ago shown the way for Internet Explorer users, yet Microsoft has gotten a lot of negative publicity from continually integrating their browser too much into the operating system. Why not maintain Explorer as an internal filebrowser, and shut its role as web browsers when others do a better job? They aren’t earning a single dime from continued development of the Internet Explorer browser, and people HAVE made a choice away from MS-IE, which by the way only learned to read standard stylesheets (CSS) in the version 7 which is rather late considering many are still stuck with Internet Explorer 6 because they THINK it’s a good version. The need to update isn’t sinking in with people, so it’s a mission impossible to continue when people don’t understand.
The Way To Proceed
It seems Microsoft has come ahead of my own thinking, which is okay. Development of ideas can come in different stages, and Midori (as mentioned in an article entitled “Microsoft maps out migration from Windows” from Software Development Times) has some quite interesting perspectives as you can read in the article “Microsoft’s plans for post-Windows OS revealed” also from Software Development Times.
Microsoft has some rather good object programmers and if they truly get into the project with a fresh start, fresh minds and – most importantly – clean code (i.e. from scratch), then there is hope for a new vision in the world of operating systems. But a fresh start NEEDS to take into consideration the following aspects:
- Memory (ram – random access memory) is not without limits. People may have 2 or 4Gb of RAM in new machines, but an operating system must allow for other programs in action without cluttering up in swap files
- Harddisks, though growing constantly, are not without limits either. Whopping 30Gb to cater for a simple Vista ground installation is damaging to laptops that may have come with a 120Gb harddrive when people have also envisioned other programs and documents to be avaiable
- Battery power is not without limits either. Swapping back and forth deters battery performance and kills any chance of getting above 4 hours on many machines
There is potential in concentrating in what they are good at. Operating systems and game consoles would be the way to go. The rest should be left up to competitors. That way Microsoft can focus on issues where they EARN money instead of spending it to feed their own egos on projects that don’t perform on the final dotted line.
Carpe diem. 🙂