
 Why Windows Software Could Use a Rush of Fresh Air - nickb
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/technology/29digi.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1214755295-Axr36TjsXVPhTiByES3zvw
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Lagged2Death
The best solution is ... starting over? Really?

Because Microsoft actually did that at least once, and this writer apparently
missed it. They called it Windows NT. Windows Vista isn't version 12, it's NT
6.0. (Open a command prompt and see.) Which is why the next version is called
Windows 7.

The author actually suggests that MS should write a new OS and run old code on
some sort of VM or compatibility layer, apparently entirely unaware that every
modern Windows PC already does pretty much exactly that.

Love it or hate it, Microsoft's devotion to backward compatibility is a big
part of what got it where it is now. There are upsides and downsides to
everything.

I don't even like Microsoft. But the insanity that gets hurled its way is
ridiculous.

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morisy
Just to play Devil's Advocate here, I think the article has some serious flaws
while making some great, fundamental points.

The biggest flaw? Stealing an underdog's strategy when you're not the underdog
just doesn't make sense. Mac had almost no enterprise (outside of a few
verticals) deployments when they decided to scrap it all and go for broke.
Their customers were used to having to upgrade software (think Adobe, sound
editing programs, Quark) every few years anyways, and they had those companies
buy-in for the upgrade.

Contrast that to Windows where if they did, as the author suggests, start over
from scratch, that would provide a HUGE opening to Mac and Linux. They would
essentially be giving up their dominant market advantage. And for what?

Have they been hurting some? Sure. Vista's reception, while not a total
disaster, has been lackluster at best, but their growth in other areas (home
consoles, media centers) is strong, and their enterprise play is still a near
strangle-hold (sure, you got a few oddballs running Mac, but very few
enterprise grade deployments, where the real money in licensing and support
is).

Why would they give all that up to copy-cat (and probably a poorer copy cat)
their competitors' strategies?

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pavelludiq
Is it possible that after the incredible disasters that windows 7 will be,
Microsoft engineers a new OS with an UNIX kernel and a proprietary layer on
top of it? Just a thought.

