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Mon 13 Jul 2009
Is Windows 7 the last dedicated version that Microsoft will release?
By Michael Pietroforte | 2 Comments | Permalink | Trackback | Previous | NextA BBC reporter asked Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, this question. Google’s announcement of Chrome OS wasn’t mentioned in this interview, but it obviously was behind the question. I was fascinated how calm Ray Ozzie answered. I wonder what happened if she asked Steve Ballmer this question. If she asked me, I probably would have answered with another question. I would have asked if the next BBC World News edition will be the last dedicated version and if from then on they will just link to YouTube. Well, good that I am not Microsoft’s chief software architect. Ray Ozzie’s answer is definitely better. Watch it yourself.
Agreed, it was a good answer. This is a rumour that’s been floating around for a while, that Windows is too long in the tooth to continue in the Internet age. It seems reasonable on the surface, but it assumes that Windows will just keep going in the same direction it always has. That’s absurd, it’ll continue to adapt.
I think this rumor is as old as Windows. The list of alleged Windows challengers gets longer and longer: Mac OS, NeXT, Java, Netscape Navigator, thin clients, net computers, Linux…People usually only see the operating system and what can be done with it. Then they think how this could be done differently. However, a serious Windows challenger has to compete with the whole Microsoft ecosystem. If you want to replace money with a new concept, you don’t just have to have replace bills and coins, you have to replace the whole economic system.