We Just Can't Wait for Windows 7
Very often, we use the royal "we" here at RCPU even though the same
person writes the newsletter 90 percent of the time because "we" just
sounds a little more elegant and perhaps less arrogant than "I." (Besides,
we do have an editing and production team -- all your editor does is type.)
But today, when we use the word "we" to describe folks waiting on
Windows 7, we're not just talking one person or even a few people. We're talking
about the masses of people who have rejected Vista (in which RCPU is, to be
fair, presently included) and are more than a little curious to see what its
successor will look like.
In fact, as far as we here at RCPU can tell, the "we" that's waiting
for Windows 7 represents the overwhelming majority of computer users -- meaning
a fairly impressive percentage of people on this planet. Maybe that's why rumors
about Windows 7 get approximately the same treatment as Sarah Palin these days -- every
rumor, leak or commentary about the forthcoming operating system gets exposed,
analyzed, criticized and dissected by bloggers and the trade press.
The hubbub gained steam this week when the release of the OS to private testing
spurred
rumors about a possible release date. Honestly, we haven't seen a Windows
OS get this much buzz since...well, um, since Vista. And we all know how that
turned out.
It seems in this corner of the Web as though Windows 7 has the potential to
be Super Bowl operating system -- desperately awaited, massively over-hyped...and
ultimately a disappointment. Oh, it's not that we don't think that it'll be
a good product. It's just that there's almost no way it'll make up for the general
malaise created by Vista, especially since it might not actually be that different
from Vista.
We here at RCPU wonder whether maybe Windows 7, if it does fail to sweep users
off their feet, will speed the move toward cloud computing and push the concept
of an operating system further into obsolescence. We also wonder how much of
a hit Microsoft will take -- more image-wise than money-wise, for the time
being -- if Windows 7 isn't a blockbuster.
As it stands, for Microsoft, partners and the very model of desktop computing,
there's actually a heck of a lot riding on Windows 7. Will it make up for the
damage Vista has done? We -- meaning the waiting millions, not just the folks
here at RCPU -- will see soon enough.
What do you want from Windows 7? If you didn't like Vista, what does Microsoft
need to do to win you back? Tell us at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on 09/18/2008 at 1:22 PM