Convicted monopolist Microsoft is back in the news for colluding with Intel to sell unsuitable chips for running Vista.
The row centres on 'Vista Capable' labels, apparently used to sell XP-based PCs that weren't up to the job of running Vista's Aero interface before the OS even went on sale. This might sound like old news, but beware: the Microsoft marketing machine has already started on Windows 7. And some cynics, who believe the firm will always put profits before performance, expect more equivocation to come.
This issue, we've been looking at the pre-beta of Windows 7. While the screenshots supplied by Microsoft show an advanced build - one closer to Apple's Mac OS X interface - the build in current circulation more closely resembles the Vista we know and loathe. Read our benchmark findings to see why Windows 7 may be little more than warmed-up Vista in the areas where it matters.
While previous overhauls of Windows have been tacitly exploited as a tool to sell faster and more up-to-date hardware, the public has had enough. For most people who don't routinely transcode HD video, nothing more powerful than a netbook may be necessary. And if Windows 7 turns out to sap the strength of low-power laptops, even more interest will be diverted to Linux and Mac OS alternatives.
It's early days for Windows 7, and maybe it can be slimmed down before its final release. But Apple will by then have let its Snow Leopard into the wild, a refined build of its current Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Leopard is already a spritely OS, able to run happily on mini laptops such as the MSI Wind. It's only a shame Apple holds such a tight leash on its cats, reserving the OS for its own hardware such as the latest MacBook Pro 2.4GHz.
Comments
David said: Andrew you comments are well noted but lets not forget that Microsoft is under EEU Rules when it comes to innovation which means that any piece of code that goes into Windows 7 has to comply with the Technical group of that organisation for anti trustAnd if im not correct didnt apple have some kind of protection software that prevented the user from themselves when it come to changing system settingsYou know Apple cry about Microsoft copying everything that they do and maybe they do but when Microsoft get flack over it they are on their own as apple deny ever creating the featureAnd who knows Andrew many tech journalists decryed Microsoft when they left out WINFS out of vista Microsoft said that it made vista to slow but I just wonder if this wasnt an EEU Technical decision based on holding Microsoft to account and thus stifling innovation while letting Apple Google and others of the hook and given free rein Just a thought
AH said: David you make the crucial point that Microsoft must improve upon the usability of Windows I didnt mean to infer anything about Leopard running on older Macs although it will happily do so for anything with gt 867MHz processor even lower if you bypass Apples installer block on doing so My highlighting of Mac OS X as a comparison was to illustrate that people dont have to put up with a slow and obstructive user experienceThe Mac OS has built-in indexing defragmentation plus file system journaling doesnt have in-your-face UAC nonsense and runs pretty nippily on netbooks In terms of OS innovation Windows 7 previews have simply shown that Microsoft is continuing to tug at the coat-tails of Apple as it has since it first ripped off the Mac OS in 1985As OS X has demonstrated when choosing your personal computer you can have speed and safety
David said: Andrew Ever heard of the 80 - 20 rule when it comes to technology in case you havent it is quite simply this that 80 of all computer users only ever use 20 of an operating systems feature at any one time and so in my humble opinion if Microsoft can improve upon those features of vista that users felt were confusing while also improving the user experience keeping it simplethen i think the upgrade will be a worthy oneVista is only slow because processes like indexing and fragmentation happen automatically where in xp you had to turn it on manually which most people didnt and so it naturally ran fasterWhen using vista folks you make a decision based on speed v safety you cant have it bothAs for Leopard running on older macs maybe so but I bet apple fans will tell you they have the latest Macs with the Latest Operating system because like their PC Counterparts they also like to keep updated
Hat Suits you Sir said: Andrew craftily asks Havent we seen this before and I have to fully agree that most of us have But in the past many PC printers and wordsmiths have ignored our dire warningsHow many remember AMD the cpu maker having to wait until Intel released their belated 64bit processor before Microsoft miraculously produced their 64bit XP operating systemTherefore before I advance one has to cautionary filter with the recent smoke screening committing libel and insidious threats made by the in-house-team coached and aided MateusdeRose Concluding with the computing press has aided and abetted the blatant abuses myths and non-truths excreted by the global computing hydraBullied or bullied
Ingrid Lassie said: actually given a well-specified PC for some of us its a case of the Vista we know and love