Apple surges. Google had very good profits. Things aren’t all gloomy in the tech sector.
Things are extraordinarily bleak on the hardware side. I see it every day. Companies are praying that Windows 7 will be another Windows 95, but they are delusional. Windows 95 was tied to a nascent Web and it was a must have. No one needs Windows 7.
PC hardware is a suckers game. Whoever can sell for the lowest wins – well sort of. It ain’t the 80’s anymore.
Prediction: If you think 2009 sucks, chances are that you think 2010 will suck too….and so on and so on…
Win-95 turned a text based OS, into an visual Icon and Desktop based OS. Since then sound and motion has been added, in various forms. But there is no more major user experience break-thrus. Windows 7 will just be a more smoother working version of past Windows. Less hassles, perhaps. But not anything majorly new or radial. How about a PC OS that reads the user’s mind, and put that on the screen, without the need for a keyboard or mouse? Now THAT, would be the next killer, “Got to Have” OS.
The problem is, the hardware must still be able to handle the older OSes, while adapting upward to a newer one. And PC hardware can’t progress in any radially major way, without completely cutting loose from all previous OS products. Like when we left the 8 Bit PC architecture behind, for the 16 and 32 Bit versions. The 64 Bit and multi-core PC architectures are just suped up versions of the older stuff. They really don’t strike out on their own enough, to make everyone want to dump their old PCs and buy these.
For a long time, I suspected that Microsoft’s Windows products would end up holding back PC evolution. Because the hardware can’t be allowed to exceed what Microsoft is willing to conceive of and produce. Whereas, in the past, the new platforms from Apple, Commodore, and Atari, came out with their own unique OSes, that took full advantage of their physical hardware. But MSDOS and Windows merely took advantage of the most common characteristics of assembled pre-existing hardware.
Aside from the BIOS chip, IBM invented nothing new in those first PCs. And the OS made for it, couldn’t push the need or development for far better hardware. Except to encourage adding more memory and CPU speed, to handle an increased workload.
Here’s a few ideas for Windows 8, if and whenever that comes out. A PC that no longer can Buffer Overrun. That encrypts all harddrive files and memory buffers, on the fly. That allows nothing to run, that isn’t pre-approved to. A simply White List scheme, managed by an impartial body (not Microsoft, holding its competitors back). So at least there will be a registration trail, back to whoever is making this malicious crap that does do harm. Which means said OS would have to be able to identify all software, by its unique binary signature, or some certified header code and CRC or hash value. And no more reliance, strictly on files’ dot suffix, for its associated application calls. My old Amiga OS knew better than to rely on that, for program calls. And I assume Apple Macs haven’t either.
2009 has been the best year EVAR!
p.s. Microsoft doomed itself back around the year 2000 or 2001. The .NET platform is so overwhelmingly desktop locked with a huge footprint and we are increasingly in a portable devices OS world.
Glenn,
As much as I love Amiga, it’s not going to make a come-back anytime soon. Yes, it’s still out there and has a community which I follow from time to time but it’s not the same anymore.
This world is run by morons, buffoons, cretins…(quote btw hehe) and it’s not going to change either. Smart and logical people aren’t smart enough to overcome the mass stupidity of this world. Even Einstein gave up! 
When I see people talk about multitasking in Windows I just shake my head turn away. I don’t even bother to try to laugh at it or explain. They believe what they believe because they don’t know any better and won’t bother to try.
That said, Windows 7 is pretty stable thus far and that’s a plus for me. Not revolutionary or evolutionary by any means but it’s stable. Can’t hope for anything more
Yah, yah, Windows 7 is supposed to be great and all that, but will it run Linux?
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