04/09/2008, 4:30pm, EDT
Wednesday, April 9thAnalysts: Windows' monolith design collapsing
Microsoft may have no choice but to break up Windows into many different versions if it wants to avoid serious long-term problems with its code, according to analysis by Gartner analysts. Neil MacDonald and Michael Silver of the research group note that the operating system is being asked to cover too many aspects of computing, creating a "monolithic" code base that is both too demanding on some classes of hardware and consumes too much space. The company's decision to extend Windows XP for budget systems is a sign that Vista has stretched too far, Gartner's experts note.
They also observe that Microsoft's emphasis on a single core for all variants on an operating system makes even 2001's Windows XP less practical on some platforms. On notebooks such as the Eee PC or Classmate PC, XP consumes twice as much storage as custom Linux installations, which ASUS, Intel, and others often use to pare down the size of the OS without sacrificing the features they need.
Microsoft's focus on a singular code foundation has also prevented it from porting its operating system to cellphones and handhelds. Unlike Apple, the company is currently incapable of translating its OS directly to a mobile version. Windows Mobile is instead based on Windows CE, a separate though related platform originally meant for PDAs, while the iPhone and iPod touch use a variant on Mac OS X which shares the same core but prunes features unnecessary in portables.
Intel has also said that most devices in the Mobile Internet Device class, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad U8, will need Linux or other alternative software both to run smoothly and to provide enough free capacity on a given drive.
MacDonald and Silver instead suggest that Microsoft develop Windows 7 or later versions as a modular operating system. The Redmond firm could then add only the code necessary for a given device. It would also eliminate chronic problems associated with Windows by letting Microsoft fence off applications that don't need access to certain aspects of the operating system.
Microsoft hasn't discussed most details of Windows 7 but says it will represent a larger change than Windows Vista when it appears in 2010.
Filed under: industry, software
Other story tags: Microsoft, Intel, Windows Mobile, Windows, Vista, Eee PC, XP, Classmate PC
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They just to to properly write a new single version of windows that runs properly.
We run all Macs at our workplace , but please I, had a user come to with a Windows laptop and he was having HELL with IE7 on Vista .. slow startups etc .. after 5 min of researching I found lots of others having same problems .. OK re install IE7 I thought .. Oh you can't it's part of the OS, cant even download it. Then I found the OS even has a system / tools / to specially run IE7 without plugins ... WHY WHY should an OS expect problems to the point that it has to even have special tools to run a base browser in order to fix problems CRAP DISGUSTING. Imagine if Apple announced that it was releasing a special fix it tool to run Safari cut down when users have problems with the full Safari ... they would be shot .. yet people accept that this is how windows works !!!
Of course, by the time they work that approach out, Apple will have lapped them several times... which is what drives MS to copy what Apple does over and over, just so that they can remain 3 steps behind them.
Doofuses.
http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/modular-windows-will-suck.ars