After the announcement of the latest revision of Internet Explorer (available as a beta), and the possible work on a new operating system, it is easy to say that Microsoft is looking to the future and moving with purpose to alleviate some of the effects of the bad press it has received in the past year.

While it would be easy to simply dismiss the efforts of Redmond as a subterfuge, I don’t believe it is that simple. It is clear, from past events, that there are many things started by Microsoft and later left to languish, having been declared not worthy of further effort. While it may be that the best efforts of the Internet Explorer team is to remove the stigma of poor performance, and ease of attack by malware of all kinds, any radical change in path might be negated by the extreme amount of integration that is demanded by the operating system. This is one of the problems of the ‘reusable code’ idea that these latest versions of Windows were built upon.

The idea that reusable code and common dynamic link libraries would lead to a leaner faster Windows has not worked out at all. On the contrary, the size of Windows grows significantly larger with each revision of Windows, and the speed of execution slows.

The operating system, Singularity, released for exploration by the community, may be small and fast, but it must be remembered that Windows was once a small plaything. Windows 1.0 was little more than a toy that could slightly amuse. By the time Windows became useful, with revision 3.1, it had grown immensely.

It may be that Singularity will be the base of the next Windows, but with the speed that operating systems develop, and the changes that must be implemented as the current offerings continue, it could easily be 5 years before a workable version is available, or that five extra years of work could fall by the wayside, as Microsoft decides that further efforts are not worthwhile.

One of the problems that Microsoft has always shown is that it tends to make changes in look a priority over changes in function. Much as the powers of Detroit believe that simply making the latest powertrain upgrades is not enough, Microsoft shows that simple changes to the underpinnings of the operating system is not enough. While the look of the 1970 Camaro might be very old by now, if offered year after year since 1970, imagine the amazing changes to the small block Chevrolet that would have been made if all the biannual changes to the cosmetics were not required, which took the lion’s share of project dollars. A look at the Volkswagen shows that not much changed cosmetically from 1949 to the middle 1970s, but each year significant improvements were made to make the car better, and a better value for those who were willing to see the changes.

Part of the problem at Microsoft is the lack of focus - as large as the company is, with thousands of persons available for its efforts, there are not enough people to concentrate on the many projects the leaders of Microsoft want to undertake. Without a greater degree of focus, it is doubtful that any new effort by Microsoft will come above the level of mediocrity that the other offerings from this former technology leader have become.

The Germans learned it long ago, on this side of the Atlantic, it is still not standard, but should be - form follows function.

-

Tags: microsoft, singularity, internet explorer 8, beta software, focus, german design