6:54 PM

Windows is a fat Paris Hilton. You want it to be a Wheaties box athlete. Put Windows on a diet, take away it’s toys and designer clothes. Make it run around the track a few thousand times. Give it a new mantra: Performance, performance, performance.

Fix XP (or Vista), Work On Incremental Updates

Stop hyping the next release of Windows as the solution to the problems of the current Windows. Fix and streamline Windows XP, and then issue incremental updates based on that platform. Fix security issues, crash problems, rewrite thousands upon thousands of lines of code, go over it with a fine tooth comb until you’re absolutely sure your foundation is strong, then build.

Do what Apple does and hype your service pack updates as OS revisions. Charge $100, release yearly. The problem with issuing epic OS updates: it’s like fasting for a week to loose weight instead of maintaining a healthy diet. By fixing your problems as you go along, you stop them from compounding. No one will be expecting a magic life changing OS, they’ll be expecting a better version of XP. That’s easier to ship and to build.

Reconsider Everything

Rebuild Windows from the bottom up. You’ve done this to an extent. What I’m talking about is reconsidering everything you thought you knew about Windows. Do what Decartes did (skip the needy proof on God). Ask stupid questions, reconsider design, coding, user-interface, and OS philosophy.

Your company is in the unique position where it has the resources and capital to remake an entire OS from scratch. Take your time and consider what you’re doing very carefully. Some might even make the suggestion of open-source cooperation, which is great for code, but you’re going to need a dictatorship with a strong vision to make a great OS.

Simplify, Become Utilitarian

One version. One price. One name. One look.

You do not need to make yourself into Apple to be successful, you do not need to make yourself Linux. Maintain simple visual appeal with no flashy graphics. Make a working, useful OS with only those features which are useful. Get rid of all the third-party shit.

Share

Add Response

2 Comments

Tim

Just curious, you say Microsoft doesn’t need to make itself into Apple to be successful but most if not all of your suggestions are exactly what Apple has done with OS X.

Also what 3rd party applications are included in a vanilla install of Windows? I’m not talking about the stuff that come pre-installed on Dells because Microsoft doesn’t do that, Dell does. If you install Windows yourself (i.e. from the disc) I don’t think any non-Microsoft applications come with it.

As an aside, I’m not sure if Vista does this but it’d be great if Microsoft finally included DVD playback out of the box so I manufacturers stopped including their own poorly integrated DVD playback software (that is another thing that Apple has done though).

Quote

Mark Elliot Cullen

That’s true enough, although Mac OS X is definitely not a “no frills” operating system, which is what I’m proposing for Microsoft.

I use a Mac but I understand the need for something simple, standardized and hopefully cheaper for business environments.

Part of reclaiming Windows would also be maintaining control of what’s in Windows as you’ve suggested and now that you mention it, those third party apps do usually come from the manufacturers. They’d have to stop that… of course that’d be nearly impossible…

Quote

Three Obvious Strategies to Fix Windows

6:54 PM

Share