The
Microsoft Windows 7 launch is all but upon us and I can't say I'm sorry. Not that I'm directly affected as a Mac user but Vista is now almost officially acknowledged as a flop and it'll be good to see Microsoft back in the game properly, in terms of a good system as well as market share.
The launch itself, though, is leaving me cold. In the past we've had a lot of showbiz from both camps. The launches were an event in their own right - remember as far back as Windows 95, when Bill Gates used 'Start Me Up' by the Rolling Stones as the soundtrack? With the line 'You Make A Grown Man Cry'? Now where was that when we were struggling with Vista.
Likewise this year's Snow Leopard launch from
Apple. The critics - including me - said it was more of a nudge up, a maintenance release, than a full-blown new OS. The launch wasn't exciting, and neither was the last batch of iPods.
One of two things is happening, possibly both. First the recession is really kicking in. In spite of talk of recovery, no-one has the confidence to spend a lot of dollars marketing anything no matter how confident they tell us they feel. Second - and this could be a good thing - these companies are finally starting to grow up. There is suddenly an understanding that we're not going to go back to our desks, punch the air and behave as if they'd invented a new and better way of breathing, they finally understand that these are just systems that make computers run with a bit more juice.
Convinced? Nah, me neither, it'll be the money. Roll on Windows 8, I could do with a good gig...
