I thought Apple Gazette had an endearing article on the 5 Predictions for Apple in 2007. I thought it must follow that the same should be extended to Microsoft and also the Linux community and this is the prediction for Microsoft and the Windows Community for 2007.
Strong Disclaimer [in tradition with Microsoft :-P]: This is hypothesis based on the little bit of internet that I have seen. IOW, I am serving it with salt. Put it according to your taste :)!
2006 is coming to a close indeed. And about 90% of the internet browsing world [1] is looking out for Microsoft’s upcoming release of Windows Vista! However, what are the next steps in 2007 that Microsoft/Windows is planning to take in the year 2007? With the plummeting PC sales and the increasing market share of Apple, what’s Microsoft/Windows doing to maintain the bottom line that is going to be on Bill Gates’s mind, considering that he has only 2007 to prove his mettle?
1) Windows Vista Release
As much as people might spit and rake up the fact that WIndows Vista is a copy of OSX, it’s still going to sell like hot pancakes come January 31, 2007. If you consider footnote 1, that was the OS platform statistics from the Internet Browsing World taken from a largely unbiased source [The W3School website]. This is not only going to boost Microsoft’s earnings for 2007, but is going to sell enough material to more than justify its $5 billion [:O] investment in Windows Vista and give enough money to Microsoft to warrant another 10 years in the next next-generation OS from Microsoft :-P! Jokes apart, I really don’t understand the hue and cry about Vista. The only serious thing that I have noted recently, to which people should pay attention is the publication by Dr Peter Gutmann in his website on the DRM related protection mechanism of Windows Vista and how it can potentially harm the world, which brings to my second point!
2) How Microsoft is going to respond to Dr Peter Gutmann’s paper on DRM Protection Mechanism in Windows Vista
This is something I am eagerly looking forward to as a technology lover! What Dr Peter Gutmann has actually analyzed and written [and well] is how DRM Protection mechanism in Windows Vista could alter a lot of things! Ranging from increased hardware costs as a result of this to potentially harmful use-cases, it’s a comprehensive analysis. Read it in depth here. I am waiting to how Microsoft is going to respond to this. Is it going sue the @$$ off Dr Peter Gutmann, for blasphemy without proof or actually indulge in a technical debate?
On a side note - DRM protection is also going to be built into OSX 10.5 Leopard. However, nobody is really bothering about it considering that they have a low market share and are not really used in any mission critical applications. [Ok, pardon me for taking the jibe here @ Apple. However, I am playing sour-grapes phenomenon. I have been pondering over buying a MacBook for a LONG time now. I just cannot get myself to shell out so much cash tho :(]
3) How Zune is going to fare
Microsoft has definitely not gone into portable media devices with its Zune line without a paramount reason. It knows for sure that Apple has the monopoly in this section, with its delicious iPod line up! So, there is something that we are not seeing here that Microsoft is yet to come up with. Maybe 2007 is the year Microsoft unleashes a feature with Zune - say distributed connectivity with its Zune line to internet?? [ok I am just thinking wild here :-P] that is going to make the Zune a worthy competitor to the iPod. Looks wise - NO WAY!! iPod looks just way too sexy!!
4) How Microsoft is going to handle support to OSX
Redmond must have had a shock when they saw the Office 2007 support from a text editor in OSX Leopard [still in beta until Jan 2007 mind you]. They must be running around circles trying to find a way to get either the Microsoft Office 2007 line up ready for the Mac OSX [You dont wanna lose market share there M$] The other thing in this line is of course how Microsoft is going to capitalize on the fact that the Apple computers are finding a rising market share. With the ability to boot Windows XP, Microsoft now has to capitalize on this market to come up with a unique way to either create a Virtual Machine within Windows Vista to provide support for OSX [Of course the logic that Microsoft can supply is that OSX just doesn't have enough market to warrant a virtual machine for Mac within Windows]
5) Microsoft Office 2007
Having won excellent reviews, we are going to find out how the overpriced Office Suite of Microsoft is going to compete with the Internet world of Google Docs and Spreadsheet and the rising market share of OpenOffice. Radical new features have been implemented in Office 2007 [read: Ribbons] that are supposed to “revolutionize producitivity” [hopefully for the better]
6) As a bonus, Live and Microsoft AdCenter
With 2007 being a year where in competing technologies for the almost monopolistic AdWords, have finally evolved and matured, we are going to see a radical change in Online Search and Advertisement. Leading the Microsoft side would be Live.com and supported features [including a possible Live! Office] [If you still haven't tried out Live.com's Image Search, you should!! It's a treat!!]
What do you think are the important predictions for Microsoft and the Windows fraternity in 2007? Let us know by scribing in the comments section…
Footnotes:
[1]
OS Platform Statistics
Windows XP is the most popular operating system. The windows family counts for nearly 90%:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
- Under OS Platform Statistics
Originally posted by gurupanguji @ Bracketed Bull…
Posted in Blogging
