the Unexpressed Advantage

(you should read this, it will be more interesting than you think)

Microsoft is coming out with a new operating system soon (In Windows-speak soon may be 2 months or 2 years, nobody knows) called vista. I was wondering what a new desktop system could possibly offer me over Windows XP (which I happen to like a lot, for the most part), so I went to their website. Here’s what I found under the “user experience” section:

Windows Vista introduces a breakthrough user experience and is designed to help you feel confident in your ability to view, find, and organize information and to control your computing experience.

The visual sophistication of Windows Vista helps streamline your computing experience by refining common window elements so you can better focus on the content on the screen rather than on how to access it. The desktop experience is more informative, intuitive, and helpful. And new tools bring better clarity to the information on your computer, so you can see what your files contain without opening them, find applications and files instantly, navigate efficiently among open windows, and use wizards and dialog boxes more confidently.

It also boasts better searching (a common trend these days, thanks to google), a handy widget sidebar, the usual performance, networking, security and back up improvements (blah blah blah blah) and useless improvements like slideshow features and a new internet explorer.

Which leads me to think that – in the grand scheme of things – the upgrade to Windows Vista is really going to be no big deal at all, unless of course the significance of your personal computer experience is defined by your visual experience (as it obviously is for many people, just take a look at how many people rave about the Mac “aqua” interface; blah blah blah blah).

Seriously, as far as I can tell, Vista is just going to be XP with some pretty graphics fluff. Look at the release above. It basically focuses on how you are going to see things.

This is where the computer OS development is now going, better graphics. I think this is because besides visual experience, the computer operating system is basically perfected. They’ve taken a fairly simple concept, the organization of information, and given us a product that we can all use well. Are you having information organization problems? I doubt it. I’ll bet that you can find that important email, your last ethics paper, or the best Mexican recipe you have in a matter of seconds. I know I can. I even have google desktop now so if I really want to read about the way I felt when I had a crush on that girl in 1999 I only have to type in a few key words like “journal”, her name (what WAS her name anyway), and “romeo.” Presto, Don Juan Dray can now reminisce.

Personal Computing development has reached a perpetual bubble of success in our day and age. If Microsoft and Macintosh really want to knock our socks off, I think they’re going to have to try a bit harder. – Dray

Any reference in this blog to former girlfriends and / or crushes is fictional and in no way representative of actual history. Any resemblance to actual persons or situations is purely coincidental. No animals were harmed in the writing of this article.