It sounds a pretty silly question, doesn't it? But it's a pretty fundamental question too.
If we ask a question about what a hammer is for, the answer is pretty likely to focus on hitting nails, tacks, pins and other sharp objects with a miscellany of other more specialised tasks that different specialised hammers may perform better than a general purpose tool.
But what of Windows? What is it for?
The thought is percolating through my mind that Microsoft may have made a fundamental mistake when they merged (to the extent that they did) the codebase for Windows NT and Windows 98.
As they moved to Windows XP, Microsoft began a process of creating ever more complex Swiss-army knives. Yes there are lots of tools, lots of features but it seems to me that a good quality specialised screwdriver may offer more for some classes of user than a screwdriver tool on the Microsoft army knife which is Windows XP.
It seems to me that Windows XP and its associated applications could have been a lot more suited to, for example, business usage without all the silly wagging tail puppies and such-like frippery.
I have signficant concerns that the same silliness is going to be carried forward into Longhorn. There are certainly many indications that the existence of new graphics tools for developers means that jazzy visuals are going to be rammed down the eyeballs of users of Longhorn.
It seems to me that jazzy visuals with no demonstrable benefit for customers should be recognised for what they are - self-indulgence by developers.
Will Microsoft and its developers have the perception to recognise the importance of customer-centered development? And therefore rein in developer self-indulgence? I am not holding my breath.
Posted by Andrew Watt at March 3, 2004 01:46 PM