things windows 7 needs to accomplish

With Windows 7 set to accomplish its accessible admission Wednesday at CES (it already has, if you calculation the BitTorrent leak), in account of the seventh aloft adaptation of Microsoft’s operating system, I’ve appear up with seven things I anticipate Windows 7 accept to do.

Redmond is at a crossroads. Apple is resurgent–the iPod and now the iPhone Effect are active users abroad from Windows. Vista isn’t allowance abundant either: the abrogating acknowledgment bend acquired by Microsoft’s bungled barrage and business is aswell accidental to the exodus.

Windows 7 could be advised a analytical absolution for Ballmer and Co. Either the new operating arrangement plugs the aperture in the dam, or the cracks abound bigger and wider. Microsoft needs Windows 7 to be a success added than I anticipate it currently realizes. The blackmail from Apple is real.

So what does Windows 7 charge to do?

1. It needs to plan accurately out of the box. The barrage of Vista was one of the affliction in contempo anamnesis for Microsoft. Dozens — if not hundreds — of accessories did not accept able drivers. This meant that peripherals (some not even a year old) chock-full alive already Vista was installed.

In some cases, users had to delay months for the manufacturers to bolt up. For whatever acumen too abounding ally were bent with their pants down. This cannot appear again.

2. It needs to be marketed accurately from the start. Why should humans buy this? Microsoft needs to advertise the end user on Windows 7. The aggregation absolutely did not do its job with Vista, and the statistics appearance that. That operating arrangement appear 26 months ago, and afterwards all that time alone 1 in 4 Windows users accept installed it. That’s appealing bad.

Redmond needs to accomplish the case for Windows 7 clearly, accurately, and succinctly. It will yield added than a window bathrobe (no pun intended) to move this artefact off the shelves. And to abounding that’s what Vista was no amount if it was accurate or not.

Who’s accountability is that? The marketers.

3. It needs to be simple to use. As you may bethink this was the antecedent of some altercation in the tech blogosphere a abbreviate while back. Windows 7 needs to be simple to use. Part of the acumen why Mac OS has apparent such an uptick is the actuality that it absolutely “just works.” That’s not just business speak.

After a day or so with a Mac, you will be able to do just about anything. The operating arrangement is intuitive, and is congenital for affluence of use. From the aboriginal looks of what were seeing out of the beta, Microsoft has apparent the ablaze and has taken a acceptable attending at what is bare to accomplish this a reality.

4. It needs to apprentice from Mac OS X, not actor it. Yes, I argued in the aloft affiliated column that Microsoft could apprentice a acceptable accord on OS UI architecture from the association at Cupertino. However, the endure affair they charge to do is archetype it.

I anticipate the Dock-like taskbar is a acceptable archetype of how artful can go wrong–which Paul Thurrott aswell seems to lament. While it does a acceptable job in authoritative it attending like the Dock, in accurate Microsoft appearance they try to add to it rather than innovate it, which in about-face makes it harder to use or understand.

Microsoft needs to actively analysis some of these things with end-users afore they absolution them. Some assume like they are a little half-baked.

5. It needs to be innovative. This goes duke in duke with basically aggregate I’ve said afore this point. Microsoft has the better absorption of software development brainpower in the world, in accession to what seems like bottomless resources.

There’s no acumen why something avant-garde cannot be advancing out of Redmond on the regular. Vista seemed to abridgement any addition — no, an activated clear-cut UI does not count, and neither do annoying aegis measures (User Account Control, I’m searching in your direction).

6. It needs to accept the bread-and-butter climate. This is a huge one. This will be the aboriginal Windows adaptation aback 3.0/3.1 to absolution in a recessionary ambiance (yes, XP appear during the dot-com bust, but all-embracing abundant beneath of the abridgement was affected). Disposable assets is at a cogent low for many. Thus, a agleam new OS is not traveling to be important to many.

Microsoft absolutely needs to anticipate continued and harder about how it prices Windows 7: the assorted adaptation action of Vista was added ambagious than anything. Add to this the actuality that cipher is traveling to pay $250 for an OS advancement if they almost can allow their mortgage payment, and it just makes faculty to accumulate Windows 7 cheap.

Let’s go aback to one adaptation for the customer and one for the IT professional/business. Don’t attenuate the account adaptation too much, either. Don’t accomplish Windows 7 abort just because you are aggravating to clasp a few added allotment credibility of accumulation allowance from your customers, or abash them with too abounding versions of the aforementioned thing.

7. It needs to be able to advertise itself. Addition and amount will advertise Windows 7: Vista seemed to accept neither. The Microsofties will bawl from the mountaintops that it did accept both — but to the blow of us it didn’t assume that way. XP awash itself because it appeared to accept value: Microsoft did not absorb abundant money at all accepting it out the door.

Vista had to be force fed to consumers. That’s not good: if Microsoft does not apprentice from the mistakes of Windows Me Redux, we’ll be adage the aforementioned affair in addition three or so years.

Perhaps by afresh if Microsoft fails to affect afresh a lot of of us will be on Macs anyhow so the point will be arguable anyway? Mac fanatics can alone dream.