Windows XP: The best PC operating system there will ever be
This is going to be controversial, but I consider Microsoft Windows XP to be [probably] the best PC operating system in the world – and [probably] the best PC operating system there will ever be.
A caveat first: I am talking about PCs and specifically personal computers following on from the IBM PC line of home computers that started in the 1980s. I am not including Macs. I have nothing against them; I like them (very much) and use them. A Mac is a personal computer in the same way that a Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a car; quality, refinement, excellence…
Where was I? Oh yes, the best PC operating system there has ever been and will ever be [probably]. There are two main thoughts behind my conclusion, but a little background first:
Microsoft launched Windows XP back in 2001, around nine years ago. Based on the Windows NT architecture it was a revolutionary update for home PC users (i.e. it crashed less) but was also good enough to tempt business users away from Windows NT 4.0 and 2000. Nine years later and I, and many millions of others, still use Windows XP. In fact, according to the W3 schools statistics for browser usage on the Internet, 58% of computers worldwide still use Windows XP. That is quite astonishing for an operating system nearly 10 years old! Windows Vista was a comparative failure. Launched in 2007 it now only has 14% usage worldwide, with a similar figure for the recently launched Windows 7.
So why is Windows XP so popular? It’s good! It works. It is nice to use. It doesn’t require a huge amount of power to run (I prefer to use my processor for applications thanks very much), and doesn’t try to over-nanny the user. Windows Vista isn’t as good. Windows 7, despite offering a lot of improvements over Vista, isn’t as good either, and here I reach my first reason – Microsoft don’t want to produce an operating system as good as XP because Microsoft want to sell software, and they want the user to upgrade and/or buy new PCs, and users won’t do that if the software is too good! XP was too good – many users have no reason to leave it behind.
Here is my second reason (a less cynical one) – I think that the days of the PC are numbered. The world is changing and people don’t buy big beige boxes anymore. In 2005 the laptop started to outsell the desktop. With the growth of mobile and the launch of devices such as the Apple iPad, consumers needs and habits are changing. Devices are diverging with usage (game machines, mobile phones, netbooks, laptops etc.) The needs of many consumers are simple – content consumption – and you don’t need a beefy PC to browse the web, email and watch videos. These devices don’t need a bloated PC-like operating system. Power is needed for content creation, and I don’t think the PC will disappear overnight, but in another 9 years from now we may be looking back at the PC the same way that we look at the BBC Micro and early DOS-based systems, because I am sure the ‘PC’ of that time will be radically different from today’s.
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