It’s October… there’s a chill in the air… and what’s this? Ah, yes… a new Windows Operating System. Windows 7 is here! Of course I’ve heard and read all kinds of comments from… “Oh, it’s just a crappy Mac OS release” to “Wow, Apple may find itself on the run”…
Oh, please! First off… Let’s be clear, Windows 7 is not a crappy edition of a Mac OS. Hardly… if for no other reason the Kernel (the heart and soul of an OS), and the file system (the legs and arms of an OS)… are completely different between Mac OS and Windows 7. Yes, like all OS’s, both do share some common ways of getting things done, and they do look similar. But, in all truth each OS comes from fundamentally different approaches (and yes I do know a thing or two about this topic). One must consider the reality of where these OS’s came from…the lineage of these OS’s does have some overlap. Yes, indeed. But over the decades, even the smallest of overlaps has really faded and evolved into completely different directions. What does that mean?
Take the file system for example (the file system being that stuff that handles directories, opening, closing, deleting, updating…bah bah…basically everything you create and mess with on your hard drive. Yes, there is much more that the file system does, but let’s keep it simple and stick to files and directories). Now in both OS’s, one can do the same type of operations on these clumps of information called files and directories. This is a fundamental part of what an OS (Operating System) does. All OS’s in fact have what is known as a File System. Go back to even the beginning before the modern analytical computer, and yes there was a File System. Now in the timeline of File Systems, one example of such was known punch cards (and no, not the ones that were used for decades with big computers). I’m talking about punch cards that were used in the 19th century (yeah, that would be the 1800’s). Wiki Charles Babbage… ok did some reading? Yeah, the man was born in 1791! That punch card stuff…yeap, it’s a File System (gee something that neither Apple nor Microsoft invented!) Anyway, the point is…File Systems have evolved over the centuries, and while the File Systems in these OS’s may on the surface look the same, they are not. Yes, they do come from the same linage (Babbage)…and they do have very much the same functioning because it is fundamental to a modern OS…but these are not the same.
Now, about Windows 7 taking over from Mac… here you get another… Oh, Please! Nope, not going to happen. If for no other reason than for those folks who make statements like “Oh, it’s just a crappy Max OS release”- three words… Apple Fan Boys (AFB). The fact is… people use what works for them… Apple is not going away, but neither is Apple going to take over from Microsoft. After all of the bashing and the making of noise by those who get emotional on this topic… PEOPLE WILL USE WHAT WORKS FOR THEM… Just as AFB’s are really hyper about Apple… the richest man on the planet became the richest man on the planet because the Microsoft OS’s are used… well, everywhere!?
Will it always be this way? There’s only one thing to say about that…things always change (look how far File Systems have come… you really should read about Babbage).
So, WINDOWS 7 is here! I’ve been using it awhile now… and I have to say… it is impressive. This release reminds me of the days when Windows 95 came to life. For those, like myself, who started with Windows 3.1, Windows 95 was a major event. For the first time, we were able to move a half step away from character based terminal like DOS (and trust me, that was a major step in computer OS evolution). Window 95 gave us the next direction for Personal and Business computing. Yes, it did. If it wasn’t for Windows 95… I would not even being writing about this topic… We would all be on a Mac OS. And Yes, I fully acknowledge that Windows 95 got much, if not all, of it’s GUI (Graphical User Interface)…GUI-ness from the Mac’s of the time… of course it did.
Windows 7, I think is a next major step in the path… in almost fifteen years since Windows 95… I can only imagine what I will be saying about Windows 7 fifteen years from now. Even the Apple Fan Boys should spend a few moments on their friend’s Windows 7 PC… they may be pleasantly surprised.
~cse
cse
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