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Windows 7 Likely Going Modular, Subscription-based
Microsoft CRM writes "When Windows 7 launches sometime after the start of 2010, the desktop OS will be Microsoft's most 'modular' operating system to date. That's not necessarily a good thing, of course; Windows Vista is a sprawling, complex OS. From Microsoft's perspective, though, there are many possible benefits. The OS's developers can add/remove functionality module by module. New modules could be sold post-launch, keeping revenue streams strong. A modular approach could also allow the company to make functionality available on a time-limited basis, potentially allowing users to 'rent' a feature if it's needed on a one-off basis. Microsoft is already testing 'pay as you go' consumer subscriptions in developing countries."
Another 'danger' (from Microsoft's perspective) would be "the WINE effect", a.k.a. reverse engineering. If they separate their OS into well-defined modules, then others can create replacements for those modules. Even if the interfaces are secret and there is no public documentation (which is likely to be the case), the partitioning into modules will mean that at some level there is a well-defined API (even if it isn't publicly disclosed). So people can reverse-engineer that API and write their own drop-in replacement modules.
This would be great for lots of people: other companies could write competing modules to replace Windows functionality (why pay for Microsoft's system-wide search module when Google's is so much better?). Also, free and open-source modules will probably be created for many of those features.
Of course, it may be that Microsoft intends to create a complicated system of internal certificates and code signing so that only MS-approved modules can use these hidden APIs. It seems like that would add a considerable performance penalty, but then again I guess that's not too different from the decisions they made in designing Vista.
It was a bit before my time, but the story goes that IBM used to operate in pretty much exactly this way back in the mainframe days. They would sell the customer a mainframe at a certain performance level, but actually ship them a much more powerful machine with some of its resources disabled/limited/throttled via software, so that it performed at the (lower) level the customer had been sold. Then when the customer needed an upgrade, they would bill them a ginormous amount, then send out a service tech to "install the upgrade" -- but all he really did was remove the limiters. This was called a "golden screwdriver" upgrade because the tech could earn IBM hundreds of thousands of dollars just with the proverbial turn of a screw.
Read my blog.
It seems like Microsoft can get much higher revenue from a several-hundred-dollars major upgrade than a pick-n-choose bundle of features. The only way I see them breaking it apart is if their monopoly really does begin to be challenged and they have to start selling in a truly competitive market.
I dont think its about selling the add-ons for hundreds of dollars. I honestly think the basic Windows will eventually be free but by then it'll just be stripped down to the basic OS & browser. They wont sell the add-ons, they'll license them to people for a monthly fee. As the mess they made with Vista shows... if the OS doesn't sell they make less money and the hardware vendors make less money.
By giving away Core Windows with every new PC they get around the MS Tax on buying computers by charging you more later. Then you can upgrade as much as you wish...
Multimedia upgrade for $10 per month
DirectX upgrade for $15 per month
Office upgrade for $30 per month (or $7 per app per month)
Microsoft wants a continuous revenue stream from its users. They want you to keep giving them money whether you upgrade or not. They wont care if you insist on running your 4 years out of date OS as you'll still be paying your MS Rent. All the software will be auto-installed, auto-patched, auto-scanned and made nice and safe. They'll get people to upgrade to newer versions by charging more for older OSes which encourages them to upgrade their hardware (so the system feels less sluggish).
Its all leading to TPM/NGSCB machines riddled with DRM-locked hardware. Only 'approved' software will run (cue the protection from malware excuse) and any attempts to bypass security or normal operating functions will be reported. Future Windows versions will check all the files on your PC to make sure its safe, deleting anything they decide is bad for you.
I am a free slashdotter. I will not be modded, blogged, DRM'd, patented, podcasted or RFID'd. My life is my own.
Japanese grammar is actually very uniform. There are only 1 or 2 verb conjugation exceptions or something like that. The hard part is reading/writing the Chinese characters, which does include knowing which pronunciation to use (Japanese or "Chinese"). And actually I've spoken with Japanese people that felt Romance languages weren't too bad, particularly Spanish, especially because of the conjugation system, and the somewhat similar tones.
A German guy once told me that he felt his language was one of the hardest in the world, and all the reasons he described reminded me of English to be honest (which makes sense considering English is Germanic, with lots of Romance vocab bolted on).