Microsoft sees end of Windows era

[Titoist]

Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows. Called Midori, the cut-down operating system is radically different to Microsoft's older programs. It is centred on the internet and does away with the dependencies that tie Windows to a single PC. It is seen as Microsoft's answer to rivals' use of "virtualisation" as a way to solve many of the problems of modern-day computing.

Although Midori has been heard about before now, more details have now been published by Software Development Times after viewing internal Microsoft documents describing the technology. Midori is believed to be under development because Windows is unlikely to be able to cope with the pace of change in future technology and the way people use it. Windows worked well in an age when most people used one machine to do all their work. The operating system acted as the holder for the common elements Windows programs needed to call on. "If you think about how an operating system is loaded," said Dave Austin, European director of products at Citrix, "it's loaded onto a hard disk physically located on that machine. "The operating system is tied very tightly to that hardware," he said. That, he said, created all kinds of dependencies that arose out of the collection of hardware in a particular machine.

This means, he said, that Windows can struggle with more modern ways of working in which people are very mobile and very promiscuous in the devices they use to get at their data - be that pictures, spreadsheets or e-mail. Equally, he said, when people worked or played now, they did it using a combination of data and processes held locally or in any of a number of other places online. When asked about Midori by BBC News, Microsoft issued a statement that said: "Midori is one of many incubation projects underway at Microsoft. It's simply a matter of being too early in the incubation to talk about it."

Midori is widely seen as an ambitious attempt by Microsoft to catch up on the work on virtualisation being undertaken in the wider computer industry. Darren Brown, data centre lead at consulting firm Avanade, said virtualisation had first established itself in data centres among companies with huge numbers of servers to manage. Putting applications, such as an e-mail engine or a database, on one machine brought up all kinds of problems when those machines had to undergo maintenance, needed updating or required a security patch to be applied. By putting virtual servers on one physical box, companies had been able to shrink the numbers of machines they managed and get more out of them, he said. "The real savings are around physical management of the devices and associated licensing," he said. "Physically, there is less tin to manage."

Equally, said Mr Brown, if one physical server failed the virtualised application could easily be moved to a separate machine. "The same benefits apply to the PC," he said. "Within the Microsoft environment, we have struggled for years with applications that are written so poorly that they will not work with others. "Virtualising this gives you a couple of new ways to tackle those traditional problems," he said. Many companies were still using very old applications that existing operating systems would not run, he said. By putting a virtual machine on a PC, those older programs can be kept going. A virtual machine, like its name implies, is a software copy of a computer complete with operating system and associated programs.

"On the desktop we are seeing people place great value in being able to abstract the desktop from actual physical hardware," said Dan Chu, vice president of emerging products and markets at virtualisation specialist VMWare. Some virtual machines, he said, acted like Windows PCs to all intents and purposes. But many virtual machines were now emerging that were tuned for a particular industry, sector or job. "People take their application, the operating system they want to run it against, package it up along with policy and security they want and use that as a virtual client," he said.

In such virtual machines, the core of the operating system can be very small and easy to transfer to different devices. This, many believe, is the idea behind Midori - to create a lightweight portable operating system that can easily be mated to many different applications. Microsoft's licensing terms for Windows currently prohibited it acting as a virtual machine or client in this way, said Mr Chu. Michael Silver, research vice president at Gartner, said the development of Midori was a sensible step for Microsoft.

"The value of Microsoft Windows, of what that product is today, will diminish as more applications move to the web and Microsoft needs to edge out in front of that," he said. "I would be surprised if there was definitive evidence that nothing like this was not kicking around," he said. The big problem that Microsoft faced in doing away with Windows, he said, was how to re-make its business to cope. "Eighty percent of Windows sales are made when a new PC is sold," he said. "That's a huge amount of money for them that they do not have to go out and get. "If Windows ends up being less important over time as applications become more OS agnostic where will Microsoft make its money?" he asked.

Source: BBC.co.uk

Posted: 09:51 GMT, Monday, 4 August 2008 10:51

[MightyJordan]

Damn, you beat me to it! :D I saw this earlier.

I really like this idea. There's a similar thing already out called Mojopac. You basically stick it on a pen drive and put your programs and games on it, and you can use them on any PC! Better still, nothing is left on the computer. Everything goes through your pen drive.

[darkmanx21]

Is this not old news? I think Midori will be something else tied to cloud computing..or it could end up as a Live product somehow, lol. It's never clear..

[Ci7]

no way in hell cloud computing will replace the typical programs it is way slower for many things internet bandwidth limitions (our telco by then **** our bloods )

and even if internet become 1000x times faster it is still better to run them natively in the machine

[PL_ Veteran]

I'm confused. Do they want apps to run in their own virtual machine? That sounds really useful, but wouldn't that be a real performance hit?

Do they want apps to run from the internet? In which case, lol no.

[-Hiroshi-]

About damn time, I'd love to see what Microsoft can cook up without the limitation of Windows.

[primexx]

has midori even been confirmed yet? wasn't that just some internet rumour started by some nobodies? why is every other article about midori now?

[Deletedforeverhaha]

no way in hell cloud computing will replace the typical programs it is way slower for many things internet bandwidth limitions (our telco by then **** our bloods )

and even if internet become 1000x times faster it is still better to run them natively in the machine

It's inevitable. Midori will come for you.... *cue evil laughter*

Read "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. It discusses work flow software and how everything's based on the Internet now.

[zerologic]

I really don't like what I read. I don't want a 'cloud' computer.

Got this funny feeling that this move will cost Microsoft it's lead in operating systems. Also make me want to look to other companies like, Apple for instance.

[Ci7]

I really don't like what I read. I don't want a 'cloud' computer.

Got this funny feeling that this move will cost Microsoft it's lead in operating systems. Also make me want to look to other companies like, Apple for instance.

cloud (osx ) haha they will rip off there fans even more they will make them pay 1000$ a mounth to use the best os in the world

//sacarasim

[zerologic]

I thought Microsoft would have learned its lessons with Windows XP -> Windows Vista. Too many changes result in unhappy customers and loss of market share. Looks like Microsoft flunk that lesson. :/

This whole topic makes me wonder, if Microsoft is planning to make Windows obselete, and spread news like this. How will their stock price react? Practically Microsoft is calling Windows a 'has been'. I imagine this is not a smart move.

[ThePitt]

ok and how many ppl will run that OS?. would be great to see that... Because you will need a very fast connection and in the way the net is growing everyday I dont see that might (ever) happend.

Creating traffic where already is a bunch of traffic never was a good idea.

[EduardValencia]

the article doesen't quote anyone from microsoft,so..........

In wich basis BBC news and neowin says that Microsoft himself sees no futur for windows?.

It's completely ridicoulous,Nobody that has been quoted on this article are from microsoft itself,they can belive whatever they want,the only one who decides the futre of Windows is Microsoft.

[Brandon Live Veteran]

Just silly sensationalism. Hell, even when the (distant) day comes that Microsoft does develop a brand-new OS, chances are it will still be called Windows =P

[rajputwarrior]

it has to be called windows, that name is the biggest thing in computers...

[zerologic]

So yawn where is this Windows 7 or better yet, Mojave. :p

[spenser.d]

I don't understand why you guys think this article is implying that this is something MS is planning on implementing anytime soon. It does no such thing. It's just saying that MS is covering their bases should people come to want something drastically different.

I can see cloud computing becoming the norm, but not for at least another decade or two. It won't be feasible until then.

-Spenser

[zerologic]

Mojave was the pr experiment, which was very successful.

BTW, i wouldn't keep trolling this same thread. makes you appear obvious. Fail.

Yes, Mojave was a clever bit of marketing. So now when people ask me what I use on my home PC - I say Windows 'Mojave' :D

I don't get your last statement. I guess you're just too clever for little old me.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Actually many of the complaints about vista weren't even from actual customers. they were from random linux fans on the net with nothing better to do but join some hate ms wagon.

...

Funny. I am a Linux "fan", yet you don't see me trashing Vista. I have even offered up some positive comments on it.

Then, go look in the Windows area of the Neowin forums. See all the XP "fans" trashing Vista there?

So, it's the Linux users, not the Windows users, eh? :shifty:

[Ayepecks]

I've got no problems with Vista and am looking forward to Windows 7.

I'm sure Microsoft is always toying around with ideas like this. I have a hard time seeing it not being called Windows, but who knows, maybe they will develop an entirely new naming scheme.