What’s Going Wrong With PC Operating Systems?
Sunday, July 27th, 2008Windows Vista is not well adopted, Apple’s next OS will not offer new features and Linux Desktops, at maximum, are a functional copy of the latter. Since the idea of using the Personal Computer as virtual office desktop no real innovation has happened. BeOS, the multimedia operating system, failed. And nowadays the office desktop metaphor for the personal computer is commoditized, as innovation it is not attractive anymore to users. The concept of the individual computer itself gets obsolete.
The traditional personal computer OS is going to die
Operating systems are going to die if they stick with these old fashioned concepts. Having an own computer with own software, own data management and the ability for programming was power in the hands of users at the time of mainframes, made users independent. Today users working differently want something else. The power lies with networks, networks of companies or global networks – internet and cloud computing. A big part of our work depends on others providing us with information or of work results they prepare in parallel. But the PC is not really designed for this. All such support requires additional programs that support such a way of parallel work.
Email is inundated
Electronic mailboxes have accelerated our work. But we could work even faster if mailboxes were not that clumpsy and trashed. In full email inboxes users get lost. Relations between mails are hardly recognizable. And Instant messaging is no answer to this problem either. It supports a different communication need since everything needs to be discussed immediately. Instant messaging is more like an enhancement to email.
But what do we need? Today’s metaphor is not the desktop anymore, it is the communities we are part of. The computer should be the virtual representation of these communities, within and beyond companies and disciplines.
Collaboration solutions are just a crutch
Todays solutions to the above needs are in collaboration tools which is the reason I am invested in Collanos. All documents are shared in workspaces, messages are project related and for this reason 100% spam free. What’s more, Collanos is free, easy to maintain and use.
However, collaboration tools are only a crutch for Operating Systems. They are only needed as long as the community metaphor is not an integral part of the operating system. They should not exist as separate programs. Users should not need to download such software and invite others to communities – this must work differently, much more integrated.
Collaboration needs to be an integral part of processes
Collaboration on operating systems or at the program level is only the first step. Processes must get collaborative. I am developing a new business software. It masters collaboration on the level of the business process. People/team members are embedded in the process – just where and when their information or documents are needed or when they need to receive information – even if they were never involved in the overall process. This essentially accelerates and facilitates work.
The next generation of PC OSs will not make it
I am confident the next Microsoft operating system will not succeed as a collaborative OS and thus Collanos and its competitors will continue to gain traction. Google brings collaboration into programs and by doing so it will outdistance Microsoft – regardless of the rich office desktop features they may have. This new winning category of software will be enhanced by collaborative process software!
Reto Hartinger, IT journalist and serial start-up entrepreneur, is a Swiss internet pioneer and expert. He founded and manages internet-briefing.ch, the most important Swiss internet community.
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