Jon Galloway

Though this isn't new, is it?

ALso: why is glitter and glamour needed? Isn't it key that the OS simply works, lets you do what you want to do and gets out of the way when it should?

Good point made in your article.
One thing I do wonder though, is this:

When Linux bundles this or that free software, no-one is going to complain.
But I suspect if Microsoft bundle any decent software or very useful applets, and similar functionality is available in software released by another competitor, then wouldn't they just hit anti-trust problems?

Seems like a silly thing for me to post, but MSPaint on XP already supports PNG and JPG. It still defaults to BMP, but JPG & PNG are in the list of supported formats (I use it to create/edit screenshot PNG's all the time...).

Poor MSPaint... ;)

But you know if MS imporved or replaced it with something much better, some country or such would sue MS and try to force them to not bundle it... sigh

In fact, i bet they'll sue us for including spyware protection despite that being what the consumer actually wants us to do.

Frans -
I'm not asking for glitter - Vista's got the new skin and transparency that's so hot these days. What I'm asking for is something that feels new in a more than superficial way, and I think updates to notepad, paint, etc., would do that.

Rob / Greg / Adam, regarding the anti-trust issue -
Disagree. Read the court's judgement (http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f200400/200457.htm). The restrictions on bundling are mostly on what Microsoft can require of OEM's, and if OEM's can add or remove bundled software. Fine, let them remove it. It'll sell as well as Windows N.

And an open source project like Paint.NET would completely sidestep the "secret API" issues, since the source is publicly available.

Look, the "we'll probably just get sued" way of thinking is out of hand. If we followed that line of thinking, Vista would have no new features. Windows XP has notepad and paint program, neither of which were mentioned during the anti-trust case. No one said they couldn't update these applications.

I agree with this article completely, but let me play devil's advocate for a minute:

1) How many users actually care about Notepad and MS Paint?

I mean how many would actually USE these applets, no matter how good or bad they were? They're mostly tools for technical users anyway, so they are bad examples of Joe Sixpack concerns.

2) Isn't Microsoft including some pretty cool stuff in Vista?

The Explorer shell is FAR FAR better with google-style searching and a zillion other enhancements. IE7 should be a major upgrade for most people, it has lots of new features, and it's bundled in Vista. You can also buy a version of Vista with Windows Media Center, which is at the top of its game. There's also that Sidebar thing that Furrygoat is working on which a lot of people are excited about. It's included by default in Vista. And I'm sure Windows Media Player, love it or hate it, should suck somewhat less in the next version that will be bundled with Vista.

3) Include a link on the Start Menu that points to free community software [..]

There's already a link like this: try Start Menu, All Programs, Windows Catalog. It's being completely overhauled for Vista and will have a huge emphasis on free downloadable stuff.. I can't explain how I know this, but trust me ;)

Of course then you have to worry about crapware:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/EdBott-WindowsandOfficeExpertise?m=773

Notepad2 is an absolute must. It starts as fast as Notepad and is so much better.

Jeff -
This devil thing comes much too easily to you. In the interest of being devil's advocate's enemy:
1. No one uses MS Paint because it's way behind the paint programs we're used to. A lot more people would use it if it was better (Paint.NET). Notepad does have a smaller market, but it's a no-brainer to add some simple fixes to it that would make Windows a more complete package.
2. Yes, I agree with you that the Explorer shell has had a complete revamp and is on par with OSX's. IE7 is improved and will make people happy if they haven't used Firefox. I did shout out to MCE, which is cool _if_ you have a TV card and big screen; otherwise it's not as likely to be used. I sure hope Media Player's improved (I blogged about that before). But no one says, "All right, I'm gonna fire up my computer and use the Explorer! Woo hoo!" The Explorer helps you find your .TXT and .JPG files, which you double click and become disappointed.
3. I don't have that Windows Catalog link, so I don't know what it's like. I sure hope it's a great site, but I don't expect a lot of people will click on a link that says "Windows Catalog". Anyways, see my Plus Pack argument on why I think this isn't near as good as a solid product out of the box.

Crapware - yes, it's lame. Not sure that has to do with what I was talking about.

Brian -
Agree. It's a shame that I have to install Notepad2 on every computer I work on, though.

Hi John,

Was thinking more of the EU anti-trust settlement regarding Windows Media Player (I'm in the UK).

Something along the lines of: if they start bundling good image processing software (for example), then they'd have to also provide a version of Windows without it.

To be honest, I'm no expert in this sort of thing, but it struck me that there seemed to be parallels.

Jon,
It's worse that what you put forth in your post. Think of the user-facing improvements that have been added to Windows since Windows 2000. I can only think of three, security (at least with XP SP2 and which no one notices), stability (which no one believes), and the Luna theme. Your average Joe/Jane sixpack user went from Win 98 (or god forbid ME) to Candy buttons and pastel colors. My guess is they didn't notice any other changes.

So now they've finally shipped noticeable improvments to the UI and it's taken them what, 5 years? Meanwhile, Apple is shipping features that sell themselves. Anyone Windows users remember the first time they saw Expose in action? And they are shipping features that move activities that are primarily gear-and-propeller-head, like podcasting and blogging, into the realm of Joe/Jane sixpack. Who'd heard of podcasting this time last year? Now Apple is shipping and expected yearly update to their product line (iLife, that's included with every new Apple computer) that makes it easier for users to podcast. Microsoft DOES blogging and podcasting, or I should say Microsoft employees blog and podcast, but their product line doesn't reflect ANY of the new tech. They are finally shipping RSS features, about two years after Apple and what 3-4 years after Firefox? But how it's all going to work is still fuzzy. If I click on a podcast feed in IE7, will WMP 11 open up and download the latest episodes for me? I get that in ITunes on both platforms. Heck, I can even click on podcast feeds at podcasts.yahoo.com and they'll open up in ITunes.

They need to either shrink the size of their boat or make it easier to turn. I think 1/2 of their problem is integration and the other 1/2 is architecture. They just can't ship fast enough because the definition of "fast enough" has changed since they got big.

In response to "Why is glitter and glamour needed?". Because it gets people excited about the product. Excitement == more sales.

Before Google Maps, Yahoo maps was stable, just worked, did what I wanted it to do, and got out of the way.

Then Google Maps comes along and showed me something I didn't know I even wanted, but now must have! And I completely switched. Got excited. Other developers got excited. Started building apps on top of it.

The thing is, people make judgements about a product in the first 5 minutes of using it. If the app looks polished and is usable, a good impression is made and subsequent faults are always given the benefit of the doubt. Human nature.

As a contractor, I learned that if I'm going to show a customer a prototype, it better look good, because every customer I've ever worked with got hung up on why something looks bad. And I'm there trying to explain, forget how it looks, focus on how it works. But there they are complaining about the logo being two pixels too small.

So yes, some glitter is appropriate.

> A lot more people would use it if it was better (Paint.NET).

Well, no, because Paint.NET isn't nearly as good as Ye Olde Paint Shop Pro version 7.0, much less Photoshop or a half-dozen other commercial image/photo editing packages.

> Notepad does have a smaller market, but it's a no-brainer to add some simple fixes to it that would make Windows a more complete package

I totally agree, but how many users actually click on text files in the course of their daily use of the PC? Even "plain" help files now are frequently HTML. Text files just aren't that common for typical users.

> otherwise [MCE] is not as likely to be used

Last time I checked, MCE does photos, music and videos. None of which require a TV tuner of any sort.

> I don't have that Windows Catalog link, so I don't know what it's like

You should, if you do a clean install of XP SP2. I actually verified the link in a VM before posting, even.

> Crapware - yes, it's lame. Not sure that has to do with what I was talking about.

One advantage of bundling decent apps with the OS is that users don't have to forage for apps on the internet, which leads to.. you guessed it.. crapware/malware infestations.

> Meanwhile, Apple is shipping features that sell themselves

Well, Apple is just SHIPPING operating systems, period. It's been five years since MS has shipped any damn thing.

I think iLife is a more compelling argument than the OS thing. Most users don't really give a damn about the OS-- the best compliment you can give an OS is that you don't notice it.

It's all about antitrust.  If Microsoft wasn't a monopoly, I think there'd be a lot more bundled software.  However, they basically have to potentially argue that any changes to any existing software in future OS releases is critical to how the OS performs.  They could get sued if they improve notepad too much -- could they bundle a 3rd party? Possibly, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still could get sued.  Sucks they're a monopoly, or else I think we'd have a better experience (i.e. bundled PDF)