Knowing that the general Windows user base believes that Windows Vista is
slow and bloated, I strongly feel that Windows 7 would be an excellent place
improve upon this view and focus on performance rather than adding new
features to the operating system. It will increase the scope of hardware
onto which Windows 7 can be installed, make Windows more reliable, and keep
the competition strong between Microsoft and Apple. Ultimately, these will
all be determining factors that will bring in the revenue Microsoft wants.
It is a win-win situation between the user and Microsoft, right? It all
boils down to selling that license.

Making performance a key improvement in Windows 7 will make the operating
system run faster on hardware that Windows Vista is running slow on today.
By having a faster operating system, hardware has to work less hard to get
the same job done in a shorter amount of time. This leaves a greater ability
for Windows to more efficiently multi-task—an important component in the
everyday lives of users. Also, by increasing performance, Microsoft may also
be able to lower the system requirements a computer needs to meet in order to
easily run Windows. This would definitely make it more appealing to users
because they would have peace of mind knowing that their operating system
does not need very powerful hardware in order to do its core functions. Not
only would the hardware scope of Windows be increased, but increasing its
performance will also indirectly affect its reliability. Sounds pretty good,
does it not?

Microsoft has been working hard to get the reliability of Windows where it
needs to be ever since Windows was first released. This is not an easy task
considering the rather large array of different hardware configurations
Windows can be installed on. Microsoft has done an excellent job with
Windows Vista, but Windows 7 can take that job one step further. Having a
faster operating system will make Windows more responsive and thus, less apt
to crash. Some will say that faulty hardware drivers are usually to blame
for Windows crashing. I am not denying this because this is true. But
having an operating system that runs slow does not help the cause either.
Users need to see that their computer never crashes. Users also need to see
healthy competition between competing companies.

The next version of Macintosh, Snow Leopard, will be the result of many
performance enhancements. This will make Macintosh faster and better. Cocoa
is being eradicated from the operating system and the rest of the code base
is being optimized and brought up to speed with today’s standards. Microsoft
needs to do this to with Windows too. It is all part of the competition.
And for once, working on the performance of Windows will give Microsoft a way
to avoid the criticism of copying Apple. Microsoft cannot just skip out on
performance this time around or Apple will surely leap ahead and continue
gaining market share. Granted, Apple’s market share is still small, but the
more and more Apple snatches up Windows’ market share, the less this becomes
true. Microsoft needs to do what it can to keep their market share in high
numbers.

Since performance is so fundamental to an operating system, making it a key
component to the next and future versions of Windows will not only increase
the scope onto which Windows can be installed on, reliability, and
competition between Microsoft and Apple, it will also help to dissolve the
view that Windows is slow and bloated. The best way Microsoft can change the
opinion of its user base is to show them with their operating system that it
is not what it is perceive to be.

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