Microsoft Talk

With all of the hype surrounding Windows 8 -- the excitement of new directions and a real creative vision for Microsoft -- you might expect all the news is good. Well, not so, reports CNET News. Microsoft’s efforts to get involved in the television industry have quietly produced what might be a devastating result -- rolling back convenience and user satisfaction for TV viewers to line the pockets of corporate fat cats.

As everyone who owns a DVR knows, one of the best parts of having the device is being able to skip commercials. Commercials are, and always have been, an unwanted distraction. Nobody watches videos on YouTube, say, for the ads. Back when people bought newspapers, nobody bought them to read the back page advertisements. When I am “eye blasted” with an ad these days, I actually turn the sound off and look away until I can click “continue.”

Well, if Microsoft’s wonks have their way, thos happye days may soon be over. As reported on CNET, Microsoft is seeking a patent for something called “control-based content pricing,” a system that will inflict fees on users for such heinous offenses as skipping unwanted ads or (horror of horrors!) watching a replay. At the moment, the patent is defined for “movies on demand,” not TV shows -- which is good, I guess. But it's only a matter of time until the definition expands.

Likewise, it also implies that “movies on demand” will soon become very similar to the kind of films you see at the cinema -- where you have to show up thirty minutes early just to sit and watch previews. Only now, you’ll be forced to do this in your own home. Responding to reports about the maneuver, Microsoft spokespeople have said that seeking new patents is a regular part of the company's business, and does not mean a new product will actually happen.

Maybe Microsoft should just stay out of the world of TV entirely. Right now, all they’re doing is incentivizing the kind of electronic piracy that they claim to detest.

Image by Stannered @ Wikipedia

The latest tech news from Microsoft is the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. This will be the first chance of the consumer market to get down and dirty with Windows 8, taking a look at its sleek new design and some of its features. ZDNet’s Adrian Kinglsy-Hughes, writing at the link above, gives a few tips for setting up your computer to be compatible with the preview. Luckily, most Windows users who are already using Windows 7 or Windows Vista will have no problem getting their computer ready.

So, what can we expect from the preview? Techspot has a little more, offering some leaked screenshots of Windows 8 and Office. Even a long-time Microsoft fan like myself has to say that there are some really strange things going on in the preview. For example, as you can see here, the Start Menu will be eliminated in favor of something called a “Charms Bar,” which sounds a bit like a piece of delicious candy -- but is actually intended to call up most Start Menu functionality without having to click the traditional orb.

As you can tell from today's links, the overall focus of the new version of Windows is to develop greater integration between the desktop environment and “smart” devices. This is going to be a huge adjustment for the average consumer, and even Microsoft fans can’t tell exactly how it’s going to pan out. My take? “Smart” devices need to be getting more like the desktop computer, not the other way around! When the preview is over, though, we should have a better sense of the direction the new Windows OS is taking.

Tech watchers may have felt shades of the nineties this week as three of the world’s largest and most influential tech companies -- Microsoft, Google and Amazon -- briefly joined forces to reassure regulators that their immense intellectual property dominance will not result in the development of monopolies. As the article above states, this is particularly key to the tech world right now for two reasons.

1) Patent infringement lawsuits are becoming more common in the mobile industry, and have the potential to allow companies to cripple their rivals -- temporarily, and perhaps permanently -- by establishing in court that rivals are using patented technology. Patents can apply to exceptionally small “parts” of software and hardware, so this option can be attractive in a brutally competitive industry.

2) Antitrust lawsuits have the potential to upend business for many of the world’s biggest tech firms, especially the big three that joined in the debate today. While the idea of a new antitrust action may have seemed pretty remote as late as a few months ago, things are changing: As the senate continues to take up sweeping legislation focused on the electronic world, companies might be nervous about regulatory interference.

Of course, there will be those who argue that the Big Three already have too much influence in the setting of tech standards. What do you think? Do the Big Three have anything to worry about from regulators? Should users -- and tech innovators -- be satisfied with the standards they’ve set out in their letters?

Here’s an interesting tidbit for people who might feel that Microsoft is “heartless.” It turns out that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were close friends at the time of Jobs’ death, and that Jobs kept a letter from Gates at his bedside during those last few days before he passed on from complications of pancreatic cancer. It seems like the friendship began in earnest in 2007, when Gates left Microsoft for good to focus on his philanthropy, and the two men met at an event. By the end, it seems, they were close friends.

There’s also longer coverage on Gates and their relationship from the UK Telegraph. It seems that Jobs’ wife, Laurene, was aware of the letter and its meaning to Jobs. In fact, she even called Bill Gates to express her concern that the biographies of Jobs being produced after his death didn’t pay enough attention to the “mutual respect” between the two. It’s clear that they each had a unique perspective on life, their place in the world, and the meaning of technology as it relates to progress. And it’s fascinating to think of them as friends.

The Telegraph article above is a great look at a mature and motivated Gates. He is characterized as frugal and surprisingly down to earth. Though Gates no longer works directly with Microsoft, his influence is still felt there more greatly than anyone else’s; any Microsoft fan should take time to read the Telegraph for a close look at Gates, the man.