Investors have been spooked by Microsoft’s huge surge in spending on AI infrastructure Copyright AFP/File RONNY HARTMANN
Windows 12 is rattling around in some form somewhere. It’s more of a broad reference to future Windows systems and future criticisms of Windows at the moment.
The Windows 12 news from the tech sector media is exactly what you’d expect. It’s the usual nebulous panoramic overview. Generally, this coverage includes the traditional taking time out to bash Windows 11, a redundant pastime if ever there was.
I did find a couple of useful and thorough articles about Windows 12, notably on the everreliable ZDnet.com and au.pcpcmag.com. There’s no point in recycling their work, and I’d recommend both articles as relatively clear pictures of Windows 12 information.
We also have more than a bit of a cultural problem with any new Windows OS, and it’s endemic. Typically, the entire sector unanimously delivers a very much topdown view. Somehow, the tech is always more important than what it’s supposed to do and whether or not it can do what it’s supposed to do.
AI has already made that perspective much worse, and you can see how this topdown view of AI is distorting the realities.
It’s a curse for any objective critique. You’d swear that no critical tasks are involved in operating a business or even just basic daily life. You’d think everybody needed the full suite of OS functions to get out of bed and pretend to exist. It’s like buying a cruise liner to make a cup of coffee.
It’s also far too much like listening to someone trying to sell you a cruise liner every time you want a cup of coffee. That just doesn’t work.
Actual user requirements are usually buried in the hype for any OS. The theory of a lowcholesterol “Windows Lite”, aka Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024, is still in the mix, but of course, AI is now also an unavoidable part of the equation for Windows 12.
There’s no guarantee that Microsoft will simplify Windows 12 to the point of just picking what you need when you need it. That, believe it or not, could actually be a future working proposition thanks to Cloud options. I’ll believe it when I see it.
To be fair, hardware, OS, and functionality do have to be on speaking terms to at least some extent. Any new AIcapable OS needs to be efficient and may manage power and resources like nothing before.
Does anyone else see a need to rationalize the evolution process before springing it on users? Like, to fit the OS and hardware to tasks rather than tailor the tasks around the ongoing flood of new tech?
Does a spreadsheet or a Word doc need a brass band?
For god’s sake, let’s not have another reinvention of the wheel in pyramid shape. People forget how much tech didn’t work in the past, and some OS systems didn’t work either.
All Windows 12 needs to do is work.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this OpEd are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the or its members.
