Windows@Gates.Net

It was Thursday, August 23, 2001, when Jack Mayo, project manager for Windows

XP, hoped to sleep the whole night though, for the first time after a

ten-month-long gruelling schedule of developing, testing and debugging the

product. Next morning, when 6 leading computer manufacturers intending to

pre-install XP on their PCs came to the Redmond campus, master disks were ready.

The release-to-manufacturing deadline had been successfully met with.

While developers at Microsoft probably thought it fit to relax a bit before

moving on to their new assignments, it was time for their marketing counterparts

to pull up their socks for pre-launch demonstrations across the world. Prior to

October 25, the official launch date of XP, the product would be viewed by

analyst groups and the media. At New Delhi, Sanjiv Mathur, head of marketing at

Microsoft India headed a team of three that exhibited Windows XP at a media

preview session.

Market-made features

Operating system demos are unlikely to be highly engrossing nowadays, given

the high degree of awareness of the attendees, and this one was no exception.

When marketing manager Karthik Padmanabhan, flaunted the Windows Media Player

feature of the XP Home Edition, someone in the audience quipped: "So what?

ME too had this feature."

Minutes later, when Padmanabhan casually attached a digital camera to the

laptop to demonstrate Windows Movie Maker feature, one could see that he had

reason to show off. The OS sensed the camera on the fly i.e. without any prompts

or setup procedures, and without a need to reboot the system. For jargon

enthusiasts, Microsoft calls it Universal Plug and Play and describes it as

follows: "It is more than a simple extension of the Plug and Play model,

and is designed to support zero-configuration, invisible networking, and

automatic discovery for a breadth of device categories from a wide range of

vendors."

But are these supposed to be functions of an OS? "Certainly not,"

commented an analyst, adding, "If you look closely, most of these will turn

out to be applications. In effect, what Microsoft has done is offer users some

popular services and applications for free with the new OS. The catch is that

users can get many of these products or their substitutes for free anyway.

Nonetheless, it’s a neat marketing move, and the end-user will only welcome

it."

A new feature that Mathur stressed upon in the Home Edition was Fast User

Switching. Remote Assistance allows a support professional, also running Windows

XP, to remotely control the user’s computer to demonstrate a process or help

solve a problem. And of course, the MSN messenger has been integrated with the

OS.

Penchant for packaging

"The line dividing the home user and business user is increasingly

getting blurred. Both (at least at the core) require the same strength and

functionality. Precisely for that reason, with Windows XP, we now have a single

offering for both the home user and the corporate user. The Windows XP code base

is derived from the Windows 2000 and Windows NT kernel, combining the industrial

strength reliability, security and performance associated with that product,

with the ease-of-use of Windows 9X offerings," Padmanabhan elaborated.

Why separate editions then for the two user segments? One reason is that the

end-user needs are vastly different in the two scenarios. "Even though both

want the same amount of power on their desktops, they will likely harness it for

different experiences. While the home user will use it more and more as an

entertainment appliance, the business user will probably find the Remote Desktop

feature more attractive," a product reviewer opined.

But how big is the leap?

Well, a large number of reviewers have been generous enough to pass XP as the

most significant OS from the Microsoft stable after Windows 95.

"For instance, the Remote Desktop feature, available with the

Professional edition, allows you to create a virtual session and use your

desktop computer from another computer running Windows 95 or later, gives you

access to all of your data and applications even when you’re not in the

office," says Padmanabhan. System Restore is yet another powerful feature

offered with the edition. In case of a problem, it allows one to revert the

system back to a previous date.

These indeed, are powerful features, once associated with server-level

software only. But the real advancement comes in the central role that XP gets

to play in the .Net strategy. "Windows XP is at the center of Microsoft’s

.Net vision. The product was built to reflect the needs of the always connected,

networked world, and is our first desktop offering that truly leverages the

Internet. Windows XP will form the foundation of the PC connected with several

devices and sources of information," explains Padmnabhan. Does this put to

rest the question of PC’s existence, at least as far as Microsoft is

concerned?

On account on XP’s inherent support for XML, however, the PC will also

serve as the central info-hub for a host of XML-based Web services launched

under the MyServices brand (earlier codenamed Hailstorm).

Hard on piracy

Had there been no piracy, Bill Gates would have been richer by a few more

billion dollars. But that surely won’t be the reason why Microsoft keeps

stepping up its anti-piracy drive with each new launch. And the more networked

the world becomes, the more cracking can Microsoft come down on seasoned as well

as casual copiers.

Windows XP is armed with the Product Activation technology,

which has been designed to verify that the product has been legitimately

licensed.

The activation process requires the end-user to follow a

four-step procedure. It works by validating that the software’s product key,

required as part of product installation, has not been used on more PCs than is

allowed by the software’s license.

Is the timing right?

Microsoft says the release has come at a time of transition

and growing maturity of the Internet. But at the same time, the launch has also

come at a time when the world is reeling under one of the worst economic

recessions ever. Will enterprises be willing to spend for an upgrade, if they

think they can do without the latest features? Will the home user find the array

of entertainment applications bundled with the OS captivating enough? As it is,

Linux’s adoption rate in India has gone up at an astounding rate, causing some

concern in Microsoft quarters. Surprisingly, cost is the last motivation for

users switching to Linux, robustness and reliability are being cited as primary

reasons.

But then the obvious co-branding with .Net is likely to work

to Windows XP’s advantage. And Microsoft Corp badly needs a good take-off,

keeping in view the fact that Windows 2000 and ME couldn’t make it big enough.

But the user is King, and Microsoft will have to wait for his verdict.

Deepak Kumar in New Delhi