SEATTLE -- "Simplify, simplify, simplify" was the message of the day as Microsoft tried to build excitement for its next generation operating system, Windows XP.
"This is the system my mom needs," said Jim Allchin, Microsoft's group vice-president of the platform division at the formal unveiling of the long-awaited merger of home and business versions of the company's flagship operating systems. "It's not just the system she needs, it's the one she deserves."
Although Windows XP fuses the best of Microsoft's (MSFT) business and consumer operating systems, the company focused the presentation almost entirely on the advantages for home users.
Throughout his presentation, Allchin used his mother to stand-in for the "average" home user who does not feel comfortable figuring out how to accomplish the most basic tasks on the computer, from changing the look of the desktop to managing photo and music files.
Most noticeable among the changes being highlighted at the event was a redesigned desktop and start menu, which has been simplified to reduce clutter and make the most useful programs more accessible. Windoxs XP is designed to identify the five applications that a user spends the most time on and to present those, along with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express as the primary programs. Clicking on "More Programs" reveals a complete set of start-menu options.
The desktop is also designed to open with a customized set of simple icons for each user. The idea, Allchin said, is to allow different members of the household to establish their own work areas within the computer for quick switching between users.
Allchin also demonstrated a new intelligent folder system for handling various types of media files which sorts them while downloading and presents customized menus for handling sound, still pictures and video files that are based on predictions of what people will want to do with them. Allchin glossed over the controversial aspects of the built-in Digital Rights Management system for the Windows Media Player, mentioning it only as a quick aside.
The biggest change under the hood is the abandoning of the Windows kernel that has provided the basis for consumer versions since Windows 95 with the more robust NT-based Windows 2000 architecture. More programs can be run simultaneously, Allchin said, due to the enhanced reliability of the Windows 2000 kernel.
One feature that drew skeptical attention from the media audience was the remote access capabilities, which allow help-desk employees to see your screen and even take charge of the system via an Internet connection to diagnose and resolve computing problems.
Although Allchin and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates touted this function as one of the highlights of the new system, the audience asked pointed questions about possible security concerns related to the help process.
Allchin pointed out that there were multiple points in which the end user must grant permission for the procedure, and that the communications were encrypted and "non-replayable." Still some questions about e-mail Trojan horses and other possible security "spoofs" were not fully answered during the question and answer session that followed the presentation.
While Microsoft has been cautious up until now about claims that the new operating system would be compatible with software written for older version of Windows, the company appears to have dedicated significant resources to make sure that older applications still run properly.
"For me this is the first time that the next-version of Windows has had better backward compatibility than the last," said Paul Cassel, an expert on computer operating systems and the author of several self-help tutorials on various versions of Windows. "I've actually had much better luck under Whistler (the code-name given to XP during development) than I have under Windows Me, or Windows 98 SE, for that matter. Cassel said the applications he runs that gave previous version of Windows fits actually work better under XP."
On the other hand, he said, older device drivers could still pose a problem. Cassel said XP has worked without a problem on test computers using processors as old as a 166 megahertz Pentiums.
Cassel speculated that the company, which has seen lagging sales for Windows 2000 and Windows Me, "doesn't want to give anybody the excuse not to upgrade because something won't run." He said software developers at the company have been asking for information on any programs that do not appear to be compatible with the new operating system.
Microsoft has not announced a firm release date. Gates said he expects to release the final product in the second half of this year and that a second beta version would go out to reviewers later in the first quarter.
