The tyranny of popularity

Guy Kewney AnchorDesk

Published: 11 Apr 2001 18:14 BST

One of my favourite computer industry curses has always been: "May you succeed until you have a large installed base." That curse has finally struck Microsoft. It is trying to launch a new, improved operating system; and it is having trouble. Actually, it's been trying to do this for nearly a decade, and it hopes, finally, that Windows XP will crack it.

The latest throw of the dice is the inclusion of a "compatibility mode" in the operating system. When you load a piece of software and it doesn't run on XP in native mode, you have the option to switch to a different mode; you decide which version of Windows you want it to pretend to be.

I look forward to getting a list of the applications this will work for. After that, I look forward to seeing the drivers it will work with for plug-in hardware.

Really, you have to laugh at the pickle Microsoft finds itself in. For years, it has been over-trumping all rivals in the OS market with a simple ace: "Yes, your technology may well be superior, but the software all runs on Windows."

And now, Microsoft itself is trying to offer superior technology; and the users are all saying: "Yes, but we've all got Windows."

I have Microsoft groupie friends. For the last two decades, they've been dismissing various improvements, first improvements to MS-Dos (such as DR-Dos or Quarterdeck, Mac OS (when it was an improvement!) Concurrent Dos, OS/2 and Unix. All were tossed aside: "It may well offer multi-tasking, but it's not the Microsoft standard, and all the software in the world is Microsoft." Or: "It may have icons, but the standard is still Dos command line." Or even: "It may be more reliable, but how does it help to be more reliable, if Lotus 1-2-3 or Word won't run on it?"

All very valid arguments, of course.