(^47)
Game of the
Year Awards
Our annual awards showcase
the best—and worst—
had to offer.
Profi le of an
Adolescent
OS
Contents
Ed Word
Please send feedback and green
beer to [email protected].
L
et’s face it, 2007 was a crap year for operating
systems. Vista pretty much stinks, and even the
almighty Apple has had big problems with Leopard. But I
think I’ve figured out what’s causing the issues plaguing
Windows and OS X: They’ve finally reached puberty. As near
as I can figure, operating systems mature at a slower rate
than humans, so after a process that took some 20 years,
things are starting to get awkward for these pimply-faced
piles of code.
The early days of Windows were an analog to the
formative years of a human infant. Windows 3.1 had a new
fresh face that always kept us entertained (“A file manager!
Amazing!”) and was even good for a few useful tasks. But
3.1 also needed constant maintenance to keep working—in
much the same way a baby can’t care for himself.
The consumer PC reached early childhood with
Windows 95. Like a rambunctious 4-year-old, Win95 could
get around and communicate, but you had to keep it away
from things that could badly hurt it (to Win95, the Internet is
the equivalent of a fork dangling from an electrical socket).
Like a 4-year-old, Windows 95 could almost take care of
basic maintenance by itself but still needed supervision to
avoid “accidents.” And like a child just learning the nuances
of the language, you could hold a real conversation with
Win95—just as long as you kept things simple.
Windows 98 represented late childhood. With support
for modern hardware, it was vastly more capable than
Win95, but it still required hand-holding to cross the street
safely. And, like a rowdy 8-year-old, everything in Win
was better after a midafternoon nap.
And then came Windows XP, the respectful 12-year-
old who works at his dad’s office. Unlike the hormonal
know-it-all teenager that would be Windows Vista, you
could treat WinXP like a full-blown adult. Hell, WinXP did
everything we needed—quickly and effectively without
any lip. Unfortunately, however, its status as a quasi-adult
eventually caused WinXP problems. It was smart, but not
wise and experienced. Like a 12-year-old, the OS will hop
in damn near anyone’s proverbial van, despite constant
warnings to be wary.
And now we come to Vista, the gawky 14-year-old.
It knows what it wants to be and what it wants to do, but
somehow it just can’t get everything working well enough
to make it happen.
What will Windows 7 bring in 2012? Will it be a
meth’d-out, convenience-store-robbing 18-year-old? Or will
it be a cool 22-year-old go-getter, just starting his first real
job and looking to take on the world? Only time will tell,
but I’m hoping that Win7 ships with a plan to solve world
hunger—and not a switchblade.
18 Windows Tips
Rolling with Vista? Sticking with XP?
No matter what version of Windows
you use, we’ve got tips and tweaks
that will let you get the most out of
your OS.
Features
MAXIMUMPC 03 / 08
(^36)
Overclock
Your GPU
We show you how to take
your videocard to the edge!
http://www.maximumpc.com | MAR 08 | MAXIMUMPC 05
dariusz
(Dariusz)
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