There are a number of slides kicking around on various news sites that claim to be a top secret Microsoft Windows 8 presentation. Much of this can be summed up as "we wish we were as cool as apple" and "we like money" - but there are a couple of very, very interesting slides in there that I think are worth talking about.
Let's be more like Apple
The weasel-speak here can be summed up as"people will pay good money for high quality things that just work." Holy state the obvious Batman!
Part of the document goes on to describe having a Microsoft Software Store, like Apple's App store.
An app store is a great idea
Apple's app store is a great idea because it allows you to treat your phone like the appliance that most people think it is.
There are no fake antiviruses there, nor malware to accidentally install. This has important security implications, because it is easy and safe to install and pay for applications from a known trustworthy source. Consumers deal with one entity (Apple in this case) so they're not providing their credit card number over the internet.
The downside of the App store is of course that Apple exercises a lot of control. If Apple doesn't like titties, you can't see them. If Apple suddenly decides that your application is inappropriate or undesirable, you're out of luck.
I'd expect that the MS store may be more developer friendly, but MS are hardly known for their friendliness. While I've never actually seen a Microsoft executive eat a kitten for breakfast, I wouldn't rule it out.
On the surface this is a good idea for the end user - but I'd be extremely nervous about a world where Microsoft decided what is allowed to run on my computer.
The idea of central control of what could run on your computer is nothing new. Trusted Computing Group (of which MS participated) proposed locked down hardware and operating systems that would only run signed code some time around 2003. If the signature processes are secure, this would also be great for end-user security (at the expense of ISV, Hobbyists, internally developed corporate applications and the open source movement) and would be a great way for the vendors to really lock you in to their platform...
A reset button
Part of your security should be the ability to recover from an "OhNo" moment. The "reset button" is an idea that I really like, and I hope they don't screw it up. It appears to be a seriously good extension of system restore capability, except it allows you to completely reset windows without performing a reformat and install. If they manage to make this work including all of the required device drivers it would be fantastic.
At the end of the reset process, you're then able to go to the app store and get your apps back. How simple would that be for supporting parents on the other side of the world ?
Image "Mr Johnson" from rathergood.com
More Windows 8 details here
0 comments:
Post a Comment