Anyone who’s had to deal with the “bloatiness” of Microsoft Windows (especially Vista) knows that Windows is massive. Now two Gartner Group analysts have pronounced the same thing, and that if Microsoft doesn’t change Windows, it will collapse under it’s own weight:
“Apple introduced its iPhone running OS X, but Microsoft requires a different product on handhelds because Windows Vista is too large, which makes application development, support and the user experience all more difficult. Windows as we know it must be replaced.”
Apple completely scrapped it’s former OS, MacOS 9, in favor of a derivative of the NeXTStep OS. This became MacOS X. It has become a rousing success. Perhaps it’s time for Microsoft to do something similar: Scrap the bloated Win32 kernel for something smaller and more flexible.