More than 10 years ago, I wrote about the dangers of including too much functionality in the Windows 95 operating system. Part of my apprehension was due to the danger of Microsoft's software bundling shutting out independent software, a concern that wound up becoming true.
However, an even greater concern was the blurring of the distinction between features that an OS needs to provide and the additional components and applications that users choose themselves. Windows enables vulnerable features without the knowledge or direct control of the typical end user, and typical end users don't know how to protect themselves from such risks.
Making computers easier for people to use does not include enabling features that make a computer vulnerable the moment it connects to the Internet. For my money, I'd like nothing more than to see a "cafeteria" version of Windows. Such a version would be something that gets the computer going with only the bare essentials required to start Windows -- and that allows me to choose everything else in detail.
Had Microsoft created such a Windows version 10 years ago, we wouldn't have the problems with Internet security that we have today. Microsoft is capable of producing such an OS, and it knows it -- yet it continues to fight a losing battle.
If Microsoft really wants the freedom to innovate and provide users with more choices, then it needs to go back to the basics with Windows. If I don't want Internet Explorer on my system, that should be my choice; if I want to use a different program to play media files, that should be my choice.
Microsoft continues to spend more time and more money fixing problems in applications bundled with Windows than it should. Putting too much functionality into Windows was a mistake, and everyone knows it -- and it's time Microsoft accepted it.
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It seems logical yet absurd.. such like netBIOS.. general users don't know what it netBIOS is and how to configure it to best suit them. And those general applications.. how many of general users can recognize what they need and choose them..?? maybe simplification and concentration of MS organization is what's necessary at this time..