Toe in the Water

American Idols (3)

American Idols (3)

Numero Tres: Microsoft Windows

Much of my time in America has been spent just as it was in England: in front of a computer. It was only twenty-five years ago that I began my education into computers and that I was successful in this was entirely due to the invention of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and the mouse. I had glanced at computers prior to this and always been horrified at the strange code it was necessary to learn before one could even start. The discovery that I could now access the wonders of computing through a visual representation and a pointer was a revelation to me. I was hooked immediately and was soon spending all my time investigating the new world that had opened before me.

Now, I know that it was Xerox that invented the GUI, but they did nothing with it. I know, too, that Apple stole the idea and made it usable. But it was Microsoft that stole it yet again, made it usable and then sold the idea to the public. And that is what counted in the end. No matter how many versions he had to go through before he got it right, our friend Bill managed to persuade all of us to use his system. Apple have only their greed and poor organisation to blame for not dominating the market as Microsoft does.

This domination of Windows in the computing world affects the way we foreigners see America. Films and television have shown us what the USA looks like and how Americans speak. Now Windows teaches us about how they spell. No longer do we think in terms of programmes and dialogues, prioritise and harbour; nowadays we are getting used to programs and dialogs, we prioritize and find a safe harbor.

Windows is also the umm "window" to the internet for the vast majority of us. We see this ever-growing worldwide databank and debate forum through an interface designed by Americans. The language that dominates it is called English but is really American, and it's America that shapes the destiny and direction of the net (no bad thing - imagine if it were North Korea leading the way); and all by courtesy of this thing we call Windows. Love it or hate it, the fact remains - it's Windows that brings the net to the masses and vice versa.

I can see the Mac-users and Linux geeks standing and yelling at the back. To the Mac-users I have only this to say: you had your chance and blew it - get over it. And as for the Linux dudes, I can only suggest that they stop proliferating pretty GUIs to compete with Windows and look at the way Microsoft does things. Design a file system that makes sense to the layman, stop using meaningless filenames, copy the way Windows instals programs, stop imagining that networking is the driving force behind everyday computing and you might stand a chance, a very faint chance, of beating Windows in the end. In fact, if you do that I'll swap to Linux tomorrow. But until you geeks get your heads out of the sand and look at the way ordinary people use computers, you will never see Linux dominate as Windows does.

I am no great fan of Windows and the way it tries to think for us. But I do appreciate that without it computing would still be the preserve of the programmers and professionals. And I think we should honour it for what it is - America's way to bring computing to the world. We've cursed it and kicked it and bad-mouthed it for years - but let's face it: where would we be without it?

Like it or not, Microsoft Windows is an American Icon.


Word count: 623