Why the HECK am I telling you to buy Windows 7 on a freaking ANDROID related site? For nostalgia. Android was created to free the masses from mobile prison and Google has already freed millions from Microsoft’s Alcatraz Mobile. Regardless of what Windows Mobile 7 brings, most of us will never return to what will now be called a “Windows Phone”.
Nostalgia. Because when all is said and done, this may be the very last time you purchase a Microsoft operating system. Heck… it might be the last time you purchase ANY operating system because with the help of Google, we’re living in a free world. This time next year you’ll be shopping for your first Chrome OS Netbook/Laptop running Chrome browser with both Google Apps and Android Apps.
Take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. Remember all the good times you had with Microsoft Windows along the years…
The floppy disks. The hard disks. The gorilla banana throwing game in QBASIC. The blue screens of death. The free Compuserve and AOL trials. The conversations you had under fake aliases with Compuserve and AOL free trials. The first CD-ROM drive you ever had. The first time you burned a Mix CD. The beginning of your music pirating obsession. The long walks on the beach. More blue screens of death. Number munchers. Word munchers. Oregon Trail. MS-DOS. Buffer overflows. Computer worms. Viruses. CRASH!
*sigh*
In all fairness I’ve had a decent run with Windows. I’ve never wanted a Mac and to be honest – I think they’re overrated. Go ahead Apple evangelists, skewer me in the comments. Linux and Ubuntu faithfuls, I know I’ll hear from you too. Microsoft Windows has been a real pain in the ass from time to time but for the most part… and I use that phrase loosely… Windows has treated me well.
I have a feeling Chrome OS will be to the desktop what Android is to mobile. I know Chrome Browser hasn’t taken off like Google hoped… or Google Apps, to be honest… but Chrome OS will be a bit different. Because now Google has Android. Android, Chrome and all of Google’s product overlap in ways that Google will be able to leverage like never before. Timing is everything and right now it seems like Google is carefully composing a software/services orchestra that they know, if they are patient, will become the ultimate masterpiece.
Don’t get me wrong, I AM going to buy Windows 7. Partially for Nostalgia – I think this is the last version of Windows I’ll ever purchase. But mostly because Chrome OS won’t be launching for another year and if I use Vista much longer than I feel forced to, there is a 50% chance I’ll punt my motherboard off a ferris wheel. And yeah, I’m waiting eagerly for Chrome OS… but I’m REALLY waiting to see what Google does to integrate Android and Chrome OS together.
But for the next 10-12 months… Windows 7 it is.