WINDOWS 95 : Microsoft’s New View : New PC Software Will Make Computers Friendlier--and Industry Richer
Never in the history of computing has a new product generated the kind of fanfare that now surrounds Microsoft’s Windows 95.
Years in the making--and arriving nearly 18 months later than originally scheduled--Windows 95 is supposed to accomplish one central task that was beyond the reach of its predecessors: to make personal computers easy to use.
It’s a deceptively simple-sounding mission. Ever since IBM introduced its first personal computer back in 1981, the basic operations of most PCs have been controlled by an arcane and unfriendly piece of software known as DOS.
Microsoft, purveyor of DOS, eventually developed a system known as Windows that hid the worst aspects of DOS under a so-called graphical interface, allowing the PC to be controlled by pointing and clicking a mouse. But even the wildly popular Windows 3.1 can be strange and unreliable--and no match for the rival Apple Macintosh when it comes to ease of use.
Windows 95 is supposed to change all that, burying DOS forever and giving IBM-compatible PCs the slick look and smooth feel of, well, a Macintosh. PCs with Windows 95 will be able to run more than one program at once without trouble, they’ll be able to accommodate file names written in normal English, they’ll be able to connect easily to on-line networks--including, not incidentally, Microsoft’s very own network. And mere mortals will be able to do things such as play a CD-ROM disc or install a video card.
The marriage of Windows 95 with today’s high-powered--and amazingly cheap--personal computers, many of them powered by Intel’s Pentium chip, promises to sweep many non-techies into the PC world. Computers will be both easier to use and more useful. Though a few buyers will stick with Windows 3.1--and others will opt for IBM’s OS/2 or the Macintosh--most of those who buy PCs over the next few years will end up buying Windows 95.
That means that Windows 95 will be a bonanza for the PC industry. Microsoft is expected to sell as many as 30 million copies of the software this year alone, and then it will be able to sell millions of copies of the new versions of applications programs such as the Word word processor and the Excel spreadsheet--for taking full advantage of Windows 95 requires new applications. In the short term, at least, other software companies should benefit too.
And because Windows 95 requires powerful PCs, lots of memory, lots of hard disk space and the like, it means new business for those who build and sell PCs, memory chips and hard disk drives. Indeed, the Windows 95-generated demand for a wide variety of PC products has much to do with this year’s unprecedented boom in computer-related stocks.
All that said, it’s also the case that Windows 95 falls well short of being a truly revolutionary product--and many of those who already have PCs will find little reason to make the switch. Windows 95 has few features that weren’t pioneered elsewhere, and upgrading an existing machine and buying the accompanying software will be a very expensive proposition. Consumers should be careful to look beyond the hype and see what they really need.
Today’s coverage of the Windows 95 launch features a detailed review of the product and a look at how it is shaking up the personal computer industry. In Wednesday’s Cutting Edge section, we will take a close look at the Microsoft Network, which will be accessed via Windows 95. Later this week we will also examine the workings of the vast Microsoft marketing machine, and monitor how the product launch is playing around California.
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“Windows 95 is an extraordinary development for the industry. It is going to enhance the computing experience for both professionals and novices.”
--Ben Rosen, Chairman of Compaq Computer and venture capitalist
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“It’s not anything anyone hasn’t seen before. . . . It will be a big consumer product this Christmas. Neophytes will rush to anything new.”
--Michael Spindler, Chief Executive of Apple Computer Inc.
