2009’s key Windows and PC trends

It’s end-of-year review time again! Here, in no particular order, are my favorite story lines from 2009. Some — like Windows 7 — are obvious, others — like the emergence of business-class netbooks — not so much. Regardless, these topics gave me plenty to write about in 2009, and I suspect I’ll be penning more on them in the coming year.

Windows 7: Many people think I dislike Windows 7, but nothing could be further from the truth. I use Windows 7 every day, and I couldn’t imagine going back to Windows XP or Vista. To me, it’s the best desktop OS Microsoft has ever released. That said, I still stand by my earlier criticisms. Not of the OS — if you read my coverage of the beta, you’ll see I had no problem with it — but rather the hype surrounding its evolution. Windows 7 was going to be all things to all people, an entirely new OS built atop the svelte, MinWin kernel.

When I first balked at these early misinterpretations of its architecture, die-hard Microsoft fans called for my head. However, when my predictions were later proven accurate — specifically, that Windows 7 was nothing more than a trimmer Vista with a new paint job — these same voices were mysteriously silent. I’ll take this as a tacit admission of their mistake and let bygones be bygones.

Multicore: The emergence of Windows 7 has given multicore technology a shot in the arm. Whereas first-generation systems were limited by Windows XP’s (and to a lesser degree, Vista’s) lack of multicore tuning, today’s designs — like the new Core i-series from Intel — benefit from the availability of a fully multicore-aware Windows 7.

This means that customers who buy current-generation hardware will experience smoother multitasking and better performance under demanding compute loads. It also means no more fence-sitting for the “save XP” folks: Windows 7 clobbers XP on modern multicore hardware.

Netbooks in business: When I first wrote about business-class netbooks, the idea was still relegated to the IT fringe. However, as the economy continues to lag, IT shops are discovering that, for many users, a beefy netbook is really all they need, allowing them to refresh their installed base while conserving scarce budget dollars.

Meanwhile, I’ve personally explored the limits of the netbook lifestyle, spending months at a time with a business-class netbook as my only system. Though there have been compromises along the way — tabbed browsing plus heavy Adobe Flash animation tends to overwhelm the underpowered Atom CPU — the convenience of long battery life and true, toss-it-in-your-briefcase portability has sold me on the business netbook form factor. Never again will I force myself to lug a 10- or 12-pound “mobile” workstation through airport security.

Closing thoughts: 2009 was an interesting year in IT. There was some genuine innovation; however, it was tempered by a shift toward the value side of the cost-performance equation. Looking forward, 2010 should be an equally interesting year, and covering the arrival of Office 2010 and Google’s Chrome OS are already marked on my to-do list. In the meantime, I wish all of my readers a wonderful holiday season and a bright, hopeful new year.

This article, “2009’s key Windows and PC trends,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments on Windows 7, netbooks, and multicore processing at InfoWorld.com.