InfoWorld
Lead with Knowledge
HOME/ SITEMAP
SUBJECT INDEXES
App Development
Broadband
Business Intell.
Business News
Business Strategies
Careers & Mgmt
Collab. Software
Content Mgmt
CRM
Database
E-Business
End-User Apps
End-User Hardware
Enterprise Apps
Ethics
Government
Licensing
Middleware
Mobile Computing
Networking
Online Community
Operating Systems
Processors
Security
Servers
Storage
Telecomm.
Web Services
Web Technologies
Wireless
XSPs
NEWS
CTO ZONE
TEST CENTER
FEATURES
COMMUNITY
OPINIONS
INTERVIEWS
FORUMS
RESEARCH
EVENTS
WEBCASTS
ADVERTISE
ABOUT InfoWorld
Reprints
ABOUT US
About InfoWorld
Services
Advertise
Contact us
Reprint
Employment
WHITE PAPERS

Learn to secure your PCs from new and unknown hacker attacks.

Free IDC White Paper - Discover Secure File Sharing for the Enterpriseattacks.
SEARCH:  
Home  //  Community //  Opinions //  Article
Print Article    Email Article
Window Manager
Brian Livingston
The next Windows

AS THE CALENDAR turns to a new year, so do our minds turn to what lies ahead for us, the computer users of the world.

I've been a contributing editor to InfoWorld for more than 10 years, so I've written first-hand about the shift to the Windows GUI from the old character-based DOS that used to be installed on almost all personal computers.

It's hard to remember this now, but many, many people in those days insisted on using the smaller and faster applications that ran on DOS, refusing to consider the more sluggish apps that required Windows. My friend Brian Moura, the assistant city manager of San Carlos, Calif., used to call such people "GUI phooies."

Fortunately for Microsoft, the last decade's dramatic leap in processor speeds made GUIs practical. Today, many computer users can scarcely imagine a PC that doesn't run Windows. Nevertheless, I predict that 10 years from now Windows won't be the most widely used operating system and Microsoft won't be the largest software company.

With due respect to my colleagues who use the Mac OS or Linux, I believe the operating systems on the computers we'll soon be using -- and taking for granted -- will look more like a newer, leaner OS named Symbian.

The future belongs to devices we'll carry around, not boat anchors that must remain tied to our desks. Symbian -- as any search on the word at InfoWorld.com will reveal -- is already competing seriously with Microsoft in the handheld space.

Owned by an alliance consisting of Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, and Psion, the Symbian GUI has also been adopted by Fujitsu, Sanyo, Siemens, Sony, and many other big players.

Already running Symbian in Europe are several cool devices such as the Nokia 9210. The Nokia 9210 is a normal cell phone on one side. But flip the hinged case open on the long edge and you'll find a workable, Blackberry-style keyboard, a bright color display, and full wireless browser connectivity (see www.symbian.com/technology/symbos-phones.html).

The U.K.-based Canalys research group recently reported that Symbian devices, with 34 percent of the European market, are suddenly outselling devices running the Palm (30 percent) and Pocket PC (21 percent) operating systems there (see www.canalys.com/pr/r2001101.htm). A handheld designed for the U.S. market, the Nokia 9290, will debut in the next few months, along with many other brands. It'll be interesting to watch the fur fly.

Some day, we'll all carry C: drives around in a watch-size device. It'll work wirelessly using any full-size keyboard and monitor we sit down at (given the owner's permission). No PC required.

Until then, Symbian looks like the one to watch.


Send tips to brian@brianlivingston.com. He regrets that he cannot answer individual questions. Go to www.iwsubscribe.com/newsletters to get his Window Manager column and E-Business Secrets e-zine free via e-mail.



RELATED SUBJECTS

Operating Systems
MORE >
SUBSCRIBE TO:    E-mail Newsletters  InfoWorld Mobile InfoWorld Magazine
Home  //  Community //  Opinions //  Article Print Article    Email Article
Back to Top
 ADVERTISEMENT
 

SPONSORED LINKS

Learn to secure your PCs from new and unknown hacker attacks.
Get FREE Hurwitz Report: Control Your App Dev Costs with TogetherSoft!
Click here to receive a FREE Success Kit from Oracle.
SPEED, PERSONALIZATION AND INTEGRATION: THE KEY TO E-COMMERCE SUCCESS.
Protect Your Data: Get your FREE Enterprise Backup Intelligence Kit from ADIC.

SUBSCRIBE
E-mail Newsletters
InfoWorld Mobile
Print Magazine
Web-based training
ABOUT INFOWORLD  |  SITE MAP  |  EMPLOYMENT  |  PRIVACY  |   CONTACT US

Copyright 2002 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.