COLUMN: The technological peeping tom
Well Microsoft has done it again, releasing their newest operating system, Windows XP, upon the world. And true to form, XP is loaded with enticing capabilities designed, in part, to conceal the specter that lurks underneath.
XP utilizes, no, demands, almost constant connection with the Internet during the first few uses, forcing users to register the product online within 60 days and share information about their computer with Microsoft in an attempt to create a kind of fingerprint that identifies the machine it was originally installed on. In addition, it nags the user multiple times about purchasing additional services offered by Microsoft. The constant nagging has already created an irritated buzz among users. So what is Microsoft’s response to this uncontrollable annoyance? Don’t worry, the program should stop asking after several attempts.
We’ve come to expect arrogance from Microsoft, but what’s more frightening is the increasing acceptance of an operating system that sticks its intrusive, officious nose into our personal business. Since when did we become accepting of software that constantly advertises itself to people who already own it? It’s like owning a power drill that stops midway through the job to ask you if you’d like to upgrade your chain saw.
Most of us were told not to take candy from strangers when we were kids. In a technological sense, Microsoft isn’t giving us a choice. It’s nice to see they are making the software more user friendly, but this time they’ve made the interface look so cloy and toy-like that I’ll be surprised if Fisher Price doesn’t sue them for some kind of trademark infringement. Also, despite numerous requests from users, Microsoft seems intent on dumbing down the menu options so it is difficult for advanced users to make changes.
Take, for instance, what should be the simple act of changing a registered file type. A registered file type is a way of associating a file with the application that uses it. This allows a user to open a file and its designated application simultaneously. Often, certain files can be opened by more than one application. Advanced users might want to change the associations, but in order to do so, they must locate the file associations menu which has always been hard to find and difficult to use. By doing this Microsoft ensures their own software gets preferential treatment when it comes to association with common files.
There are those who would say if you don’t like Windows XP, don’t buy it. But what else is there? Certainly not Macintosh. Getting decent software for a Mac is far more frustrating than anything Windows has done to date – but XP just might even the odds with it pervasive need to erode the privacy of the millions of people it will be forced upon.
Bill Gates, at a release party in New York, touted XP as the future of operating systems. Perhaps it is. Perhaps privacy is becoming a thing of the past – something we are willing to sacrifice in order to have the newest, coolest computer on the block. But I’m not ready to give mine up just yet. I’ll just hang onto my old copy of Windows 98.