Well, David Worthington over at SD Times has struck again, this time with a new piece which describes Microsoft’s planned transition from the current Windows codebase to one based on Midori. From the looks of this, it is definitely not just a research project for Redmond, as Robert Scoble argued after the first piece..
Essentially, Microsoft looks to be favoring a very conservative transition — which would be essentially the opposite of what Apple did with Mac OS X. It’s not surprising considering the massive install base the company needs to worry about. It’s probably smart too: by gradually introducing its customers to Midori it can spot potential problems far before they become major ones.
David suggests three different possible ways Microsoft could introduce the next-gen technology, which I’ve summized below.
The first, and perhaps most complex, has applications that run on both Midori and Windows by following a program model that operates similar to Microsoft Research’s Accelerator project … a second approach to Midori would fork the executive responsibilities and require the development of an executive for Midori that is based on and would run in parallel with the Windows Executive … The most radical suggestion involves writing the proposed Midori Executive itself from scratch, which would transform the bubble into a truly legacy-free platform.
Under the first two, Windows still takes the primary role. Under the last, it is a complete rewrite, which analysts cited by David seem to cozy up to most. I also think this is the best route: if we’re going to make a clean break, make it complete.
David’s working on a piece on security, and I’m thinking that a complete move away from the Windows code if just for the sole reason of security is the best thing. It would send hackers back to the drawing board — having to completely relearn how to hack the OS. Legacy Windows code would be contained, thus damage to systems would be minor, if not negated if I’m not mistaken.
Honestly, (and putting it bluntly), It’s nice to see Microsoft finally growing a set if David is really portraying what the company is saying in its documents correctly.
