Blog Insights: Windows In The Home

What bloggers are saying about the latest in information technology


Apple Computer has to have the most annoying television commercials ever, with its "I'm cooler than you" campaign that features a smarmy, casually-dressed Mac user standing next to a geeky PC user. Apple's intent of course, is to capture the home market, by boxing Windows PCs into the "business" category. In reality, the Windows versus Mac battle is little more than a tempest in a teapot, and the difference between the two is about the same as the difference between Republicans and Democrats, which is to say, very little.

The real battle isn't going to be about what brand of computer sits on the desk in your spare room, or even what operating system it runs, it's going to be about who gets to dominate the market for home servers that will control your entertainment, television, telephony, and your home automation system. No -- productivity applications and usability on Mac and PC have reached equilibrium. What's more important is who will dominate the applications that will control your home-wide entertainment system and appliances, and the applications that will let you control your lighting and HVAC from your hotel while on vacation. In case you haven't noticed, the computer is no longer something that sits in a rectangular box and lets you write letters and balance your checkbook. The computer is, and will be, in everything. Just one example of the ubiquity of computers, and of Microsoft software of course, is Microsoft's deal with Ford to create a voice-activated in-car system for entertainment and communications.

When Microsoft's Bill Gates addressed the Consumer Electronics Show this week, he wasn't as concerned with productivity applications and PCs as he was with family entertainment and new services. Two new services in particular position Microsoft right at the center of the new "connected" home: the IPTV-enabled Xbox 360, and the Microsoft Windows Home Server. Of course, Apple will be talking about its own iTV set-top box this week at MacWorld.

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