eHomeUpgrade has a commentary on Longhorn (which also mentions a commentary about the upcoming OS from Micheal Gartenberg) here. The general gist of the commentaries is how Microsoft needs to satisfy two worlds with Longhorn – the business world and the consumer world. These two markets are vastly different and Longhorn has to be important enough to warrant both markets to upgrade. Remember one thing – Microsoft still has problems convincing many businesses to upgrade their old Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 systems to something like Windows XP. Will Longhorn’s features be a need for these markets? It’s hard to tell – but I’ll say this much – why would a small business owner need Avalon on their Windows OS? why would they need the new programming API if all they need is a simple Quicken application?
As for the home front, Microsoft will need to simplify things for the user and this is where I agree with eHomeUpgrade. MCE is a great first step but things could be EASIER. If Microsoft wants to rule the digital home market – they need to simplify the issues similar to how Apple simplified the MP3 market in many ways. Purchase a song for 99 cents.. BAM that’s it.
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