OneAndOneIs2

Have you seen these ads yet?

I know they're on in a variety of countries, but not which ones. They're adverts in which a user explains how they decided that their computer should do some task or other better than it currently does, told Microsoft, and they obligingly built it into Windows 7.

"I'm a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea" is the tagline at the end.

Originally, they just showed ordinary users in their homes having amazing ideas like easier file sharing between PCs. The latest batch have been more about some user in some country having an idea, and Microsoft flying them to some other country for no adequately-explained reason to test the new functionality, like a German being taken to Japan to test Wifi connections.

Originally, I thought these were just fairly naff ads that MS were hoping would make W7 sound like a new and exciting OS, rather than just a reheated version of the universally-uninteresting Vista. But then it occurred to me that they might actually be being rather more sophisticated than I originally gave them credit for.

After all, if you were to ask the average geek to name an OS developed by an international community in response to feedback from a global user base; a community-driven OS where end-users have direct contact with the developers.. we all know what the answer would be!

One of Linux's biggest strengths is that it's a project run by and for its community, not for a corporation or short-term profit. If MS can convince their average user that Windows is developed the same way, then they've stolen quite a march on Linux: "Okay, the source code isn't available.. but they still work the same way as Linux does, developers all over the world adding features in response to what the community wants. What's the difference?"

Makes you think, doesn't it..?