Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » octobre 25, 2011

BetaNews.Com (11 non lus)

iPod inventor's next revolutionary device? The thermostat

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 11:45pm CEST par Ed Oswald

You would think the inventor of the iPod's next gadget creation might be some new consumer electronics gadget that will revolutionize the world once more. What if I told you Tony Fadell's latest creation is a new twist on something far, far less revolutionary -- the thermostat?

Fadell's new venture, Nest Labs, aims to create greener technologies. While it may seem somewhat odd for the company's work to begin with the thermostat, it actually makes sense. In our quest to stay comfortable in our homes, constantly fiddling with the thermostat actually wastes a lot of energy.

Take for example keeping the heat or cooling on overnight, or pushing the thermostat up sky high or low to heat or cool our houses faster. How about your heater or air conditioner running while nobody's home? All of these scenarios are adding to our home heating bills, and heating and cooling makes up about half of the single family home's $2,200 annual energy bill.

"Together with the team, Co-Founder Matt Rogers and I set out to reinvent the thermostat using advanced technologies, high-quality manufacturing processes and the thoughtful design elements the iPhone generation has come to expect," Fadell says. "We hope it will not only save money and energy, but that it will teach and inspire people to think more about how they can reduce home-energy consumption."

For a thermostat, Nest's creation is about as revolutionary as it comes. First, the device learns your heating and cooling patterns, and soon will adjust the temperature of the house on its own in a way that best conserves energy. It also guides you to use less energy by warning you when your temperature setting is outside of what will require excessive energy use to attain.

When you're not at home, the device uses sensors to detect that the house is empty, and will automatically turn off the heater or air conditioner until your return. Integrated WiFi allows for automatic updates, and allows for remote monitoring and temperature adjustment via a website or mobile app.

Apple's influence on Fadell shows in the design of the thermostat itself -- the metal finish and glass casing will remind users of Apple's line of iPhone devices. Apple has nothing to do with the product though: Fadell left the company back in 2008.

The biggest question is whether Fadell and his company will be able to convince the public to fork over $249 for something as basic as the thermostat when it begins shipping November 14. Does the cost benefit outweigh the initial investment? For those of us trying to save money on our heating bills in these rough times or those of us dreaming of the "smart home," it just might be.
Amazon had to build 'millions more' Kindle Fire units than originally planned

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 11:34pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Leading online retailer Amazon submitted its third quarter 2011 sales and earnings figures on Tuesday, revealing a big jump in sales -- especially in its Kindle product line -- but an overall decline in income.

Sales increased 44 percent sequentially, going from $7.56 billion to $10.88 billion; this represented a 39 percent increase over the same quarter last year.

The company's operating income (Gross -- operations - depreciation) was down significantly year over year: Last year's operating income for the third quarter was $268 million, and this year it was $79 million. By extension, this means Amazon's net income was down 73 percent year over year, going from $231 million to $63 million.

Shareholders reacted poorly to the earnings report, driving down Amazon shares by 15 percent in after-hours trading.

Amazon finished the quarter with $2.8 billion in cash, significantly more than the same quarter last year, which closed out with $1.5 billion.

The big sales increase that Amazon experienced could be attributed to the late introduction of its new line of e-reader products.

Just two days before the end of the quarterly reporting period, Amazon debuted three new e-paper Kindles and the new Android-powered Kindle Fire tablet.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said that single day saw more Kindle sales than any in the past.

"September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days," Bezos said in a statement today. "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned.”
F-Secure debuts 2012 antimalware

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 11:08pm CEST par Mike Williams

Finnish security vendor F-Secure has released the 2012 editions of its flagship antivirus package and security suite. As updates go, it’s relatively minor, with most of the changes being beneath the surface. Still, there are some worthwhile improvements on offer.

F-Secure says it has upgraded the behavior monitoring, scanning performance and malware removal capabilities in this edition, for instance. Improved automation in the handling of malware samples means F-Secure’s cloud-based protection network can offer an even faster response to the latest security threats.

And F-Secure’s Internet Security 2012 now allows you to set custom browsing protection settings for every user account on your PC, a very flexible and convenient approach.

Not every change is quite as successful. The “Launch pad”, for example, is a small toolbar or gadget-type application with buttons to access your local computer security options, online settings or the F-Secure site. This is supposed to make the packages easier to use, apparently, although perhaps a better way to achieve that aim might be not to split core functionality across multiple interfaces in the first place.

That aside, though, F-Secure offer a capable antivirus engine which generally does well in independent testing (in August AV-Comparatives awarded the previous edition their highest Advanced+ rating). The 2012 edition offers further meaningful improvements in all the main areas, and while there may not be enough features here to win over many new converts, if you’re an F-Secure fan then you should definitely give its Antivirus 2012 or Internet Security 2012 builds a try.
How to make failed Android tablets as successful as smartphones

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 9:31pm CEST par Ian Fogg
A new version of Android will be available in November, initally on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. Much of the analysis of this Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android is focused on the implications of it running on both smartphones and tablets, where older versions of Android ran on one or the other (1), as well as shiny new gimmicks such as face recognition to unlock a handset.

This unification of smartphones and tablets is a red herring. Other things matter much more for Android. Android tablets are failing in the market, while Google’s smartphones sell in enormous numbers. This is a major issue for Google.

In tablets, Google’s own numbers show the extent to which Android is struggling. There are approximately 3.4m Android tablets running the official version of Android intended for tablets (2). This is small compared with the tablet market leader from Apple. Over 39.9m iPads were shipped up to the end of September this year. In the third quarter of 2011 alone, Apple shipped over 11m iPads, almost three times that of all official Android tablets to date.

Android smartphones are a massive success. Given the above Android tablet figures, the vast majority of the 550,000 Android devices activated each day must be smartphones. Google has already caught Apple in smartphone adoption. There are 190m Android devices in use compared with 250m Apple iOS devices. But in smartphones the adoption numbers show that Android is already ahead: Apple has shipped a total of 146m iPhones to date (end September 2011) --some of those units are over three years old and will no longer be in use -- while there are approximately 180m Android smartphones (3).

Google is succeeding with smartphones, but not tablets, as a solid media strategy isn’t essential for success in the smartphone market.

Why?

Smartphones remain a highly communication-centric device. Google’s Android delivers a great phone, messaging and social network experience with a broad app store for utilities that matches and in some areas betters the iPhone. Android communication apps are able to integrate closely with the built-in apps unlike the iPhone’s design (4). Plus, Android smartphones are much more affordable than the iPhone. Android smartphones are sold at a very wide range of prices which increases their potential market. For example, on pre-pay in the UK Android smartphones start as low as £49.95 (no contract commitment). At a slightly higher price of around £100 there are multiple models available.

Google’s media strategy has been a bit of a mess compared with its competitors. Google has taken different assumptions to the media strategies of Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and of the media industry itself.

In short, with media and content-based products Google:
- Fundamentally believes in the power of computer code to deliver content services. For Google, the problem is all of the successful media services rely on human curation. Google’s code has not yet matched the nuances of human editors. It likely will do so in the future, but hasn’t yet. Google News is a great example of Google’s way of thinking: by default Google uses algorithms to create content services. Google News successfully shows the most popular stories from many publishers, but due to its use of a popularity ranking, it routinely fails to spot exclusive scoops that news publishers use as their very top stories and will be highly read. Now, link sharing on Google+ is intended to help improve Google’s understanding of what matters to people.
- Has operated a centralized global media strategy. Media strategy needs to be tailored to country-based rights availability. This takes time and humans to drive content deals, not computers that can’t lunch or do coffee. It takes longer. Strangely, Google has long understood that media sales teams need to be regional to drive advertising revenues, but is only slowly realizing that it needs the same approach for media content. This has hindered Google’s TV initiatives where securing TV content is critical, and has delayed Google TV’s launch outside of the US. The evolution of YouTube with its increasing inclusion of traditional media content shows that Google is changing now.
- Has often acted first, asked permission later. Google’s decision to digitize the world’s books antagonized publishers. More recently, Google’s music locker service -- in the admittedly beta Google Music -- encourages individuals to upload their music to Google’s servers but was undertaken with minimal discussion with the music industry. Steven Levy’s book, In the Plex, recounts a similar story about YouTube’s early years (Or see this reaction from Belgium publishers)
Tablets are strongly media consumption devices. Amazon gets this by building what I described as the first true media tablet. Apple has strengths here due to its iPod heritage and existing ties to the music, movie, TV and publishing industries for iTunes and iBooks.

If Google is to succeed in tablets, what the new Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android needs above all else is to re-kindle Google’s media strategy. And yes, I did mean to use the word "kindle" there. Amazon has led the way. Google needs to improve.

I’ve written in the past that what makes devices smart is their software soul, and not the shallow exterior of hardware design, however great it may be. Steve Jobs used the same phrasing more recently (although I doubt he read my report first).

There’s another phrase of Jobs which is even more relevant to what Google needs to do in tablets. At the time he said it, most thought Jobs was needling Microsoft, the old enemy. I disagree. I think this was aimed at Google’s belief in the power of computer code above human curation:

It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing, and nowhere is that more true than in these post-PC devices.

Google’s obsession with algorithms and code runs counter to a liberal arts relationship. Google needs a better media strategy. Google needs to evolve to find a media software soul to place at the heart its Android tablets.

Of course, for those building Android tablets and Android smartphones -- HTC, Samsung, Sony and the rest -- Google’s media strategy omissions provides room to differentiate at the cost of some significant spending to create a media product offering.

(1) Previously, the v3.x Honeycomb version of Android was only available for tablets, and all smartphones ran the older Froyo or Gingerbread Android software.
(2) This is based on the data Google publishes on the proportion of Android devices using each version of Android OS and the reported data on the total number of Android devices in use. As v3.x Honeycomb is only shipped on tablets, this enables an estimation of the number of Honeycomb Android tablets to be made across all of the different device makers that ship Honeycomb tablets: Motorola, Sony, HTC, Samsung, etc. Data on Android OS versions in use is published here: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-versions.html . Since I wrote this piece, Android head Andy Rubin has stated there are about 6m Android tablets in total in the wild. The difference represents those tablets that run Android v2.3 Gingerbread or v2.2 Froyo rather than the tablet-optimized v3 Honeycomb.
(3) Reasons: There are a small number of Android devices that are portable media players, for example from Samsung and Philips among others, plus there are also a few tablets shipped with the smartphone version of Android, such as the original Samsung Galaxy Tab and the HTC Flyer…. It’s not possible derive an exact number of Android smartphones in use from these publicly stated figures from Google.
(4) Voice over IP (VoIP) apps such as Skype run more consistently with Android multitasking than they do on the iPhone where iOS routinely decides they are no longer needed, and shuts down such background apps without asking the user.

Ian Fogg is a mobile industry analyst, consultant and product manager. He is a former principal at Forrester; research director at Jupiter Research; and marketing and/or product management at Psion, 3/Hutchison and Cable & Wireless Communications.
Chrome app store gets new look, ties reviews into Google+

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 8:43pm CEST par Tim Conneally

To accompany the new stable version of the Chrome browser Tuesday, Google updated its Chrome App Store Apps with a new look and new interface.

The new App Store is marked by big images for the featured apps and extensions, that users need only to hover over to reveal a short review, user rating, and "add to Chrome" button. A left-hand navigation panel contains the store's search feature, and lists of popular apps and extensions, collections, and categories.

Individual pages for apps and extensions have been updated as well with a tabbed interface that breaks the app up into Overview, details, and reviews. The reviews interface now links to a user's real identity with their Google+ profile.

The new App Store and updated "new tab" screen in Chrome are meant to highlight Chrome's functionalities beyond simple browsing, but as an experience in gaming, communications, and productivity.
Sprint iPhone owners want answers why slow data speeds

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 7:58pm CEST par Ed Oswald

iPhone 4S users on Sprint's network have flooded the carrier's support forums with complaints of slow data speeds, leading some to consider returning the device before Friday to avoid the $350 early termination fee.

Complaints appeared on support forums on October 14, the day the iPhone 4S launched at retail. Tests indicate that in some cases data throughput was as slow as .25Mbps -- only a little faster than a 2400 baud modem. The issue also seems mostly limited to the 4S itself: other Sprint phones tested side-by-side are unaffected although scattered reports of bandwidth issues are appearing elsewhere.

Frustration over the problem has put some customers at their wit's end. "I had enough and finally brought the phone back today," poster ZachR214 writes on the company's forums. "I was really sad to let go of Sprint....but I'd rather pay a little more to have a reliable carrier, then have a brick."

The story is the same over the rest of the 64-plus page thread on iPhone 4S data woes. Poor data speeds, customer service representatives not giving direct answers to what's exactly going on. That adds up to many frustrated Sprint iPhone owners.

What is causing the issue? It could involve the carrier settings file in the iPhone, which directs the device how to connect with the network. TheNextWeb said on Monday that an internal e-mail calls the issue "nationwide," and that Sprint and Apple were working together to remedy the issue.

No timeframe for repair or direct explanation is offered for the issue, although the e-mail apparently makes reference to some type of 'service settings update.' This likely means that the fix will require a tweaking of that aforementioned carrier settings file.

Sprint said it was watching the reports of data issues, however did not specifically comment on them. "Overall, iPhone performance on the Sprint network is consistent with our expectations and the rest of our high-end portfolio," it says.

"We do see opportunities to optimize performance, specifically in high network capacity areas. We see this as typical optimization work and do not have any specific area of concern. Sprint is committed to providing the best possible experience for our customers."

The issues follow a move by the company last week to end unlimited data for all data offerings except the phones themselves. Beginning with the next billing cycle, mobile broadband users will lose unlimited 4G data. These changes will also affect those who use their smart devices as mobile hotspots, the company says.

While it is not directly stated, these changes could have to do with the expected strain on the network as a result of the launch of the iPhone. Within only a few hours of the iPhone's launch on the carrier, it had already begun setting records for one-day device sales.

Photo Credit: Joe Wilcox
10 years of Windows XP [slideshow]

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 7:32pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Microsoft launched Windows XP on Oct. 25, 2001. By every measure it is the most successful Windows version ever, bringing stability to the platform, too.

Anyone can easily dismiss Windows XP, because it's so overly familiar, having stayed long in market and so seemingly unchanged. But Microsoft accomplished much around the venerable operating system, which quickly became a stable platform for the company, too. In fact, change defined XP during its first half-decade in market, but built on the stable platform beneath. Within three weeks of the launch, Microsoft announced the Tablet PC version and Media Center Edition, then codename "Freestyle", in January 2002.

Windows XP's evolution should be a case study for other operating system developers. Perhaps it is; I suspect that if anyone looks hard enough they'll see Apple copying -- following with Mac OS X (and iOS derived from it) a pattern of innovation by iteration Microsoft applied to Windows XP.

Please celebrate with us a decade of Windows XP.

Microsoft then-CEO Bill Gates poses with Windows XP "gold" disc. [Microsoft]

Bill Gates signs off Windows XP gold master, Aug. 24, 2001. A helicopter waits to fly off the code. [Ari Pernick]

Windows XP boxes come off the assembly lines during simpler times. Microsoft offered only two versions of the operating system. [Microsoft]

While people wanting this disc waited until Oct. 25, 2001, XP shipped on new PCs more than a month earlier. [Priceminister]

Sign of the Times -- the launch took place in New York about six week after the Twin Towers fell. Microsoft culled back its launch plans in respect to the fallen. [Nate Mook]

Bill Gates and Jim Allchin kick off the Windows XP launch event, Oct. 25, 2001. [Nate Mook]

Choir sings "America the Beautiful" during Windows XP's launch. The song had renewed meaning for many, following terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and US Pentagon the previous month. [Nate Mook]

Gateway gave out cows -- befitting its black-and-white moo herd motif -- during Windows XP's New York launch. The direct PC maker started selling XP systems more than a month earlier. [Larry Seltzer]

Sting performs in Bryant Park, as part of Windows XP launch festivities, Oct. 25, 2001. [Tammy Loh]

About three weeks after XP's launch, Gates unveiled Windows XP Tablet PC Edition during Comdex 2001. The first Tablet PCs debuted about a year later. Here Gates holds one during the November 2002 launch event. [Microsoft]

Microsoft unveiled Windows XP Embedded for ATM, cash registers and other devices on Nov. 28, 2001. Here a BT Internet payphone runs the OS.

About six weeks after Windows XP launched, Bill Gates debuted a second, media-oriented user interface codename "Freestyle". The first Windows XP Media Center Edition PCs shipped for holiday 2002. Here Gates poses with MCE 2005, three years later. [Microsoft]

Microsoft chose actor Tom Arnold as its spokesman for Windows XP Media Center Edition, which officially launched Oct. 29, 2002. [Microsoft]

Windows XP Service Pack 1, released in September 2002, brought dramatic changes. As part of its US antitrust settlement, Microsoft agreed to provide a utility for setting program defaults for so-called middleware, like web browsing and digital media playback.

In March 2004, the European Union Competition Commission ruled that Microsoft violated antitrust laws and must release locally Windows XP sans the media player. Microsoft coyly planned to call the new version Windows XP Reduced Media Edition, but later changed this middle finger to European trustbusters to "N". [Microsoft]

Released in summer 2004, Windows XP Service Pack 2 wasn't just an update, it was a whole new version for free. Microsoft could have and perhaps should have released Windows XP2 instead.

Keeping with Bill Gates' mandate that security be Microsoft's top priority, Windows Service Pack 2 added the "Security Center", featuring Firewall, Automatic Updates and antivirus prompts. [Microsoft],

On Aug. 11, 2004, Microsoft unveiled Windows XP Starter Edition, which two months later went into trials in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Shown here is box for the Indonesian edition. [Microsoft]

Microsoft had several Windows XP Starter Edition objectives: Increase sales in emerging markets; do so without causing pricing backlash in mature markets; and reduce piracy. Shown here is the Hindi version, which like others lacks capabilities found in full XP. [Microsoft]

Bill Gates introduces Ultra-Mobile PC, codename "Origami", in March 2006. Microsoft provided partners with reference designs, hoping for devices selling for under $500, but the first UMPCs sold for twice as much or more. [Microsoft]

Before iPad, there was Ultra-Mobile PC. Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows XP, shown here on the Samsung Q1, offered tablet-size, touchscreen capabilities four years before Apple released iPad. [Microsoft]
Netflix is up for the quarter, but streaming costs shot through the roof

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 5:31pm CEST par Tim Conneally

DVD rental and streaming video provider Netflix has posted its third quarter 2011 earnings, and though the company's revenues are higher than they were last year, decreasing subscriber acquisition and increasing costs of content licensing will have a significant impact on the company's bottom line next year.

If we were to go strictly by Netflix's earnings data, it would look like the company is continuing to do well: $822 million in revenue (49% higher than 2010,) $62 million in net income (63% higher than 2010,) and earnings per share exceeded Wall Street expectations by more than 20%.

Even subscriber churn was lower than the company had anticipated. On September 15, a note to Netflix investors warned that the company was expecting 1 million fewer subscribers for the quarter due to price changes, but it ended up losing only 800,000.

The problem is that its streaming business is massively more expensive than it used to be.

Because Netflix streams TV and Movies, it is, in the eyes of the U.S. tax code, a broadcaster. So it has to adhere to the accounting standard ASC 920.

Under this code, as you can see in the blue bars in the cash flow sheet below, the total cost of streaming has exploded. The line labeled "Change in streaming content liabilities" shows that in just a single quarter, the savings from changing its streaming content library expanded from $85 million to $419 million, or a 393% increase. This, taken with the additional cash spent on expanding its content library (a $613 million expense) and the amortization of the streaming content library (an addition of $114 million) means the total cost of streaming went up by about $48 million.

But with global expansion and different rules for streaming in other countries, Netflix expects its addition of subscribers will outpace its addition of expenses.

"Our revenue and profits in Q4 will be lower than we had anticipated, but we’ll remain profitable on a global basis," the company's quarterly note to investors said. "In Q1’12 we’ll be launching in the UK and Ireland, as we had planned. For a few quarters starting in Q1, we expect the costs of our entry into the UK and Ireland will push us to be unprofitable on a global basis; that is, domestic profits will not be large enough to both cover international investments and pay for global G&A and Technology & Development. After launching the UK and Ireland, we will pause on opening new international markets until we return to global profitability. We plan to do that by increasing our global streaming subscriber base faster than we increase our costs."
WinZip 16 goes 64-bit

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 4:43pm CEST par Joe Cassels

It’s hard to believe that WinZip, the stalwart archive program, has reached its sixteenth release with the latest update, which picks up a range of new features. The ZIP format is getting pretty elderly now and other more efficient compression standards have overtaken it, but it’s still a popular choice. WinZip 16 adds a few more carrots to tempt users by making full use of today’s 64-bit processors and adding the ability to zip directly to Blu-ray disc amongst other new features.

Also new is the ability to avoid email size limits and send files of up to 2GB directly. There’s no need to worry about the limits set by your email provider as the program integrates fully with ZipSend, a web based delivery service that stores your file and shares a direct download link with your email contact. All this is done seamlessly so there’s no need to interrupt your work and switch to a different program. It’s also possible to share Zip files on Facebook directly from the WinZip window.

The compression engine for WinZip 16 has been upgraded to a more powerful 64-bit model that makes the most of your processor for a quicker zipping experience. An improved preview tool enables you to not only examine the contents of Zip files, but also browse and edit the files within other popular archive types like 7z and RAR. You can also convert these archives into Zip format. For the best available archive storage, WinZip 16.0 now enables you to zip and write files directly to Blu-ray disc.

The final major new feature is the WinZip System Scanner that can scan your PC to check disk performance and other performance related issues. If it detects them, it will direct you to a further WinZip program that fixes the errors so you may be better off using a separate utility for this purpose.

The WinZip 16.0 trial is available for download now.
Give your photos new dimensions with Picture Resizer 5

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 4:19pm CEST par Mike Williams

Resizing multiple images manually is a tedious business. You must open an image, choose the resize option, configure it appropriately, save the image, close it, then start all over again. While there are plenty of batch image resizing tools around, they also require at least some significant configuration before you can get started.

Picture Resizer, though, takes a very different approach, which can at least let you carry out simple resizing operations without ever seeing a single dialog.

How? The secret is that the program embeds any options in its file name. By default, for instance, this is PhotoResize400.exe. If you download this image onto your desktop, then you can drag and drop selected images onto it, and these will be resized to be 400 pixels along their longest side, the other axis resized proportionally, and the finished results saved next to the originals (so Picture.jpg would be called Picture_400.jpg).

If you actually want to resize your images to have a maximum size of 320, then, all you have to do is rename the file to PhotoResize320.exe.

If you need to generate 640×480 pixel images, then you’d use a file name of PhotoResize640x480.exe.

Or, if you regularly use two or three sets of target dimensions, then you might keep several copies of the file on hand with different names (the executable is a tiny 305KB, and doesn’t require installation, so it’s not exactly going to consume much hard drive space).

Picture Resizer does actually support many more advanced resizing options. So a file name of PhotoResize_240.exe will resize the minimum size of an image to be 240 pixels, for instance; PhotoResizeP25.exe will resize an image by 25%; PhotoResizeG1024x768.exe uses content-aware resizing to change an image aspect ratio while minimising distortion, and that’s just the start (see the author’s page for more).

And this is clearly where the file name scheme begins to fall down a little; having a dialog to set up the appropriate options would be considerably easier.

If you only occasionally need to resize a small number of images, then, Picture Resizer probably isn’t for you. The hassle involved in setting it up each time will be more trouble than it’s worth.

If you regularly need to resize multiple images to the same target dimensions, though, it’s a different story. Configure a few copies of the Picture Resizer executable to handle your most common resize jobs, and that’s it, you’ll then be able to process tens, hundreds or thousands of images simply by dragging and dropping.
Happy Birthday! Windows XP turns 10

Publié: octobre 25, 2011, 8:43am CEST par Joe Wilcox

Few products have impacted more people than Windows XP. Microsoft officially launched the operating system -- the first for consumers based on the NT kernel -- on Oct. 25, 2001. That's right, 10 years ago today. But PC manufacturers started offering XP systems in early September 2001, a week before terrorist attacks against New York City and Northern Virginia. XP is the most popular Windows version ever released. Even today, depending on the analyst crunching numbers, more people use Windows XP than any other PC operating system (although Windows 7 is nearly tied).

Windows XP is a workhorse. Microsoft kept it in market longer than any other Windows version, allowing a very stable ecosystem of third-party applications and products to evolve around it. The operating system fulfilled the vision set for Windows 95 six years earlier -- release of stable, 32-bit code suitable for businesses and consumers. Microsoft's biggest development challenge: Providing compatibility with games and supporting hardware drivers that wanted access to the kernel, which NT blocked for security reasons.

Troubled Start

Yet Windows XP was troubled long before it shipped. During the software's early development, April 2000, Microsoft lost its US antitrust case, and US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the company to split in two. A year later, an appeals court overturned Jackson's remedy but still upheld a dozen antitrust violations. Meanwhile competitors and privacy organizations dogged Microsoft. After a public spat with Kodak, for example, Microsoft changed how XP would import digital photos -- then-up-and-coming activity; 35mm film still ruled the day, but XP developers rightly looked to future needs.

This tension -- Microsoft as some kind of bully trying to use its success in PC operating systems to control the Internet -- hung over and around Windows XP's development and launch. Heck, in that spirit, my editors at CNET News chose to call our Windows XP launch series "The Gatekeeper". Microsoft turned out to be no such thing. Windows XP enabled people to get on the Internet instead. But that's okay, eh, as today trustbusters have found a new, accused Internet gatekeeper: Google.

Two other major problems plagued Windows XP -- affecting adoption. Microsoft decided to extend product activation, part of Office XP, to the operating system. Many users rebuffed the technology, which Microsoft meant to reduce piracy. Suddenly, Windows was a police state, where users presented their IDs as demanded -- or that's how some people reacted. Far worse, recession gripped America. Strong, early 2000 personal computer sales collapsed in autumn, leading major Windows PC manufacturers, even Apple and Microsoft, to issue profit warnings. Holiday 2000 sales were disastrous. Seemingly everyone looked to Windows XP to save Christmas 2001.

Then came Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that compelled Microsoft to do the respectful thing and tone down Windows XP's planned, coincidentally, New York launch. Even with something like a $1 billion blitz planned, XP didn't get the big gala needed to drive sales forward; they weren't bad just not gangbuster. For example, according to NPD, about 650,000 Windows XP copies sold at retail during the first six weeks in market. By comparison, Windows 98 units topped 850,000.

Innovation by Iteration

Anyone can easily dismiss Windows XP, because it's so overly familiar, having stayed long in market and so seemingly unchanged. But Microsoft accomplished much around the venerable operating system, which quickly became a stable platform for the company, too. In fact, change defined XP during its first half-decade in market, but built on the stable platform beneath. Windows XP's evolution should be a case study for other operating system developers. Perhaps it is; I suspect that if anyone looks hard enough they'll see Apple copying -- following with Mac OS X (and iOS derived from it) a pattern of innovation by iteration Microsoft applied to Windows XP.

Microsoft started adapting Windows XP and planning other changes even before it shipped. There was the August 2001 agreement with Kodak over digital photo importing and months earlier modifications to the Windows desktop, where Microsoft ceded control to OEMs.

Microsoft released to manufacturing the Windows XP gold master on Aug. 24, 2001. Then-CEO Bill Gates and Jim Allchin, then-group vice president in charge of Windows, officiated the impressive event, which included a helicopter flying off gold code. By September 4, Gateway started taking orders for Windows XP PCs. Direct manufacturers Dell and Gateway had unique advantage over channel-centric Compaq and HP getting out new XP systems fast -- and they were anxious given the still stricken economy.

In cooperation with PC partners, Microsoft committed $1 billion to launching and marketing Windows XP. The New York launch event, while subdued from earlier plans still had bang, such as the concert featuring Sting. I passed up dinner with Gates the night before, suspecting that there would be news in Washington, DC. There was, with Microsoft's antitrust opponents trying to steal some of XP's thunder.

Platform Differences

From here I'll chronicle the aforementioned innovation by iteration, which starts with something predicted in 2001 that later proved true. I wrote for CNET News on Oct. 23, 2001: "For years, software makers invented operating systems and applications that required more computing power...The release of Windows XP, however, may mark the formal end to that cycle as consumers and businesses find increasingly that the equipment they already own is good enough to run most of the software they need".

Allchin claimed that PCs purchased during holiday 1999 would comfortably run Windows XP. Moreover, XP's demands didn't much change even as Microsoft released service packs during the years that followed. This helped to establish greater stability in the Windows ecosystem, benefiting consumers, developers, IT organizations and Microsoft partners -- even PC manufacturers, which finally could focus more on differentiating brands and features rather than running the megahertz and later gigahertz rat race. AMD and Intel achieved a state of detente in the processor speed wars; Windows XP wasn't overly demanding and no successor OS appeared ahead. XP brought a state of tranquility to the Windows ecosystem.

Instead of rushing out XP2, Microsoft instead chose to extend Windows by releasing sub-versions for new device categories, and quickly.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Less than three weeks after Windows XP launched, Gates introduced the Tablet PC version during Comdex 2001. Analysts looked skeptically on the tablet and stylus concept, which never really found its footing in the marketplace -- more because Gates' vision was ahead of its time. When launched a year later, with 20 partners, Tablet PCs were costly and the tech they really needed -- capacitive touchscreens -- wasn't ready for the market. Microsoft continued to evolve the concept, which led to another XP innovation, Origami, I'll recap in a few paragraphs.

Windows XP Media Center Edition. In January 2002, during the Consumer Electronics Show, Gates debuted a secondary user interface codenamed Freestyle, which later became Windows XP Media Center Edition. The concept was brilliant for the time. XP users could access photos, music and TV programs from across the room with remote control. Microsoft's TV program guide mimicked TiVo but offered cleaner, faster and less-cluttered interface. HP kicked off the Media Center fanfare for holiday 2002, but then-No. 1 PC vendor was absent and would be for years.

My family used Media Center before TiVo. Within a week, my then 10 year-old daughter's TV habits changed. She started recording programs and within months expected me to stop live programming when she demanded. Microsoft initially limited Media Center's appeal by requiring a TV tuner and new PCs; there was no boxed software upgrades. Microsoft rapidly iterated new Media Center versions over the next three years, eventually dropping the TV tuner requirement (which got Dell on board) and later incorporated the feature into retail Windows.

Windows XP SP 1. Microsoft uses service packs to apply bug fixes and to consolidate cumulative updates. But SP1 did much more. In November 2001, Microsoft settled its US antitrust case with the Justice Department and eight states (another handful continued the fight). As part of the settlement, Microsoft agreed to provide a tool for hiding so-called middleware, such as Internet Explorer and Windows Messenger. This add-on was one of the service packs' major components. As such, released in Septemeber 2002, SP1, which also brought USB 2.0 support, constituted a major update to Windows XP.

Windows XP Starter Edition. In August 2002, XP de-evolved, so to speak. Microsoft announced trials for Starter Edition, a truncated XP version for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The company wanted to offer a low-cost Windows version in emerging markets, where piracy rates were high, without jeopardizing pricing in established markets -- hence the culling back of features, such as a lower memory capability and limits on number of running applications. Starter Edition would later become available across the globe.

Windows XP SP 2. Following several prominent widespread malware attacks, Gates set security as Microsoft's top priority in an employee memo on Jan. 17, 2002. More than two-and-a-half years later, the priority would manifest in Service Pack 2. The update can only be described as a major overhaul of Windows XP that could -- and perhaps should -- have warranted calling it a new version. XP wasn't the same after SP2. It was better. Microsoft released the service pack on the third anniversary of Windows XP's launch.

Ultra-Mobile PC. In March 2006, Microsoft introduced new XP software for small-screen touchscreen PCs -- consider this the real precursor to Apple's iPad, not Tablet PC. Codename Origami, Microsoft created reference designs in hopes of partners producing devices under $500, but early products sold for twice as much. UMPCs ran Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows XP. Samsung was one of Origami's biggest supporters. Funny, today, my local Best Buy Mobile store uses a Samsung UMPC to interface with its legacy retail point-of-sale system.

Writing this post got me to look at XP differently, to see that Microsoft continually innovated but through iteration -- creating new products from the stable platform rather than focusing on splashy new Windows versions. It's an approach Microsoft should reconsider as it moves towards Windows 8.