Linda posted on December 17, 2009 11:45
This week I ran across this article that I bookmarked on the eve of the official Windows 7 launch with every intention of sharing it with you and then promptly forgot about.
This article reflects back on just how far Windows has come in the last 20 years, a reflection I could easily have written myself, and then goes on to wonder if Windows 7 could be the last of the line. One of the hottest topics in technology today is Cloud Computing. In fact, Lansing based LiquidWeb has just recently opened its third data center and is promoting it as The Cloud Data Center. And just this past weekend, the website for its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) product, Storm, went live.
You see in a cloud computing environment, all of the processing itself will take place on a server that you never see. All you will need to access it is a very simple computer called a thin client. Or perhaps, you will just use your browser to access the application.
Since the processing won't be done on your workstation, there will be less demand for operating system features or fancy software that runs on your workstation. And you will likely need a new workstation much less often than you do today.
Only time will tell if cloud computing is widely accepted. Time will also tell us if there is a future for another release of Windows and its accompanying refresh cycle.