Most of the civilized world has heard of Vista, and many of those who actually run it don’t like it. Hewlett Packard understands this, and is trying to develop software that will actually bypass certain elements in Vista.
Phil McKinney, chief technology officer at HP, said the workaround software is being made so customers can watch movies or view photos without pulling out hair with the Vista operating system.
"Our customers are looking for insanely simple technology where they don’t have to fight with the technology to get the task done."
But HP may be going a step further besides making software workarounds. HP is actually entertaining the idea of developing a full OS, although McKinney denies it.
"Is HP funding a huge R&D team to go off and create an operating system? [That] makes no sense. For us it’s about innovating on top of Vista."
But inside sources say that HP is exploring the possibility of a fully working OS to compete against Vista. The new OS would be based on Linux, an open-source operating system that many say is easier to work with. A seperate "skunk works" team within HP has been reported on working on a total replacement of Vista with an HP operatiing system, sources say.
Microsoft feels the heat of displeasure over Vista and has launched a $300 million television ad campaign to try to entice PC owners to give Vista a chance.
In the meanwhile, HP is quietly working on its own OS for PCs. Who knows, perhaps one day, PCs will be free of Microsoft Windows and have an alternative operating system to run.
We can only dream.
[via businessweek]
