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How Many Windows Does One Shop Really Need?

Redmond columnist Mary Jo Foley asks an intriguing question: Do we really need eight or more separate iterations of Windows? And by eight, I'm not counting XP vs. Vista vs. Windows 7. We're talking eight different product families, such as the client, server, cloud, embedded, phone, etc.

The problem is all these efforts are disconnected because each sector is run by different teams. They aren't in sync and not enough core technology is shared.

Adding to that confusion are Mondrian and Singularity -- OSes built from scratch at Microsoft Research that quite possibly may never reach the light of day.

Foley contrasts Redmond with Apple, which uses one OS for multiple devices -- iPod, iPad, iPhone, and another for the Mac. Simple dimple.

Mary Jo sees some movement towards consolidating these versions, but presses Microsoft to do even more.

If you were running Microsoft, how would you manage OS development? Your best advice is welcome at [email protected]



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