The Far Side of Tech

It looks like things are shaping up for Microsoft, who just recently released a “feature-complete” beta version of Windows Vista. Simply put, this latest beta release contains everything that we’ll see in Vista when it hits store shelves later this year. It’s just one of many beta releases, the first of which we saw last summer.

This latest beta brings back a sidebar feature, which will hold miniature applications which Microsoft calls “gadgets.” These applications will offer real time information like sports, weather, and stocks. While new to Windows, “gadgets” aren’t all that different than the “widgets” that Apple introduced in Max OSX.4 Tiger, and which they blatantly stole from the OSX application “Konfabulator.”

Microsoft has also developed a “Welcome Center” that runs the first time Vista is launched. It helps users to transfer files and settings from older computers, as well as set up peripheral devices like printers and scanners. That Microsoft can release a “feature-complete” beta this early in the year is a good sign; now there is less reason to doubt their intended fall release date. Vista will offer many more improvements and additions over Windows XP, so look for a column dedicated to it in the coming months.

In further Microsoft news, there have been rumblings in the tech community about a new ultra-mobile PC Microsoft project. They have also launched an enigmatic website recently (origamiproject.com) that seems to point to this. This device will lie somewhere in between the size of a PDA and a laptop, and because it will be running Windows XP Tablet Edition, it will most likely offer the functionality of a tablet PC as well.

Diminutive laptops similar to the Origami device are popular in Asia, but have never really found much success in the West. Perhaps the inclusion of handwriting recognition, a defining feature in XP Tablet Edition, will make it more palatable to the domestic market. If successful, Microsoft can cement their place in the “ultra-portable” market just as Apple did with the iPod and portable music.

Moving to a different technology giant, Google has recently declared that they will be moving user records from their Chinese search site (Google.cn) to the U.S. The reasoning behind this move is obvious: Google doesn’t want to put itself in a compromising position when it comes to government requests for user information. Many have lost faith in Google after they agreed to follow Chinese censorship laws for their Google.cn search, a move that they have defended as being necessary for doing business in China. As is usually the case, far fewer have praised Google for their careful handling of this delicate situation.

Their management of user privacy, especially in such a hostile privacy environment as the PRC, has always been a major concern for Google. Moving search records out of China is just one of many steps they have taken after launching Google.cn. Google also alerts their Chinese users when search results are being censored, and they have wisely chosen not to release Gmail or Blogger in China. When compared to Yahoo, who has passed along incriminating evidence that has led to several arrests of journalists in China, Google is downright saintly.

MSN and Yahoo have both followed further in-step with China’s censorship policy without the amount criticism that Google has had. Most likely, this is because we hold Google at a higher standard than their competitors, especially with their motto of “Don’t be evil.” So the question remains, is Google’s censored Chinese search evil? Honestly, I don’t think so.

Google is in no way influential enough to alter China’s censorship policies, so it’s naïve to expect them to do so. Despite all of their technologically humanitarian efforts, Google is still a business, and they can’t just refuse to do business with a quarter of the world’s population due to mere idealism. I believe, and I’m sure Google does too, that by simply being there they will slowly chip away at censorship in China. With former Communist party elders already denouncing China’s censorship policies, we can assume that China won’t be able to hold their population in ignorance much longer.

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