Windows 7 is coming. So what?

— -- You may be aware that Microsoft is readying a new operating system. It's been dubbed Windows 7. When it is released, you can expect brass bands, dancing girls and mighty huzzahs. But why?

Windows runs your machine. It's the middleman. It tells your programs and your computer how to work together. In geekese, it manages resources. Don't worry about that.

Does this sound exciting? It doesn't to me. It sounds like the transmission in my car.

So why does Microsoft bang the drums? And, really, what do you need?

Let us return to the days of yesteryear, when MS-DOS ruled the PC land. You'd get this on your computer screen: C:\. To the right of the backslash blinked the cursor. That wasn't particularly intuitive. People wanted something better. Thus was born the graphical user interface. Buttons, links, formatting to click on. Today's Windows is a very advanced GUI; so is Mac's OS X.

Windows improved all through the 1990s. Then, in 2001, Windows XP appeared. It didn't crash. It didn't cause trouble at all. People just loved it.

Jump to January 2007. Windows Vista appeared. Bombastic promotion. Events to draw crowds. But the old flying-out-the-doors spirit wasn't there. The "experts" said Vista was a memory hog, it had too many problems, people didn't want it. I say people stuck with XP.

See, people don't just go out and buy a new operating system. They buy computers with the new Windows. But, this time, they didn't need to upgrade. Why spend $800 when you like XP?

I need to know new technology. I bought a half-dozen computers in January 2007. All had Vista. The hardware has been a pain. Vista has performed flawlessly.

So, now comes Windows 7. The guys are looking forward to the dancing girls. And we will switch; we have to be out-front. But most people couldn't care less. They get their operating system with their computer. And they still like XP, which is now eight years old. Or they like Vista.

Why does Microsoft bother with this extravaganza? That's a good question. And I don't know for sure. But I have a theory. (It's possible that 800 people thought of it before me. If you're one, please be nice.)