The Tech Bench

Today is Windows 7 launch day. It’s been time for some time Microsoft.

With Windows 7 receiving positive reviews and reactions from users, there is obviously a lot of comparison to Snow Leopard.

While few Mac users are likely to make the switch (back) to Windows with this release, Windows 7 is very much welcome.

So why is Windows 7 good for Mac users?

In a word, competition.

PC manufactures have long been limited by running XP or the generally panned Vista on their computers and have since been competing more on cost than on features users want.

While this has helped Apple gain market share and build their brand as an alternative to the low end Windows experience, overall innovation in the computer industry, especially in the high end, has suffered.

The perception alone that Windows 7 is a good, solid OS, should embolden PC manufacturers. If Windows 7 enables and encourages PC makers to deliver the same (or near) level of quality, integration and innovation that Apple produces, this will be a net win for Mac users.

If we see more competition in the high end, the overall market will benefit from the innovation.

Hopefully this will step up the features in Apple hardware and OS 10.7. I for one can’t wait!

If we can download a movie from iTunes, why can’t we download Snow Leopard?

In the past, the two main obstacles for downloading full versions of an OS were piracy concerns and bandwidth requirements.

As Apple has successfully demonstrated with HD movie rentals, these are both already overcome. HD movie rentals are 3+ GB downloads and the Apple DRM is pretty hard to crack. At 6.74 GB, Snow Leopard would be a big download, but still very doable for users with high-speed internet.

Pros for Legal OS Downloads

Easy to buy. Instant gratification. Don’t need a working DVD drive (MacBook Air and problematic SuperDrives.) Save on packaging and shipping costs.

Cons for Legal OS Downloads

Hard to do a clean install (could be overcome with net enabled EFI or the option to backup to a disk.) Apple’s bandwidth cost for serving up the downloads (made up for in packaging and shipping costs?) Box retailers won’t get a cut of the profit (this could also be a pro:)

While there is still value in the actual disks to some users, adding a download option would make upgrading the OS faster, easier and greener.

As the App Store continues to take off and bandwidth continues to get faster, I’d say there’s a good chance that we’ll see 10.7 offered as a legal download.