In January, Steve did his prestidigitation and out popped the iPad without Flash and with only the barest of connectors to hook up an iPad with other Macs. In June he announced the new iPhone4 with major iOS4 upgrade and redesign. In July the Mac lineup got an upgrade to the new Intel i5 and i7 processors, new ATI graphics processors plus bigger screens.

Today, Steve announced major new versions for 3 iPods and the Apple TV. That means iDevices are getting about 4 times more attention than the Mac line up and it shows. More telling – big features like AirPlay for the new AppleTV only work with iDevices, Macs are cut out of the circuit. In fact, most of the changes to the iMac and MacBook line up have been simple trade-ups on Intel and ATI chips plus a new SD card connection. In contrast, all the iDevices got major software and hardware upgrades.

But Apple continued with more bad-side blessings – the Magic Trackpad For three years and counting, Apple has been delivering multi-touch+gestures but only on iDevices. For all those rabidly loyal Mac users the only sightings have been the multi-touch enabled MacBook touchpads, the Touch Mouse and some multi-touch patent applications. However the graphics and design work that these Mac Loyalists do would really really really profit from direct on screen multi-touch + gestures. So then this summer the Magic Trackpad effectively made it official: Apple would not be delivering multi-touch+gestures to Mac screens anytime soon. In fact Engadget saw the Apple Magic Trackpad as the Beginning of the End for Mac OS X. But for Mac creatives, missing out on simple touch screen operations which Windows 7 delivers [but not multi+gestures] – this is one of the most galling of Apple shortcomings.

But Steve is on a disappointment roll, so why not test the adoring Mac fans’ allegiance by rejecting Flash on all his iDevices. This decision forced a lot of Mac designers and other creatives to contemplate how they would design and develop in the future without one of their favorite tools, Flash being able to run on iDevices. This means looking at alternatives [and HTML5, contrary to Steve suggestions, is just not close to being ready for primetime as it is missing completely multi-touch standards, development tools, and uniform browser support]. So Mac developers are confronted with a lot of duplicated effort. Not Good!

But for No-Goodness Sake, Steve had one more nasty up his sleeve. As it turns out in tests of his Apple machines in May of this year, running identically the same Apple hardware but just switching the OS on those Apple puppies- guess what? Running the same graphics software programs[ OpenGL, games, and Flash ] on both Windows7 and Mac OS/X 10.6, Windows 7 runs anywhere from 10 to 70% faster than MacOS. Windows is never bested by MacOS. And in fact, Linux loaded onto the same Apple computer always outperforms MacOS in the same battery of graphic tests too. So its not Flash that is slow on doing graphics and movies on MacOS, but Macs fault. Apple MacOS run most graphics software slower than Windows and Linux on the same Apple machines.

As noted,Apple announced late in the Summer a new Mac refresh using the latest Intel i5 and i7 chips and new ATI graphics chips. This Man from Missouri is now waiting for new benchmarks using the latest Apple hardware which will demo whether or not the Apple Macs can deliver graphics performance at least equal to Windows and Linux.

Security, Ease of Use, Better Browsing

If you have to give up graphics performance, one of your favorite design tools is Flash and multi-touchscreen operations on Macs, so what do Apple Macs have left? Well security for one. Windows has continued to have those wonderful monthly patch Tuesdays often with an added zero day virus. Wait a second – Apple’s security record at Secunia, the respected PC security advisory service, is not much better. Secunia has shown that Mac OS has a comparable number of high alert advisories:

Secunia tallied 36 advisories on security issues with the [MacOS] software, many of them allowing attackers to remotely take over the system – comparable to figures on operating systems such as Windows XP Professional or Red Hat Enterprise Server.

Hmmmm – not good news for MacOS users.

So lets take ease of use – oops, MacOS does not have touch screens at all – only multi-touch Magic Trackpads and the Magic Mouse. But Windows 7 has had touch screens [but not multi-touch + gestures] for nearly two years. And more PC vendors, particularly for high end desktops, are featuring touch screen operations. And touch screen alone even without multi-touch does make users more productive.

Okay , so concede a slight advantage to Windows 7 with touch screen. One has to say MacOS with Safari provides a much better Web Experience than Windows 7 and IE8. That would be true if IE8 were the only browser that runs in Windows. But Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera are all superior browsing experiences and they run on Windows 7 and all of the downloads are fast and dirt simple to do. Even, Safari, the latest 5.0.1 edition runs in Windows. And Microsoft has been working triple overtime this Summer to bring you IE9 which test versions show is right up with the other browsers on speed of operations and meeting the existing HTML, CSS, and DOM standards. But there are serious questions on how well IE9 meets the new HTML5 standards and IE9 is not available for the legion of Windows XP users [50% of all Windows users still]. A beta release of IE9 on September 15th will reveal all.

Whoa – is Windows 7 the way to go? It is much cheaper on the hardware side, has better graphics performance, touchscreen operations and a bevy of great browsers available. But on the downside there is always the security horror stories, speed often slower than Windows XP, less support for older Windows programs and peripherals, the slow decay of reliability and performance during the day as memory leaks and handles proliferation slowly do their nasties. Why are Macs losing ground to Windows PCs?

Engadget is right – Apple is abandoning its Mac Line.

Apple has shifted its focus to the iDevices and has really short-changed the Apple Mac line. And why not ? iDevices bring in almost triple the revenues and profits of the old Mac line:

Make up of Apple’s Stock price
Tired old Macs? Definitely so. Macs are consistently getting the short end of the Apple innovation stick. Macs are graphically hobbled relative to Windows and Linux competition. As we shall see shortly Macs cost nearly double if not more. Macs still do not have touchscreen operations. And security has slipped a notch.

Apple engineers have to make tough decisions on where to put their software + hardware efforts. MacOS is a 20 plus year old code base that has gone through 3 major revisions from Motorola 68000 to IBM Power PC to the NeXTSTEP fusion to Intel chips. With about 65% of your revenues coming from iDevices, the MacOS is going to get the short end of the stick more often. So can Apple justify the Mac’s Prices?

The Mac Price Premium

When Apple switched from the PowerPC to Intel CPU chips, one of the reasons given was that Apple wanted to be able to be competitive with Windows PCs on price. Now many Mac users are involved in the highly competitive Marketing Design, Graphics and Web development fields. As small shops and freelancers they have to watch their costs carefully. But as we have seen, as Apple switches over to its iDevices the premium price for Macs is less tenable. And the prices are certainly premium:

Apple Deal at Best-Buy August 27, 2010

Windows 7 Deal at Best-Buy August 27, 2010

One has to wonder is the MacBook worth a $800 premium given the features that it is giving away to Windows PCs? One reader has noted the Flash blockade and no touchscreen were reason enough to switch to Windows.

Summary

Give Steve Jobs full credit – he has pioneered for the third time with his iDevices and its inspired contrarian blend:
1)less computing power for the sake of a full working day of battery life;
2)new simplified OS to force more efficient delivery of services like more GUI bang for the memory buck and a new take on computer security;
3)drop the keyboard and mouse to guarantee untethered portability;
4)use rich multi-touch+gestures to replace mouse and displaced keyboard while making operating iDevices easier to learn and remember how to use.
This is high level innovation and quite a legacy. But in order to promote his iPad and other iDevices, it appears Steve has badly short-changed his Mac Users. Business Schools call it “Creative Destruction” or borrowing from Mac to pay for  iDevices. Unless Apple provides some bridging mechanism,  Mac users have some tough decisions to make. Redmond has already taken note – and is advertising accordingly.

Yes, it is  the old fear and dread campaign only a Republican could love. But the ad has positive inducements including more Windows  fun and  games, greater TV and media features["how dare they- media friendly was practically invented on Macs!"], better security features ["what, encryption is mandatory only if you have a PC, not so a Mac"] and full touch screen operations["why the blighters, Apple created multi-touch operations and brought it to full fruition on the iPhone and iPad"]. Takethe5th was surprised that Redmond has not mentioned in the ads  two other large PC advantages:
1)The price of a comparably equipped PC is 1/2 if not 1/3 the price of the equivalent Apple Mac [and the guts inside including CPU, diskdrive, GPU, and memory once matched are nearly identically the same];
2)The graphics and video performance of PCs is between 10-50% better than Apples as Cupertino has fumbled the drivers for its graphics cards and GUI such that both  video and a wide range graphics on identically the same hardware runs slower on Macs[don't do a Steve Jobs and blame it on Adobe Flash, Macs also under-perform on games and other graphics].
These omissions are surprising given the very high stakes.  Apple is looking to obsolete the PC with its lite, full day battery life, mobile and touch-easy to use iPads and iPhones. Apple, Google and a bevy of others are betting keyboard-less, mouse-less yet multi-touch and long-battery life smartphones and slates will steal significant market share from PCs. And to do so, Apple has already lead off with the biting satire of its PC vs Mac ads [see above]and its CEO lead campaign blaming Adobe Flash for its largely self-inflicted graphics performance woes.

Now Redmond is getting into the direct attack ads game with its own largely soft and fact-based comparison ads. The problem is that the next round of negative comparison ads will likely appear in the smartphone/pads arena where Windows Phone 7, Xbox, and Zune are playing catch-up with Apple iPhone+iPad+iPod, Amazon Kindle, Dell Streak, Google’s gaggle of Android powered smartphones+slates, and several others. These Fall+Christmas ads will very likely take the Washington approach – negative comparison ads because Phone 7 will likely be at a features disadvantage relative to all the competition except on price. The only question is will those negative ads use light humor, satire or direct Washington-style full face slaps?

In short, instead of constantly following Windows as the various Linux versions have done in the past, Android represents Linux in a leadership role – well ahead of Microsoft Windows in the current development curve. But this does not guarantee anything- hence the question mark in the title.

First and foremost, Android is not a full desktop OS. Although it is being fitted into tablets, pads and netbooks, Android has not the full range of peripheral connections, development languages and tools that one would expect using Mac, Windows or full Linux. Also Google is targeting Chrome OS as the larger device OS. But even Chrome OS has a Cloud Client orientation with the Chrome browser being the primary application interface. Finally, running native Android apps relies a lot on Google’s Dalvik VM which does not have the performance pedigree and feature reach of C/C++, Java and other traditional developers tools. So Android may have a substantial lead but for a narrower market than the traditional desktop. A lot depends on how many light, mobile pads and tablets are adopted in the corporate workspace. Will there emerge a dockable Android [or iPad or Windows Mobile], that can deliver solid business day usage but which can be readily uncoupled for meetings or after-hours use ?

The second factor is that Windows is a formidable presence. Windows has an even greater number of apps than Apple’s popular iPhone by an order of magnitude. This alone will keep users from migrating away from Windows. Second, many of the creative apps like Photoshop, AutoCad, SPSS, BI Systems, and literally tens of thousands of others simply will not fit onto Android Tablets because of the cited programming deficit plus the memory+disk+keyboard+mouse form factor that still drives much PC usage. Third, Microsoft has finally reacted to the Apple iPone+Google Android surge and has two new UI systems in development: Windows Phone 7 and the Kinect Xbox/game interface [game interface design often leads standrd interfaces by 3-7 years]. So Microsoft is not out of the UI woods; but neither is it out of the UI game.

Finally, to Microsoft’s benefit and Android’s disadvantage, corporate IT shops worldwide have become very conservative as well as Microsoft admin software dependent as they wrestle with the 80-20 rules – 80% of their budgets are spent just making the existing operations work, only 20% [and declining] is available to meet new market and user demands. The other 80-20 problem ? 80% of users know 20% or less of the IT shop tools and features available to them. Will Android or Chrome OS be able to supply apps that will draw corporate users to them better than the PC mobile space – think laptops and desktops with up to 2-6CPU chips, 6-12GB RAM, 256-500GB of ultrafast SSD disk , ultrafast dedicated GPUs and connectors to anything?

Regardless of the exact evolution of the PC versus mobile tablet markets, Takethe5th takes it cue from the browser market place. For the past 5 years plus, Microsoft’s IE browsers have been the worst by far in features, standards support and performance; yet IE6 [the performance pits and security dregs of browsing] continues to hold 17% market share and all the IE browsers still hold 52% of the browser marketplace. Inertia rules the medium term trends in IT. So Android Linux has been and will continue to be an outstanding success in the consumer computing marketplace. It will steal market share from traditional Windows and Mac desktop PCs, laptops and mobile devices. But also it will likely have to coexist with them for many years to come. This “coexistence” should be most interesting.
P.S. Apple is in the same position with iOS4 as Google Android less three crucial factors – 1)it is not open source and 2)it has a closed development environ [as Adobe Flash and Sun's Java among others have learned to their misfortune] and 3)it has  Apple dominated and controlled deployment  environ [breaking up a bit as a court has ruled that users can add their own developed apps].

The distillation of this grand mishmash of observations and scenarios is this: BlackBerry isn’t good enough anymore if you’re comparing it to other smartphones. What does it do better than the rest? That’s the fundamental question. And the answer is that for most people, in most situations, compared to Android and iPhone, not a whole lot….People who love BlackBerry exactly the way it is will like the Torch and BlackBerry 6, because it’s pretty much the same. It offers a lot of marginal improvements in a lot of places—like the browser—even if it makes a mess of some things. That said, in a few months, they might like it a lot less. Nielsen numbers show that half of BlackBerry users are thinking about switching. This won’t change their mind. And even with all of those corporate accounts locked down tight, it’s hard to say that’s not a problem.

Maybe RIM’s too big, too entrenched to build the kind of phone that’ll make people want a BlackBerry again. But they could’ve at least given the damn thing a better screen.

Not pretty. But Engadget, the other major creative gadget website is bit more subtle in its slitting of RIM:

It’s tough to feel really excited about the BlackBerry Torch and OS 6 after heavy testing. We had high hopes coming into this review that the new operating system would be more than a fresh coat of paint on an aging user experience — that we were going to see substantial changes in the attitude and direction of the company. While there are notable improvements here and much that is laudable, what we’re ultimately left with is, at its core, more of the same. For all the improvements in the browser, the more upscale fit-and-finish of the UI, and the thoughtful changes in basic functionality, we still feel like this device is a generation behind the market.

However both reviews give top marks to some features of the Torch:
+ the antenna and reception is tops; no antenna-gate from RIM
+ keyboard is solid and works well, does what the Palm Pre tried with success
+ Webkit browser is major improvement with touch gestures fully implemented
+ Universal Search works very well allowing a user to find anything on the phone
+ personalization and iconography is much improved
+ 5MPixel still + video camera, 32GB SDcard slot [comes with 4GB], and Wifi are par for the course
+ speakerphone and call quality are tops
+ media syncing is big improvement
+ battery life is exceptional
Suddenly you find yourself counting all the good points about the new RIM Torch and the list is not short. Add this to the superior push email and messaging experience with guaranteed encryption so nobody gets to break in because of top notch Encryption[except in Saudia Arabia, Abu Dhabi and possibly India where the governments may terminate operations of RIM email services because they cant break in and RIM won't/can't disclose your encryption key].
Major problems from Gadgets guys-1) the 624Mhz Marvell CPU is underpowered in comparison to the 1000Mhz iPhones and Droids, 2)this causes problems in some UI and browser operations making them clunky at times, and 3)the screen at 480 x 360 is too small relative to the Androids and iPhone competition. “There’s nothing daring or lust-worthy about this design” is the considered verdict.
In contrast, Walter Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal largely agrees with the gadget reviews but adds a few more pluses:
+ the organization of apps and functions into readily accessible hub screens
+ Social Feeds merging of Facebook, Twitter and other social nets messages and status info
+ improved maps function and roster of built-in apps
but noted the big downsides:
- underpowered CPU
- small apps library of 9000 in comparison to Android’s 70,000 and iPhone’s 225,000.
Despite the nearly same review of pluses and minuses, Walter Mossberg comes to a different conclusion:

I’ve been testing the new Torch with BlackBerry 6, and I view it as a big improvement over earlier, stodgy BlackBerry models. It might help stem the urge to switch to iPhone and Android, and even steal some users from those and other platforms, especially as the company brings out additional models that use the new software. And it shows that, contrary to some recent speculation, RIM is hardly dead or dying. In fact, the new phone and software are just the start of its plan to revitalize the BlackBerry franchise.

So maybe RIM does get some well deserved respect and meanwhile Takethe5th will hold Engadget and Gizmodo to the Blackberry standard  [its got to be equal to or better than the iPhone + Android feature set to garner a good review] when they do their upcoming Windows Phone 7 reviews.

…. despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began. In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.

The timing was right, this same day  NPD confirmed what Nielsen and others were saying, Google Android had taken the lead in smartphone sales in the US – wresting the title from RIM who just announced their new Torch. So as you can see there is a lot more than Net Neutrality going on and so the retiring of Google Wave means 4 things:
1)Catching Twitter and Facebook is going to be much more difficult than any combination of  Google Wave, Google Buzz, iGoogle, Orkut, and other social networking Google Forays might be able to  accomplish just by making a Google Appearance. All of these social networking “experiences” have been characterized  by Google  just tossing the new freebie out onto the Web to an unsuspecting public and letting people discover them in virtual adhoc fashion. This is the Open Source variation  of Fire – Ready, Aim.

Yet social networking is vital to Google because a)more and more discovery, search,  and ratings are being done on Facebook, LinkedIn,  Twitter and other social Web media. And they are getting eyeballs and attention to match or exceed Google’s own. And both  Facebook and Twitter will soon have many and  exclusive ads taking big chunks of revenues from the Google ad stream.  Worse – businesses large and small are starting to congregate on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter not any Google Property but You Tube.
2)Delivering the type of instant character by character messaging interaction envisioned by Google Wave is very hard to do technically and specifically in a “net neutral” environ. So eventually Google is going to have to come to terms with the contradiction that operation of its services may require a)abandoning net neutrality in order to deliver in a timely fashion services/experiences  that customers are demanding or b)having to charge for premium levels of service and features which also will tax Google’s loyalty to net neutrality as Google’s own cost of delivery rises.
3)The drag and drop plus instant messaging experience of Google Wave will have to morph with the various media being delivered and the UI-User Interface experience expected by customers.  Light and easy and multi-touch and multi-input are changing the equation of man-computing interaction at a very rapid pace that is outrunning  not just PC’s  menus and iconbars; but also  Flash  cross platform programmable designs, animations, and rich media; plus the new  darling:”Open   HTML5″ which [HORRORS]is already  obsolete and [HORRORS AGAIN]permeated with  hardware platform specific implementations and [HORRORS YET AGAIN]growing with browser specific versions while Steve and Steve tell the World to embrace their versions of “Open HTML5″. The development world has seen this Chuckie Horror story of Killing Open with Proprietary “Defacto Standard” Extensions too many times over. So the great ideas of Google Wave will have to expand and change into a broader UI context that will have many powerful, proprietary advocates. And you thought Net Neutrality was in danger. Google has to recognize it has ambiguous if not conflicting self-interests at stake here.
4)”Reculer pour sauter mieux” – step back in order to leap forward better is very hard to do. How Urs Hölzle and the Google Staff manage the redirected Google Wave team, aspirations and efforts will say a lot about how well Google will be able to innovate in the market going fast forward right now. Redmond has proved to have Great Waves of Internecine Warfare that has allowed the company to squander mindshare and brand position in the past ten years such that Redmond is now coming from behind in UI, mobile and non-silo-ed IT computing systems and services. Meanwhile Cupertino is run by a “magical dictator”  who has a penchant for getting a huge and brilliant conceptually driven lead only to blow it in the final execution. Given the change in smartphone marketshare, Apple’s Steve Jobs may be doing it again.
So in saying Goodbye to Google Wave, the Google team must recognize it is not just doing a poker-smart fold; but also has  got a Google Wave of new problems to  ride through.

Takethe5th agrees and disagrees . First, a big point of agreement – for sure there is going on right now a UI “see change”[okay, a poor pun] marked by smartphones from Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android plus the iPad phenomenon with  a wave of Android and other tablets arriving  this Fall.  These touch-smart gadgets mark the end of the  old apps with their 3-5 levels deep menubars and their cryptic rows of  Mayan glyph-like toolbars. These old GUI interfaces will largely break up and become attached to the various objects and panels on the screen as context sensitive menus, flyouts and a  gesture controlled UI. Instead of Image | Adjustment | Resize – pinching the object will cause a resize. For precision control graphics apps touchsmart screens may leave the property bar with precise adjustment fields available if required or a bounding crawling-ant border for touch adjustments. But the new  fashion in UI is simplicity and ease of use.

However, Takethe5th disagrees with Gizmodo’s need for a trackpad solution because of large screen fatigue. First, the laptop with swivel screen and 16-22″ inch diagonal should satisfy the bulk of users who require gi-normous screens. But many consumers  may defect from their desktops and laptops for the highly portable  10-14″ iPad or Tablet size. Also there are a number of alternative solutions to the trend of point and shoot UI including pen-light stylus + spoken commands,  finger and mouse combos,  as well as the keyboard and trackpad combo proposed by Gizmodo. In fact, Gizmodo points to a good video discussing new UI approaches:

Note that Takethe5th again disagrees with 2 critical points. Mice will not be abandoned but combined with finger operations and other direct to screen point devices while huge screens will be the creative desktop exception not the rule in computing display. Also consider the possibility of a projected display on to a nearby screen that increases and decreases in size as the user requires – zooming the whole screen yet leaving it conveniently close to the user and pointers.
Summary
What the MagicTrackpad and the wave of smartphones plus slates and tablets indicates is a tipping point in UI-User Interfaces in computing devices. By investing in iPods, iPads, smartphones/iPhones  and tablets – consumers are voting with their purchase dollars for better interfaces. than what PC desktops and laptops are providing. Thus direct touch that is fast, simple, easy to use  and puts users in  direct contact with panels, popups and  objects on screen is the new paradigm. Making smart-device users immediately productive is the key.  Helping them intuitively figure how to use a device without having to decipher dozens of icons or navigate down 3-5 level deep menus is the payoff. The new Touch UIs equal easy to learn and easy to remember how to use interfaces. No more TV-remote-control-like interfaces as seen on PC computer screens:

Note the page for edit is highlighted in yellow above.
Rather the new UI will be more accessible directly with touch and gesture, less encumbered with menus and toolbars. The new UI will also be   highly context and object sensitive and thus faster to use and easier to discover/remember how to use.  This is the UI Revolution being implemented on smartphones, then iPads/tablets and soon  to be followed on  a computer screen near you.
Two final observations. What company based in Redmond, Washington is desperately trying to catch up with this UI Revolution with iteration 5 on  their 4 times missed mobile phone offerings? What major IT player in Armonk, NewYork is largely on the outside looking in and barely shaping these proceedings? Now where is the center of gravity in Computing?

Oh and Mac users got Intel’s more beefy Core  i3, Core i5, and Core  i7 CPUs – a little behind most PCs which have had them for 3-5 months, but welcome because graphics design really eats up CPU power. Not quite a touch screen and the productivity that is implied with that type of interface – no hand eye coordination required with touch screen in contrast with a mouse or even trackpad.

But there may be valid  reasons for this delay in bringing touch screens to Macs:
1)Fingers may be too fat for graphics using touch screen and the precision of a stylus or lightpen pointer may be a)incompatible with current touch screen technology or b)too expensive;
2)software vendors [including Apple itself with its Final Cut Pro, Aperture and many other graphics oriented programs] may have to make major adjustments to support touchscreen operations;

3there is a master plan for bringing touch screen + gestures to the Mac masses and that time is not now.
Whatever the reason this leaves an opening for Microsoft and Google and the thousand one tablet vendors to beat Apple on the laptop/netbook borderline. Currently, the iPad with full touch screen operations is the Apple line of defense against netbooks and laptops encroaching on it light, touch-enabled market leadership. But what if the 1001 Google Android powered tablets or a Windows 7 Touch screen land on store shelves in the Fall and in time for Christmas? Will iPad be enough to blunt this PC and smart tablet onslaught? Clearly somebody in Cupertino is a)betting that is so or b) has his own touch screen surprise up a turtleneck sleeve.

Given the importance of WP7 to Microsoft, a recent, thoughtful preview by Engadget is worth reading as well:

By any measure, Microsoft’s got its back against the wall in the mobile game, and becoming competitive quickly is vital to the company’s success — and in that regard, we understand why they’ve been so adamant about getting Windows Phone 7 on shelves in time for Holiday 2010. The thing is, putting out a product that’s half-baked risks alienating early adopters at the worst possible time, especially considering that we see a clear-cut (and pretty painless) path to fixing the most egregious shortcomings. Seriously, if the WP7 team put their heads down and added a clipboard and some rudimentary multitasking, Microsoft could have an exceptionally solid version-one product in Windows Phone 7 — especially when coupled with the company’s fierce outreach to developers.

Of course, that’s a big “if” — the clock is ticking on Windows Phone 7, and the industry has already proven that it won’t wait around for companies to play catch-up. It’s not about lapping the competition at this point, it’s about just being in the race — and if Microsoft doesn’t know that by now, it may already be too late.

Readers are encouraged to peruse the full preview.  Engadget editor, Joshua Topolsky, certainly catches here the importance of WP7 for Microsoft. If you divide Redmond’s business in 3rds: Server Software, Windows, and Windows Client Apps – the success of Windows Phone 7 ensures the viability of Windows and Windows Client Apps going forward; failure [and if WP7 does even 10 times Kin, that is failure] means Google and Apple apps will do unto Windows and Windows Client Apps what Firefox and fellow browsers have done to the once proudly 90%++ market share IE franchise.