Are Operating Systems Based On An 'Open' Experience Becoming Endangered?

rd party apps, at least not until some form of unauthorized jailbreak hits the scene. You can change colors and move titles, but by-and-large, Metro can’t really be customized at very deep of a level. Even its default browser, Internet Explorer For Metro, is somewhat closed thanks to ditching plug-in support in favor of a completely HTML5 based experience. So overall, Windows 8 is an interesting mixed of open and closed. As the world moves towards cloud functionality, simplified secure experiences, and a more casual-oriented, mainstream experience, are closed systems going to become an endangered species? After all, is it very easy for a open system to exist in the cloud? Perhaps, but to keep your data secure, a certain amount of restrictions would have to be placed on such a system. Some theorize that Windows 8 is the beginning of a shift away from the legacy desktop, and in time Metro (or a future evolution of it) will be all that is left. As cloud technology becomes more prevalent, this could certainly make sense. The cost though, would be the loss of an open system. Of course, closed systems like Linux may never disappear. Others argue that a closed system has more benefits than downfalls. As I see it, the world in the cloud is likely a closed experience, but we likely have several versions of Windows left before this shift is completed. What do you think? Will Windows and other major operating systems eventually make the full transition to a closed platform where no tweaks can really exist, and all program must be approved by the OS’ maker before showing up on a proprietary store? Or am I just being a bit paranoid? That being said, I like Windows 8 and don’t at all mind this closed/open platform hybrid that we see between the desktop and Metro. Hopefully MS will keep it that way. At the same time, it may just be the way technology is headed. Any thoughts on the subject? Share them below, as always.]]>