windows 7 and internet consensus

"There is a growing consensus of opinion forming that Windows 'Seven' will be 'modular,' the concept being that you buy the core OS first and then add to it individual 'modules' with logically distinct units of functionality".  That was a quote from a perfectly logical posting on Ars Technica. It links to another Ars Technica article which in turn points to a ZDNet blog by Mary Jo Foley where she proposes the whole idea.  I was about to tear the whole idea down for being baseless speculation until I read that she had ben in touch with contacts in Microsoft who said that this was how it was going to be.  I started to get interested then so I opened up my newsgroup reader and went to the MS Beta newsgroups.  The idea is floating around there too. In fact, it seems like everybody is talking about it, but I still can't find an actual source of concrete information other than Mary Jo Foley's "contact" in Microsoft.  I wonder if the 'softies are all having a laugh at our expense, or if Windows 7 really is going to be modular and possibly subscription based.

Lets take a look at the idea of a modular Windows for a minute.  One of the reasons that there are so many vulnerabilities in Windows has to do simply with the amount of applications that come with it.  Each of those applications, even something as simple as Notepad, is a potential attack point for viruses or hackers.  The more applications there are in Windows, the higher the "attack surface".  Wikipedia has a nice definition of the attack surface of a piece of software being "the scope of functionality that is available to unauthenticated users. In other words, how much can a piece of software do in its default configuration by unauthorized users". I don't know how large (wide / broad / high / bumpy?) the attack surface is on Vista, but I would hazard a guess that there's a lot that could potentially be hacked.  Whether it actually can be hacked or not is not the question, its more about the potential for being vulnerable.

It would of course make sense that the next version of Windows has additional applications and programs in it, which would in turn increase the attack surface and make it more vulnerable to hacking.  So, from a desire to decrease the attack surface, Microsoft could potentially be removing many of the usual applications from Windows 7 and providing them only as add-ins.  I've heard that programs such as Windows Mail and Windows Photo Gallery could very well find themselves transitioned to the Live team.  There they could follow an evolution separate from that of Windows itself and at the same time naturally decrease the attack surface of Windows itself, thus rendering it more secure. 

It makes sense, doesn't it?  We'll have to see how it pans out in the long term.  Very early leaked copies of the operating system don't have any of the usual applications removed, so its entirely possible that all this conjecture is just that.  Maybe Microsoft is having a laugh at our expense?

The other idea (which I find far less likely) was that they could lease the software to end users.  So, you would for example, pay Microsoft €200 per year for Windows 7 Premium and €300 for Windows 7 Ultimate. I personally don't see that happening.  Microsoft have a program called WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) which is responsible for handling tracking of pirated copies of software over the internet.  They have come under increasing press scrutiny and scorn for the WGA system failing too many times over the last few years. 

Lets be absolutely sure what we're talking about here.  If I lease Windows from Microsoft, I do not want it shutting down for any reason before the lease period ends.  To do so would require that I start having to calculate how much Microsoft owes me for the "downtime" I suffered.  Microsoft in turn would potentially have to build out a massive new infrastructure to handle this.  I can't see the benefits to be honest.

Who knows what's going to happen in the future.  We're just going to have to wait I guess.  Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my invite to join the Windows 7 beta.  I've heard they aren't ready yet and that invites haven't been sent. I just hate not knowing though...