Intel's new chips a reprieve for Moore’s Law, but what about Windows users?

Intel’s announcement on January 27 of the “biggest change to computer chips in 40 years” promises that Moore’s Law, which says that computing power doubles every 18 months, will continue for years to come. That’s good news for Intel, computer makers, and, in some respects, consumers. Tomorrow’s computers, powered by 45-nanometer transistors (devices so small that 2,000 can fit on the head of a pin), will be even better at displaying YouTube videos, rendering digital photos, converting music into mp3 format, and the like. Smaller computers should also become more powerful and use less energy, thereby extending the battery life for whatever portable devices we use in 2012.

Still, it’s ironic that Intel’s announcement coincides with the release of Microsoft Windows Vista, the first new Windows version in five years. Since digital computers first arrived more than half a century ago, software capabilities have always lagged behind the hardware. Vista is a case in point: Its user interface is catchier than earlier Windows versions, though it is merely playing catch-up with Apple’s OS X. Vista is supposedly more secure than Windows XP, though makers of antivirus and antispyware software are producing Vista-compatible versions, suggesting that they expect to stay in business for the foreseeable future. Even Microsoft itself is selling a service, OneCare Live, to protect people from its own operating system’s expected flaws. And recent news suggests that the spam epidemic, far from waning, is on the rise again, even though technological solutions exist that could put a big dent in spam.

Truth is, the requirements for the proper care and feeding of Windows computers — from keeping the computer in tune to keeping intruders out— are way beyond the interest level and free time of most non-technophiles. Equipping computers with even more powerful, compact, and efficient processors provides sufficient horsepower for changing that. But a far better experience for computer users won’t come to pass unless, and until, Microsoft becomes far more aggressive about improving computing for the majority of consumers.

— Jeffrey Fox