Microsoft issues style guide to PC manufacturers for Vista launch
Inspired by Apple encroaching on their turf with the Mac's newfound ability to be the only PC one would ever need, Microsoft has issued a PC case style guide to manufacturers in an effort to help get customers excited about the ambiguous day in the future when Vista launches (apparently, Vista's having trouble stirring excitement on its own). Dubbed the "Windows Vista Industrial Design Toolkit", its purpose is to give the likes of HP and Gateway (certainly two of the worst style offenders) a few ideas on how to stop beating their case designs "with the fugly stick", as Engadget puts it so lightly.
All joking aside though, this could ultimately be a good thing for the PC case design industry as a whole (yes, Macs included). The real question, as the Business Week report which broke this story states, is: will the industry bite? Ultimately, as the old adage goes: more competition is good for the consumer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brad said 8:40AM on 7-31-2006
Microsoft is just being nice so Apple doesn't have to re-design it allready vista capable machines...
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Pedro said 8:47AM on 7-31-2006
sorry to be "that guy" but even with a designer case and all of the capability it will need to run vista there is one flaw that I for one can not over look... it can not run the Mac OS.
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random said 10:15AM on 7-31-2006
That Dell XPS in the picture is still fug. At least it's better than their last XPS case, which is a giant plastic behemoth. My parents have that model. They were shocked at how large it was. It made my $40 mid-server sized PC case (that I affectionately named 'Lurch' after the giant butler) look like a Mac mini in comparison.
Still the PC industry could use an overhaul in computer aesthetics. They've got the goods under the hood; why not make a stylish case to match? Sony Vaios were a step in the right direction, but industry leaders like Dell should follow suit. If they can't be bothered, they should at least pair up with a case maker like Lian Li, Coolermaster, or even Antec to make a budget-priced, good looking case.
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Jon said 10:34AM on 7-31-2006
I remember my last desktop PC. It was very large, very heavy, VERY loud (you could hear it whirring from downstairs) and VERY VERY beige. I wonder who came up with the idea of beige computers. Probably the same person who painted my high school (beige and white, with the trimmings painted brown).
However, not all PCs are ugly. Alienware machines are very good looking (I particularly liked the limited edition Star Wars versions). I remember vowing to save up and buy one some day, but then I got interested in Macs ;) Interestingly, they were recently bought out by Dell.
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Joe V said 10:49AM on 7-31-2006
There are some decent case manufacturers out there. I looked long and hard for a rackmount case for a fileserver that wasn't completely ugly- it sits in my office, not locked in a cage somewhere. I really like the Xserve case design, but in the end, I went with a HTPC case from Silverstone (LC-17). PC manufacturers need to realize there is some benefit to aesthetics- I paid more to get a case that didn't make my eyes hurt.
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Elias said 4:27PM on 7-31-2006
Is it just me, or does that Dell computer look like the Scout Troopers' helmets from Return of the Jedi?
http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/scouttrooper/img/movie_bg.jpg
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