Not to take away anything from Microsoft on its big day – everyone seems to love Windows 7 – but $179 for an upgrade? I mean, you don’t have Vista, right? You’re going to be upgrading directly from XP, which means you’re going to have to pay the upgrade fee, if you want the upgrade.

From what I read, MS doesn’t expect that much upgrade business from upgraders anyway; the bulk of Win7 users will get their first taste of the OS when they buy new desktops and laptops, where the cost of the system will be absorbed into the price of the computer. Of course, Microsoft will still be getting its $179 (or whatever they are charging for the OEM version of Win7).

Why do software companies issue new versions of their programs – or operating systems? Well, there are incremental improvements, security upgrades, and compatibility with new hardware. But honestly, all that could be accomplished in the context of an existing OS, via patches (a concept MS is certainly familiar with). But then they wouldn’t be able to collect $179 from users, would they?

So we know why the OS distributor sends out upgrades. But if the system works on your computer, why would YOU want to upgrade? As good as Windows 7 is, the “upgrade 1.0” rule – as in, don’t be the first on your block to install something brand new – still applies. And even if you install something tried and true, it takes weeks – many months – to get things working the way you want. So, if Microsoft XP works, why not just stick with it?

Well, because MS won’t let you; eventually, you have to upgrade, because they are going to stop issuing updates and patches for the “old” OS. I still have a machine that runs Windows 2000 – and which I have no intention of upgrading – but other than security patches, MS has stopped issuing performance upgrades long ago. The same thing is going to happen with XP – despite the fact that if you took a poll, I am sure the majority of people would rather stick with what they know.

But what if you could upgrade XP indefinitely – if you could ensure that it was up to day in fighting viruses, and was able to support new hardware as it came out? Under those circumstances, you could probably save yourself $179 – and a lot of hassle, too!

Unfortunately, there’s little you can do to prevent MS from phasing out XP. But if you like the way XP works and you want to keep it’s “look and feel” – and you don’t mind investing twenty five bucks – you might be interested in the very XP-like operating system made by an Israeli company with the unlikely name of “Affordy” (as in, “here’s a version of ‘Windows’ you can afford!)

Affordy’s Titan LEV (Linux Extended Version) looks and feels a lot like Windows XP, runs Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, and many other Windows programs you’re familiar with, and can even run MS Office – but it’s not Windows. It’s a souped-up version of Ubuntu Linux, built specifically to make Linux palatable for Windows users. The difference between “real” XP and Affordy XP is that the Affordy people will be maintaining their OS, issuing upgrades and integrating programs into the OS, making it a “living thing,” unlike the case with Microsoft’s now-defunct OS.

The programs, by the way, are mostly open-source, but come pre-installed with the OS. The whole thing is “XP Compatible” – meaning, according to the company, that you can receive and edit a file from Windows or send a file to a Windows based PC, print onto a network printer connected to a Windows PC, and operate Windows and DOS programs.

According to Israel-based Affordy, the hassle of tracking down and figuring out how to install applications that work the way Windows users are accustomed to has been one of the major reasons why Linux hasn’t really taken off among consumers, among other reasons. “ Users who were used to a certain application could not find a suitable Linux replacement.  There are about 23,000 open source programs.  Finding and installing the right program takes time, expertise and experience,” the site says. You can even buy a laptop or desktop from these folks (including the super-cheap Coby netbook pictured below) with the Titan OS preinstalled – or just buy the OS on disc for about $25. Last I checked, that was $154 less than $179 – not a sum to be sneezed at in today’s economy!

Cynics would say it’s about time Microsoft released a free anti-virus program – after all, aren’t most of the viruses that infect Windows systems the result of the all too easy to bust registry?

But we’ll leave aside the politics of the registry for now. What I like about the new, free Microsoft Security Essentials is that it was developed right here in Israel! As of today (June 23), the package is available for download (I found a link for all versions here, but by Wednesday it should be on the official MS security page).

The download is free, and available for now to users in the U.S., Israel, and Brazil. According to a bunch of articles I read, the reasoning is that the U.S. has lots of computers, Israel is where it was developed, and Brazil has lots of infected computers, so the feedback will help MS improve the product. It’s not exactly an anti-virus suite like Norton or the others, but it’s good at nabbing trojans and viruses in e-mail and downloads.

At a press conference, Moshe Lichtman, the director of Microsoft Development in Israel, unveiled not only the antivirus program, but 13 other innovations the Israeli unit came up with, including a new version of Messenger for dual computer/cellphone use, that will display messages on the phone as SMS messages, and as regular Messenger messages on the computer – automatically.

Microsoft’s Israel labs have had a long tradition of innovating killer products for the company. Like – developing much of Windows NT (the precursor of Win2k and XP)! From an article I wrote a couple of years ago, where I tried to ascertain Israel’s role in the creation of Windows:

After lots of Web surfing, I decided to give Microsoft Israel a call. Apparently, they get this question a lot; the very pleasant young lady I spoke with said that “Parts of Windows NT were definitely developed in Israel,” but that she could not specify which ones – other than to say they were “probably” mostly “security related.” Security, of course, was NT’s biggest selling point, so this young lady may have said more than she meant to. Hmm. On the other hand, she seemed to indicate that NT, as all of Microsoft’s products are, was a team effort, with different research groups working on different parts of the program.

Which would mean that Israel, although perhaps an important contributor, did not necessarily develop “most” of NT or XP. I was ready to take that as the situation, in fact – attributing the statement on the poster to overenthusiastic Israel-loving (not that there’s anything wrong with that) – until I came across this site (http://tinyurl.com/nwe5w), a technical site that made this statement, in the context of a computer show it was covering in Tel Aviv: “Microsoft also announced Windows NT Embedded which is to be released this year and is being developed at Microsoft R&D centre in Haifa, here in Israel.” Well, if they developed NT Embedded, why not NT itself?

You’ve probably tried out CamSpace, the Israeli “Wii Killer” that lets you interact with your computer screen without a mouse or keyboard – just using your body. And if you haven’t, shame on you, because you didn’t read my great article about it at Israel21c. CamSpace is still maturing, but already you can play dozens of games that let you be “in” the game, waving your hand around while playing tennis, boxing, playing Donkey Kong type games, etc.

Well, it turns out there’s yet another Israeli company working in this space – and its technology is apparently going to be at the heart of Microsoft’s Project Natal which will be included in future Xbox editions. According to Engadget, Israel’s 3DV Systems’ ZCam, which

“is at the size of a typical webcam, and provides home users revolutionary gesture recognition capabilities in addition to real-time background replacement, enabling them to control video games and personal space through intuitive body gestures and immerse themselves with virtual reality”

will be the piece of hardware Natal uses to connect users to the their screens!

The ZCam is actually a hybrid between the Wii’s approach and the CamSpace approach (but closer to CamSpace); using dedicated motion detection hardware and software like the Wii does (CamSpace is software and works with any web cam), with a full body orientation like Camspace allows, instead of just limiting you to interactivity with the remote control, like the Wii. According to Engadget,

“Project Natal really couldn’t be further from the Wii when it comes to motion controls. Instead of representing potentially arbitrary controller motions and gestures, Microsoft has its sights set on capturing the motion of the entire body. The technology is certainly impressive, combining an infrared camera and traditional camera to capture motion and 3D location in with glorious resolution and responsiveness — from furious full body flailing to the subtle motion of an imaginary steering wheel, gas pedal and gear shifter.”

And that camera combination will apparently be coming to you courtesy of Israeli startup 3DV Systems. Apparently a deal for MS to buy 3DV has been or is about to be completed, and it’s possible the first ZCams (or whatever they evolve into) will show up in Xboxes next year.