Top 10 battlegrounds of 2009

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Posted on 23 Dec 2008 at 17:41

With buyers increasingly looking for products that offer value before pure performance, this could be a battle worth getting the popcorn for.

5.Windows 7 v Mac OS
Both Microsoft and Apple are gearing up for the release of new operating systems in 2009. Redmond will almost unleash the final build of Windows 7 by late summer, whereas Apple has scheduled a tentative release date of June for version 10.6 of OS X, codenamed Snow Leopard.

The number of disappointed Vista users switching to Apple's products has been widely publicised, but our early impressions of Windows 7 suggest that it's a fast, sleek and more user-friendly OS, with many of the most annoying features - such as the intrusive User Account Control - now removed.

Whether it's enough to tempt Apple users back to Microsoft after Vista's chilly reception is open to debate - and one that we'll be keenly following in the coming year.

6.Laptops v Desktops
Laptops began to outsell desktops for the first time ever at the end of 2008. We see no evidence that this trend will reverse in the first few months of 2009, especially given the proliferation of netbooks and the global recession.

Firms such as Apple, Acer, HP and Asus are benefiting from both sales of luxurious models and super-cheap netbooks. With powerful new desktop processors from both AMD and Intel arriving in early 2009, we'll be intrigued to see if desktop machines can claw back any of the lost ground.

7. IT v Credit Crunch
The recession has meant that companies and customers have been tightening their belts around the world, and the IT industry is no exception. Thousands of Sony employees have been made redundant, Samsung has been cutting its performance targets, and we've heard a multitude of stories about British system builders struggling to keep their heads above water.

As the financial crisis deepens, we foresee more redundancies, further revisions of sales targets and, unfortunately, businesses going bankrupt all over the world.

8. DRM v Common sense
DRM has long been a plague for computer users. While advocates argue that it's there to protect the rights of artists, designers and publishers, the web is full of DRM-related horror stories: legitimate customers accidentally wiping their iPods after using them on different computers, for instance, or games refusing to work because they've been registered more times than the publisher deems necessary.

It seems, though, as if the tide is beginning to turn. Play.com, Amazon and Limewire have all introduced DRM-free music download services, and retail versions of the recently released PC version of Prince of Persia, published by Ubisoft, don't have any DRM at all.

It's a sign customers are fed up with their legitimately purchased media being locked down with numerous, draconian measures. We're hoping for a less restrictive 2009 - but are quietly cautious as to how the big corporations will, inevitably, respond.

9.Fixed line v mobile broadband
The rising popularity of mobile broadband is down to two simple reasons: tariffs can now be had for as little as £10 a month, and connections are now quick enough to handle navigating the web and more complex tasks, such as watching video on the BBC iPlayer. Are the days of landline connections numbered?