Microsoft: The Bull in the Color Shop

Microsoft is becoming more color-aware. In fact Microsoft, with input from Canon, plans a complete rewrite of the color game plan in its Windows Color System integrated in the upcoming operating system Vista.

Redmond details the motivation behind its shakeup of Color Management in a recent white paper. In that paper, Microsoft bemoans the growing user frustration with bad color, the failings of the present ICC profile approach, and the difficulties for developers in creating color-managed applications when they are not themselves color experts.

I e-mailed in some questions to the Microsoft press office. Unfortunately, in lieu of a promised phone response they e-mailed back replies so technical that I am not quite able to make out whether my questions were addressed.

Microsoft demos a graphic design suite at PDC. Click here to read more.

To avoid misrepresenting one of the worlds most powerful companies, I am posting the Q&A text, which was supplied for attribution, verbatim, to my own geeky color management blog. So please take what follows below to be my own opinions and interpretations.