Summary: Microsoft recently applied for a patent on a modular design for operating systems in which each functional module (e.g., networking, the USB driver, memory management, the window system, etc.) can be separately licensed, protected by a different mechanism for digital restrictions management, and sold separately. The author speculates that this indicates Microsoft's plans for future versions of Windows and observes that this would probably generate larger profits for Microsoft and less functional, less manageable, more specialized computing appliances for users.