“Operating systems are lapsing into senile irrelevance,” says computer scientist David Galernter. What is needed is a universal information structure, a narrative stream that “reflects the shape of your life, not the shape of a 1940’s Steelcase file cabinet.”

Galernter has developed such a system, called Scopeware Vision, and has made a beta version available for free download (requires Windows 2000 or XP with Outlook or Outlook Express).