While spending some  idle moments poking around on the Web between working on articles the other day, we ran across a design challenge that Microsoft is co-sponsoring. Along with the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America), Microsoft is inviting all you designers out there to draw up plans for the next-generation PC. This isn't software-related—it's a quest for the best new PC design. You can win up to $125,000USD if you submit the winning entry at www.startsomethingpc.com.

Now, it's widely known that editors don't always have the top design skills one would hope for in a contest like this. Frankly, we thought there was no hope of snatching top honors in this contest, but then we saw an interesting clause in the ground rules:

I'm not a designer, can I enter?

Sure, but you're going to want to do some studying up on some engineering concepts. Designs that clearly would require a heat sink the size of a mid-sized sedan or cost more than an SUV probably won't get very far. Our tip is to be practical yet innovative. Think about the pain points today for users and how you would solve them.

Perfect! This contest is open until October, so there's plenty of time to create the perfect PC. We've sketched out a few ideas for this next-gen PC, so please feel free to send us your critique. (Or better yet, try the contest itself.)

1. The biggest pain point for users is when the hard drive crashes, taking down months of work that we were "just about to" back up. Doesn't matter whether they're big or small—hard drives will always die without warning at the worst time. That's why in the next-gen PC, the hard drive will be replaced with an array of hundreds of compact flash cards.
2. Current PCs come in drab colors—usually gray or black. The next-generation PC will come in a variety of garish colors that will not match any decorating scheme devised after 1977. Fuchsia, neon yellow, electric blue—all excellent options that let people know that this machine has truly been designed.
3. On/off switches are so passé. They should be replaced by a built-in clapper device.
4. The next-gen PC will have fifty—no, sixty—USB sockets. If we're using the machine in the kitchen, we want to be able to power all sorts of 5VDC appliances with it as well.
5. What could be more functional than a CD tray that works as a cup holder? And not one of those little ones, either—it should accommodate anything from a can of soda to a Super Big Gulp.
6. Since landfills are filling up with abandoned electronics, the next-gen PCs should be made out of recyclable paper products.
7. The PC should have a red eye on the front. Every time the user tries to do something on the machine that's not allowed by group policy, the eye will beep and the machine will say "I'm afraid I can't do that, domain-slash-username."
8. Ultimately, a PC should consist of nothing but a large screen that smoothly descends from the ceiling whenever you walk into the room. It will be controlled entirely by the wonderment shown by a small child who accesses the Internet by touching the screen with a single finger. But in reality, you'll need an extra three feet of ceiling clearance for this design, the screen will get stuck in the down position after about a week, and it'll be covered with grubby chocolate fingerprints in no time.

So there you have it—our editorial dream for the perfect PC of the future. If you think you can design something even better, why not head over to the site today and download an entry form?

Have you ever wanted your own archive of MSDN Magazine articles, but were afraid to ask?   Well, do we have excitement for you! The MSDN Magazine 2004 CD is available now. This spiffy CD contains all of our content from 2000 through 2004, plus all the source code. And if that's not enough, we've also included an index of all articles appearing in Microsoft Systems Journal and Microsoft Internet Developer from 1986 to 2000. You know you want one. Just go to our site and place your order today!

Thanks to  the following Microsoft technical experts for their help with this issue: Brad Abrams, Christopher Brumme, Israel Burman, Tom Christian, Scott Densmore, Michael Harsh, David Janson, Chris King, Ashwin Kowtha, Ronald Laeremans, Bertrand Le Roy, Gerrard Lindsay, Stan Lippman, Haibo Luo, Subhag Oak, Peter Provost, Stefan Schackow, Kent Sharkey, Craig Skibo, Mike Stall, and Yiru Tang.