Five ways Windows 8 overhauls the PC

In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the fictional Star Trek chronology and franchise. In 2011, DC Comics did the same with its superheroes. But now Microsoft is about to reboot the very real Windows operating system, and it will forever change how we use computers.

Windows 8 is Microsoft's answer to the question of how to integrate mobile and desktop computing. For the most part, it succeeds, but it's an ambitious answer that will be best understood only when many people to stop thinking of desktop and mobile as discrete entities.

Source

A Guy

 

[SIW2]

@Cokie,

In case you are stuck in a blinkered middle class enclave, where everyone is in lower or middle management, you might consider this:

I just visited a large company. They have a Call Centre.

I asked several ( not all of course ) - they use their personal computing devices exactly for the kind of things I described - what on earth would they use Office for?

[btw - there are allegedly over 500,000 call centre workers in the UK alone ]

A couple of guys delivered my frigde freezer yesterday.

Do you think they use Office at home and have banks of large monitors? Or do you think they use their personal phones/laptops/whatever for the kind of things I described.

If I go round the corner to one of the major London train stations - do you think the station and underground staff are using Office on banks of large monitors at home? Or do you think they use their personal phones/laptops/whatever for the kind of things I described. .

If I got to any of the nearby branches of Sainsbury or Tesco - do you think the workers on the shop floor and in the stock room use office and banks of large monitors? Or do you think they use their personal phones/laptops/whatever for the kind of things I described.

It goes on and on and on...

As I look out of the window - the street cleaners are going past again - what do you think they do when they take a break and get their phones out?

Across the road there are gardeners working in the Park - what do you think they do when the stop for a few minutes and get thier phones out?

The Hilton is just a few yards away. Granted, the manager might do some work stuff on a device on his way to/from work - but what about all the other staff? The doormen , the bar staff, the chambermaids - what are they doing at home/on lunch breaks. I think you will find they are messaging their partners, going on Fbook and playing Barfing Bovines (TM).

 

[Coke Robot]

@Cokie,

In case you are stuck in a blinkered middle class enclave, where everyone is in lower or middle management, you might consider this:

I just visited a large company. They have a Call Centre.

I asked several ( not all of course ) - they use their personal computing devices exactly for the kind of things I described - what on earth would they use Office for?

[btw - there are allegedly over 500,000 call centre workers in the UK alone ]

A couple of guys delivered my frigde freezer yesterday.

Do you think they use Office at home and have banks of large monitors? Or do you think they use their personal phones/laptops/whatever for the kind of things I described.

If I go round the corner to one of the major London train stations - do you think the station and underground staff are using Office on banks of large monitors at home? Or do you think they use their personal phones/laptops/whatever for the kind of things I described. .

If I got to any of the nearby branches of Sainsbury or Tesco - do you think the workers on the shop floor and in the stock room use office and banks of large monitors? Or do you think they use their personal phones/laptops/whatever for the kind of things I described.

It goes on and on and on...

As I look out of the window - the street cleaners are going past again - what do you think they do when they take a break and get their phones out?

Across the road there are gardeners working in the Park - what do you think they do when the stop for a few minutes and get thier phones out?

The Hilton is just a few yards away. Granted, the manager might do some work stuff on a device on his way to/from work - but what about all the other staff? The doormen , the bar staff, the chambermaids - what are they doing at home/on lunch breaks. I think you will find they are messaging their partners, going on Fbook and playing Barfing Bovines (TM).

I think we've gone over this once before...

Even then, if they do need simple computing, a Windows Phone 8 fits the bill.

 

[SIW2]

a Windows Phone 8 fits the bill

Yes, it may well.

But so may lots of other phones - not to mention inexpensive tablets - like the $200 nexus for example.

 

[Fredledingue]

I'm one of the most fervent basher of Metro* on the internet (*intentionaly use this word they don't want anymore -yeah-) and even me, I could say that maybe I'll upgrade to w8. Even "probably yes". Yet, it doesn't mean I like it out-of-the-box or that I'll not put my two cents on W8 forums to tell you what's wrong with it currently. At this point of hesitation, $40 instead of $200 is an important factor.

 

[tcman50]

I think this speaks volumes, promised a brand new sparkling OS, I downloaded RTM and dual booted it on to my main windows 7 computer in my home, except for going into windows 8 to initially set everything up I haven't gone back to it one single time.

I really don't see that it does anything better than windows 7 in a desktop enviroment. If i had the need for a mobile touch screen device than it would make more sense, but I have never used or needed a device like that.