How Microsoft can salvage Windows 8 before it's too late

This is a tough challenge, given that Windows 8 is only a few months away from release. There's not a lot that Microsoft can do in this time. However, given that the Redmond giant has already gone on the record to say that the UI that we see in the Windows 8 Release Preview is not what will be in the final release, it's safe to say that things are in a certain state of flux.

As I've said on numerous occasions, the biggest problem with Windows 8 is the way that the dumbed-down Metro UI has been unceremoniously bolted onto the mature and well-refined "Classic" user interface. While there's no doubt that the existing UI is flawed, bolting on a UI designed for touch devices is not the answer.

OK, you asked me to keep this concise, so here it is. Here's how I think Microsoft should tweak Windows 8 before it's released:

Read more at:
How Microsoft can salvage Windows 8 before it's too late | ZDNet

 

[SIW2]

Interesting article - 6 pages is a decent length, too.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Steve Ballmer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Obviously Bill Gates is the one who calls the shots on software as I stated in my previous post.

This is a direct quote from the Wikipedia link you provided:

In a May 2012 column in Forbes magazine, Adam Hartung described Ballmer as "the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company", saying he had "steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets)".

This line of criticism is continued in depth by Kurt Eichenwald in July 2012.

I think this VF article, which has no author name tagged to it, and quoting this Kurt Eichenwald guy is absolutely ludicrous!

If you read my post again, the article is by VF Daily and Kurt Eichenwald is the new sub-editor of VF Daily.

Also it doesn't stop there. There are many other similar blogs and quotes re Ballmer. And I'm in agreeance with the attitudes expressed in those blogs.

I'm well aware of that line in the Wikipedia profile article on Ballmer. The author(s) of that article is/are simply reporting what they research. They report Eichenwald's Forbes article.

If the Wikipedia article is true, then Ballmer doesn't have a whole lot to say about what software M$ releases, does he? He's nothing but the ultimate manager overseeing the company while Bill and Linda do their thing. Gates still holds the reigns of software.

I think this Eichenwald guy should do his research to put blame where blame belongs. More Hollywood publicity BS so far as I'm concerned. It should be named Vanity Fairyland.

 

[Mustang]

So far as I'm concerned. It should be named Vanity Fairyland.

Well we'll just have to agree to disagree. As I said, there are a lot more blogs out there, and I'm convinced. What others believe is up to them.

But what the heck? What the CEOs do at the end of the day has no impact on my little neck of the woods.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

So far as I'm concerned. It should be named Vanity Fairyland.

Well we'll just have to agree to disagree. As I said, there are a lot more blogs out there, and I'm convinced. What others believe is up to them.

But what the heck? What the CEOs do at the end of the day has no impact on my little neck of the woods.

Agree to disagree -> That's fair. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Bottom line, I don't really believe anyone likes to see anyone fail. It's just not found in our true inner human makeup.

I think TerryE is correct in stating:

In the long run the success or failure of Windows 8 will be determined by consumers. Perhaps M$ hopes to make up in tablet sales what they'll likely miss in acceptance of Win8 by traditional PC users. Only time will tell.

 

[legacy7955]

There is a VERY interesting article in Vanity Fair by Kurt Eichenwald titled "How Mircosoft Lost Its mojo".

I actually saw a television with Mr Eichenwald on the Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo last night regarding this issue as well.

He even goes so far as to claim that MS needs to be broken up so that innovations don't get lost in the immense corporate structure that they have, I tend to agree. I wonder why if nothing else they didn't create divisions that had autonomy from each other.

I had no idea that MS invented the concept of the e reader for example, however Bill nixed the idea because it didn't have enough of the Windows feel to it. Strange.

I was going to post a link to the article but I wasn't sure about how sensitive the site owners might be to it.

I'm with most others here, as I want Windows 8 to be a success, BUT not at the expense of hundreds of millions of desktop users. They would gladly have Metro on a tablet or phone but have no interest being forced to use it on a desktop.

 

[Mustang]

Bottom line, I don't really believe anyone likes to see anyone fail. It's just not found in our true inner human makeup.

I think TerryE is correct in stating:

In the long run the success or failure of Windows 8 will be determined by consumers. Perhaps M$ hopes to make up in tablet sales what they'll likely miss in acceptance of Win8 by traditional PC users. Only time will tell.

I actually don't want to see M$ fail. I've been a fan ever since Win98, skipping only Millenium. But for all the reasons stated in other posts in this forum, I won't use Win8 as my main OS in it's current format.

It's fair enough that M$ want to branch into smartfone/tablets, but they should still look after their supporters in the desktop area; with either a separate desktop version; or simple options/switches at installation to have traditional boot and desktop. I don't think that's asking too much.

 

[mart4494]

He even goes so far as to claim that MS needs to be broken up so that innovations don't get lost in the immense corporate structure that they have, I tend to agree. I wonder why if nothing else they didn't create divisions that had autonomy from each other.

This was an idea that was mooted some time ago. Break the OS away from the Office programs into separate companies. Not sure why that idea was buried but obviously the shareholders didn't agree with it.

 

[mart4494]

Originally Posted by Mustang
[/QUOTE] I actually don't want to see M$ fail. I've been a fan ever since Win98, skipping only Millenium. But for all the reasons stated in other posts in this forum, I won't use Win8 as my main OS in it's current format.

It's fair enough that M$ want to branch into smartfone/tablets, but they should still look after their supporters in the desktop area; with either a separate desktop version; or simple options/switches at installation to have traditional boot and desktop. I don't think that's asking too much.[/QUOTE]

I'm with you on this Mustang. I'm staying with Win7 especially as everything is working just fine at the moment. It wouldn't have been too difficult for MS to offer a choice at installation time but that I believe would defeat the mission that MS are on. Certainly they are going to alienate several goodness knows how many traditional users. But I suppose that's their prerogative.

As an aside, I've yet to read exactly what the real world benefits of the OS would be if they did release a Win7 SP2 with all the supposed underlying goodies from Win8. No doubt that will come out in the media during the next few weeks.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Bottom line, I don't really believe anyone likes to see anyone fail. It's just not found in our true inner human makeup.

I think TerryE is correct in stating:

In the long run the success or failure of Windows 8 will be determined by consumers. Perhaps M$ hopes to make up in tablet sales what they'll likely miss in acceptance of Win8 by traditional PC users. Only time will tell.

I actually don't want to see M$ fail. I've been a fan ever since Win98, skipping only Millenium. But for all the reasons stated in other posts in this forum, I won't use Win8 as my main OS in it's current format.

It's fair enough that M$ want to branch into smartfone/tablets, but they should still look after their supporters in the desktop area; with either a separate desktop version; or simple options/switches at installation to have traditional boot and desktop. I don't think that's asking too much.

And @ legacy

LOL! We always seem to loop on this forum. Someone starts a thread and sooner or later we debate generally the same things.

Firstly we're not members because we're iFans. No, we're Windows fans. I believe no one here wants to see 8 or M$ fail. I think most agree that one may be able to load 8 on a PC, but it's not ready for that purpose. I think that you Pros and PUs are disappointed that you can't share the same enthusiasm as us tinkers. I've tried to put myself in your shoes. I feel for you. I really do!

If some are correct in the direction M$ is taking, the PC will have to take second fiddle for a while. There will have to be zillions of pads to be sold. It's the hottest new device since the PC and smart phone. Too much moola to be missed there.

Although I think they're headed in the correct direction, Gates and Ballmer are out of their gourds if they think they're going to topple Apple. No, they'll just get as much the market share as they can obtain.

The PC and Enterprise will have to stick with 7 for a while. No enterprise will huff off and leave M$ just because 8 won't work for them. After 8 and the Surface gets off the ground they'll spend some time and money on a SP1 for 7. Perhaps they're working on it now. They surely want to keep that market share.

Most of you know my ideas. I know they may sound crazy to some, but I think that one day we will all be multi-tasking in multiple panes or multiple monitors without the legacy desktop. It will still be Windows in a sense, just a different Windows screen.

All in all because of competition through the years, we are all enjoying better computing.

 

[Vertex]

I'm more interested with the Windows 7 SP2 than Windows 8 in its current form but like what some others may think, they might delay the release on SP2 for Windows 7 so that people would focus more about Windows 8 so even I do dream of seeing SP2 now, I don't think that would be very likely till the second half of next year or so.

While MS wants a foothold on the tablet Market which I'm not a a fan of, I don't really get why this new OS is very tablet/app-centric and to a significant extent, dumbed down the Desktop. Simply by giving users the choice, this OS could have much better potential cause it could satisfy both worlds, Tablet and Desktop but it has less priority on the Desktop as it is now. While Windows 7 is still there for us and some people would argue that you stay there if you don't like the new OS and that there are Start Menu alternatives, Windows 8 do have some good features that would have been useful on the Desktop environment which are not on 7.

Inside, Windows 8 would have been the best Desktop OS but sadly, the Desktop part has been stripped down. The things that were stripped down were the things that most average Joes would normally interact with like the Start Menu and button. This lack of choice is giving them a bad rap and is not giving Windows 8 a good reception as much as Windows 7 had in those days. Many tech bloggers are itchy to see MS fail plus all this negative reactions from the public on the beta stages of Windows 8. It will not make it very marketable as much as Windows 7 was or is. M$ got their plans yes, but the way they steer this now is just not giving them a very good publicity in the public now simple because they seem arrogant and stubborn on how they develop this.

Windows 8 will not flop in my view but it won't match Windows 7 in terms of sales and neither would the Surface match the iPad because the latter is an established status symbol and has an established user base. Even OEMs sold with Windows 8 will have many people wanting to downgrade to Windows 7 simply because of an an interface alien to the Desktop.

M$ have no more right to make other people say "Windows was my idea" because its "their idea" now.

 

[lehnerus2000]

A long wait

I'm more interested with the Windows 7 SP2 than Windows 8 in its current form but like what some others may think, they might delay the release on SP2 for Windows 7 so that people would focus more about Windows 8 so even I do dream of seeing SP2 now, I don't think that would be very likely till the second half of next year or so.

I suspect that MS will delay W7 SP2 for a long time.

They can't have anything distracting people from W8.
They have to try to "force/trick" as many people as possible onto W8, so they can claim it as a success.

Inside, Windows 8 would have been the best Desktop OS but sadly, the Desktop part has been stripped down. The things that were stripped down were the things that most average Joes would normally interact with like the Start Menu and button.

MS also stripped out almost all of the Desktop customisation options in W8 (e.g. icon size, icon spacing, font faces, window colours, selection colours).

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

lehnerus2000 I'll take that bet. BUT putting in your head REMEMBER Windows XP? The bet is, people will see Metro, and say OOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh NO! and stick with Windows 7.

 

[Mustang]

The bet is, people will see Metro, and say:

OOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh NO! and stick with Windows 7.

 

[TerryE]

Yep, that's the reaction I got from a couple of people when they saw "Windows 8 UI" ... (remember, it's not "Metro" now ...)

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

True Terry. LoL

 

[CB]

True Terry. LoL

 

[lehnerus2000]

I don't understand

lehnerus2000 I'll take that bet. BUT putting in your head REMEMBER Windows XP?

Sorry, I don't get your meaning.

The bet is, people will see Metro, and say OOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh NO! and stick with Windows 7.

Agreed.
IMO, it will be just like the Linux Netbook fiasco.

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

lehnerus2000 said:

I don't understand

Originally Posted by Mike Lonewolf
lehnerus2000 I'll take that bet. BUT putting in your head REMEMBER Windows XP?



Sorry, I don't get your meaning. ​

The meaning was, lots of people will not upgrade from 7 to 8.​

 

[mart4494]

The meaning was, lots of people will not upgrade from 7 to 8.
​

Mike - lots of people will be upgrading from 8 to 7 -

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

Good point Mart. WE have no choice, we have to go back, since Microsoft has gotten stingy and nolonger uses outside beta testers like they did in the 9x days, and gave them a free copy of Windows O/S. BET that idea came from good ole Steve Ballmer too!