5 big reasons businesses should consider Windows 8

If you think you read my title wrong, take a second look. You'd think from all the overblown attention that the Modern interface is garnering, that I was going to focus another drab op-ed around that sole feature. Yes, the Modern UI is a radical change and will turn a lot of people off. But let's not forget that with every new Windows release comes features that actually don't get the time of day. I think a few of these deserve a sliver of attention.

Source

A Guy

 

[HippsieGypsie]

You know your stuff, that's for sure! Very good observation, well thought out, and well put.

I was just thinking the other day what happens when one is forced to change? What then? Sooner or later we know there will be a 9 and it will be an extension of 8. Just as all other OSs extended the last.

No more Start Orb or Start Menu. Now a touch UI and a new way of navigation. What will we say if when we boot 9 and there's no more desktop. Please don't think or say it's not possible. All software just may be written in the Modern App interface. This, bottom line, seems to be the trend.

Just a reminder.....You'll be addressing someone who as a very young child saw horse-drawn wagons in the city of Chicago in the early 50's. I've seen a lot of big changes in my day. Changes that get exponentially more radical as time goes on.

 

[Coke Robot]

OK, here's what I see. Members who say 8 will never work as designed as it doesn't facilitate the way they use a PC. They almost seem offended that MS put it out there and ruined their chance to have a new OS to use that improved on 7, but without the changes that they don't like.

Then there are members who, even if not thrilled by the GUI, have embraced the improvements in 8. They have either found satisfactory ways to use the OS as is, or have used workarounds and 3rd party programs to make it more to their liking.

If everyone was forced to change to 8, then I can see where the 1st group would have reason to be pissed off. But since they are not forced to change, and have a current OS that they all like, then they are just (often vehemently) voicing their disappointment. They believe they shouldn't have to use workarounds to make 8 work, and that some things cannot be corrected that way. But again, no one is forcing them to use it. I just believe they were looking forward to 8, and are disappointed.

Those who have embraced 8, and have found new methods to do old things, are enjoying the improvements. As long as they are not (also vehemently) proposing that 8 is in fact, a complete improvement, and that the 1st group are just not getting it, then the 2nd group is ultimately who Eight Forums will be for...8 users.

I would suspect that those who fall in between, who have been testing 8, but perhaps will not use it when it expires, will also be using Eight Forums, and helping others. I believe Seven Forums users who want to help, will also help here if they can. As that is something we all have in common. We like to help people fix their problems. Even if we don't like their choice of program (OS) that is at the root of said problem.

Imagine what it will be like on Nine Forums if/when it becomes apparent that 9 will not be Seven + that many desire, but rather takes us further form 7 towards the things that are not liked about 8...

But then, what do I know?

A Guy

:thumb:

 

[mdmd]

Nice review Righteous Dude. Business reasons ... From just glancing at the other forum (7), it seems obvious that 7 has had many major issues continuously since its release in 2009 and continue today. Stating that 8 is a complete improvement would be inaccurate. It is a different OS model that has offended many. There is an economic reality that many reject. Embracing the change is one concept, adapting to circumstances is another. Like when a mechanic has to work on this new car that the shop considers a problem, they choose to service the monster or reject it. But since they are a dealer, they cannot reject it. It is forced unto them. They must service it. So they must adapt without embracing. It is a job. The next model will be better. Like the other one said, will we be going back to the future or back from the future?

 

[Dave76]

Well put A Guy.

They may have the next version with the new UI with completely adjustable window sizes, or split into versions that have the option to choose between the two, though I don't think that's likely.
No one is being forced to like it, most don't have to use it.
It will give us something to discuss on Nine Forums.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Just like the Ribbon

Of course businesses or anyone else for that matter wouldn't had adopted it as it was a crap OS.

As usual you completely missed the point.
MS was forced to change because it couldn't sell it's product.

You say Vista was a crap OS (there are several members here who disagree with your assessment of Vista).
I hardly used Vista (~100hrs) and I didn't like it.

But since they are not forced to change, and have a current OS that they all like, then they are just (often vehemently) voicing their disappointment. They believe they shouldn't have to use workarounds to make 8 work, and that some things cannot be corrected that way. But again, no one is forcing them to use it.

That's fair enough for someone's private PC.

What about when businesses all rush out and buy a million copies each (as Coke Robot believes)?
Then they will be forced to use it, whether they want to or not (just like the Ribbon).

 

[Colonel Travis]

Appears the author has no clue what it's like running a business. I've been involved in turning an idea into a major operation, and I assure you none of us was worried about printer drivers.

The only thing businesses care about is the bottom line. If 8 hinders productivity in any way, it will be skipped.

 

[Coke Robot]

Windows 8 is the new XP | ZDNet

This article really should be read. For the lazy among us, it basically claims Windows 8 is the new XP. Remember when XP came out? People didn't really like the new UI, and actually said it was like a Fischer-Price looking thing, which is WAY more true than Windows 8. Businesses kept onto elder Windows versions for a long time and didn't hugely adopt Windows XP till well after its initial release. It was a version to skip. Many didn't like the new UI or start menu and reverted it back to Classic mode.

I remember the dissent with vista's new start menu and how people were upset at the consolidation of it and how it was too cramped and too small. It sums up saying, people from consumers to enterprise will get used to the new changes. Difference here is that Windows 8 doesn't go back to a Windows 7 style, so getting used to the new UI is more direct and overall quicker.

 

[pparks1]

Windows 8 is the new XP | ZDNet

This article really should be read. For the lazy among us, it basically claims Windows 8 is the new XP. Remember when XP came out? People didn't really like the new UI, and actually said it was like a Fischer-Price looking thing, which is WAY more true than Windows 8.

And you could get rid of the Fisher Price theme by simply changing the wallpaper in Windows XP. It was only the default background that was the issue. But unlike Windows XP, the things in Windows 8 that people HATE cannot just simply be bypassed.

. Businesses kept onto elder Windows versions for a long time and didn't hugely adopt Windows XP till well after its initial release. It was a version to skip. Many didn't like the new UI or start menu and reverted it back to Classic mode.

Businesses didn't really avoid XP. The business that I worked at went to XP pretty darn fast. And you are correct, many did stick with the "classic" start, and have continued to use it to this very day. The fact that's it only available via a third party tool is truly a disappointment for many.

XP held on in the marketplace for 2 primary reasons
#1). Vista was pretty bad when it was released. It wasn't really until SP1 that it became ok, but by then, most of the damage was done and people had nothing good to say about it
#2). XP didn't require activation for those who got a volume license key. So, they effectively were able to easily pirate the crap out of this version of Windows. 1 copy could be endlessly installed on however many computer they wanted to use.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Don't forget that XP was (too) easy to use.

It also had features that have been removed in following OS releases.
It even had a built-in context menu editor.

Also, by the time Vista finally appeared, many people had 6 years worth of experience using XP.

 

[Colonel Travis]

Remember when XP came out? People didn't really like the new UI, and actually said it was like a Fischer-Price looking thing, which is WAY more true than Windows 8.

Really? I don't remember this criticism of XP at all. Maybe some people thought that, but it did not come close to the mixed reviews of 8. I remember I couldn't wait to dump ME for XP. My wife's company, which is huge, adopted XP not long after it came out. They are now in the middle of upgrading from XP to 7. Earlier this year, when I showed her 8 I asked - you think you guys will be getting this? She said no way.

 

[Rickkins]

I do not see the majority of businesses going for 8 under any circumstance.
As for win 9, I fully expect to see an option to install desktop built in.

 

[Colonel Travis]

I asked my wife, who's laptop was upgraded this past weekend at work from XP to 7, to ask the IT people why it was decided to skip 8. The response was that 8 was better suited for devices and tablets. Is that fair? Maybe not. But perception is reality. Just like a story from NBC today where an exec said flat-out:

There is really no additional business functionality that Windows 8 gives you that I see.

 

[Tepid]

I don't know about all that.. There are things that can be useful, such as Windows 8 To Go, could be very beneficial if it is designed right and works right for the business and I think it will be over looked as troublesome or too much work to put into trying it. Could be a big thing to miss for some companies.

Not to mention the security improvements. Someone didn't do their home Work before speaking.

But I also think that there is a lot of nay-sayers as there always is with a new OS from MS.
There is a recent artical that they took all the comments about Win8 and then said they were talking about XP, cause they are the same things everyone said about XP before it launched. So, it will all depend on the messages that get out and how the consumer embraces it. I think at this point, it's a disadvantage to all to write off Win8 before giving it a serious look. And I do mean more than a few minutes or day or 2. XP was the same way.

 

[A Guy]

Windows prelaunch paranoia: 17 years of gloom and doom | PCWorld

A Guy

 

[Colonel Travis]

That's interesting, Guy. If you're talking turmoil in general, sure. But here's the difference - the first two examples (95 and 98) have to do with MS itself, not the OS. Everyone was jumping down their throat for IE, they were sued in Europe, here, etc. The the XP example is about the timing of 9/11 and recession - which MS had no control over. Again, people weren't fuming over XP.

Vista is the only real, recent comparison we have with 8. But even that isn't the same because with 8 it really comes down to taste, instead of problems with the OS itself (that we know of).

 

[Tepid]

Travis, i have been an IT professional since about 98, and a professional hobbyist since 91.
I can tell you without a doubt that in the IT world,, it was all talk about switching to Linux, and keeping Win2000 till the day I die.
Then WinMe came out and people saw how bad it was and crapped all over MS saying this was the death of MS, they can't recover from this.

Dates have changed, but seriously, the story hasn't by much.

 

[Colonel Travis]

Tepid - I just said a couple posts back I couldn't wait to dump ME. Who liked that one? I don't know anyone. What did you say about XP when it came out? That it was crap? Did you think 7 was crap? I've been using Windows as long as you have, the reaction to all these releases hasn't been the same. That's the point I'm arguing here - not that MS is about to go down the tubes. Yes, THAT prediction comes around about every 5 minutes. I'm talking strictly about the OS.

 

[pparks1]

I asked my wife, who's laptop was upgraded this past weekend at work from XP to 7, to ask the IT people why it was decided to skip 8. The response was that 8 was better suited for devices and tablets. Is that fair? Maybe not. But perception is reality. Just like a story from NBC today where an exec said flat-out:

There is really no additional business functionality that Windows 8 gives you that I see.

That's how I feel. That's how my company feels. We purposely did NOT renew an enterprise agreement with MS because it was too costly and we saw nowhere near enough advantages of Windows 8 and Office 2013 to justify the cost of Software Assurance on our existing agreement. We now have to wait at least 3 years to get an enterprise agreement, or else we would end up spending more than we would have spent keeping the agreement current.

If we need Windows 8 on something, we have MSDN and we can buy OEM licenses with our hardware from Dell or HP for those 1 offs.

Perception is everything. Many still think that Vista is absolutely flat out awful. It wasn't great at first, improved greatly after SP1, but many don't give it the time of day.

 

[Colonel Travis]

I should add that my wife's company employs 76,000 people. Last I checked, there aren't even 1,000 companies in America that employ that many, so this case is not gonna match up exactly to other businesses because the vast majority of other businesses employ less than 499 people. The scale of costs doesn't match up. But that doesn't mean the costs don't matter.

$40 for an OS upgrade? That's an incredible price. Beyond incredible, really. But that's just me talking, and all I have to worry about is me. A business has to worry about a lot more, and like pparks1 said, is the cost of upgrading to 8 worth it, considering you're really not getting THAT much more vs. 7? I'm not saying the improvements aren't nice. They are nice (minus the 2nd grade colored blocks part ). I'm saying you have to weigh all the costs vs. all the benefits - and the costs aren't limited to how much you pay for the contract.

Today my wife found out that her laptop doesn't pick up the internet at home when she works from home. So we spent four hours trying to figure out what the deal was and fixing the problem. Turns out that when they upgraded to 7, they also upgraded some encryption stuff on the laptop that only works with IPv6. Hells bells, they never told her that until after the fact, which meant we had to get a new router. We're on Verizon and they just started rolling out residential IPv6, and luckily we're among the 10% of their customers who are able to upgrade to a router that can use it. Double luckily, we could pick up the new router five minutes from the house and not an hour across town. Triple luckily they upgraded our internet service to super quadruple incredible blazing fast for free. Some people at my wife's company work from home every day and have to mail in their laptop for an upgrade. What if it comes back days later and you find out - oops, you need a new router and oops, you don't live in an area that has IPv6 router service yet. Multiply that by dozens or hundreds or even thousands of workers - you've got major FUBAR. If you're upgrading to 8, add training and all the calls to IT - I don't understand what's going on, blah, blah, blah from people who have no clue what to do. Call them idiots, whatever, that doesn't help solve their problems. Solving their problems costs time and money and it will take a lot longer than four hours to fix, and if I ran a business I would say - you know, I can deal with this stuff myself but do I really need to deal with the $#!%-storm that would hit us if we implement this thing?

 

[mdmd]

If you're upgrading to 8, add training

Yes.