Posted on 10/28/2012 6:20:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Microsoft is onto something. With Windows 8 it's better positioned than both Apple and Google to ride the coming laptop-tablet convergence wave.
It might even eventually give Microsoft a shot at the all-important smartphone market. To understand why, let's count the ways in which Windows 8 is best.
Laptops and tablets are converging. And only Microsoft has an OS that's fit for that coming unification of devices.
Apple has no convergence strategy at this time. That's because it fiercely guards product-specific profit streams and just doesn't go in for making things that cannibalise its own sales.
So, Mac Mini is hobbled to protect iMac. iMac is hobbled to protect Mac Pro. And iPad isn't allowed to wander into MacBook's territory.
Likewise, Chrome OS isn't a fully viable notebook OS. And nor is Android. Windows 8 is the only OS that's a genuine goer for both tablets and laptops.
The interface formerly known as Metro and now labelled 'Modern' is quite literally the most modern of touchscreen UIs. It's not perfect. But it's fresh. It's contemporary. And it's polished.
It combines the responsiveness of Apple's iOS with the power and configurability of Google Android. And it looks better than both.
You can argue the toss over the advantages of ARM vs x86 processors. Will ARM continue to have a power efficiency edge? Will the raw power of Intel's x86 chip eventually win the day?
It doesn't matter because with Windows 8, Microsoft now supports both.
OK, there's an x86 compatible version on Android out there, too. But for now it's more of an experiment than a serious play in the market. Meanwhile, when it comes to ultramobile operating systems, Apple's iOS is ARM-only..
Multi-tasking is something that Windows has always nailed, from thread management at the kernel level to the way the UI presents presents multiple apps.
Now it's even better than ever thanks to a choice between old-school task bar application management on the desktop and app "snapping" in the Modern UI.
Microsoft has also added some gesture-driven app switching to the Modern UI. Put simply, Windows 8 is miles ahead of iOS and Android for multi-tasking and app switching.
OK, this bit only applies to the regular x86 version of Windows 8 and not the ARM-compatible Windows RT, flavour. But only Windows 8 offers you a fully contemporary, touch-enabled ultramobile OS that also supports the huge ecosystem of legacy PC applications and delivers powerful multi-tasking.
It really is one OS to rule them all.
Windows 8 isn't perfect. Limitations abound, including the peculiarly neutered desktop mode in Windows RT. Then there's the pitiful number of touch-enabled apps compared with Android and iOS.
But there's plenty of time to get forensic with Windows 8's shortcomings. For now, let's focus on the fact that it's a huge step forward for MS.
For you, it means the prospect of genuine device consolidation. Tablet and laptop combined in one device that's more than the sum of its parts.
If merit counts for anything, here's hoping Windows 8 will make a tangible dent in both Android and iOS.
No one that you know likes Windows 8. Well, that dooms it to failure. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that your friends wont make or break this product. There are going to be 500 million people who do like it. All the Apple fanboys and Microsoft haters criticizing Windows 8 probably haven’t even used it. I’ve been running it for months. It convinced me to switch from OS X. Its that good.
Wait, this is the opportunity! Yes, 2013 will be the year of Linux on the desktop! LOL
Higher voltages means more watts consumed and slower response time, not faster. More gates is good :)
Actually I think you are wrong. I can see Microsoft stalwarts hating Win 8, but I can see the Apple cult secretly liking the interface, or stating their love for it publicly. This is a case of Microsoft leading from behind like tryin to be like Apple even though Apple has what 10% of the marketshare?
Actually that is a Joe Satriani song from 1987
It’s a bit like your cable company, or like the phone company back in the day. Huge market shares, people can’t do without them, but they don’t actually like them.
Linux actually is dominating, or at least holding its own, in phones, servers, and tablets. In desktops and laptops I sense that the combined shares of apple and linux have made inroads in the past 5 to 10 years into windows dominance (definitely the case in my workplace and definitely the case among students).
I think two cards that MS still holds here are 1) Active Directory 2) VMware integration - but overall - they will be sharing market share and mind share with apple and linux.
No desktops or laptops. People that do not have to create the convenience toys (iPads, phone etc...) have no clue how the are designed. I want to see someone design an enterprise application or a phone interface without a keyboard and large display monitor. Not to mention processing power and databases. The desktop and laptop will outlast the phone until machines design machines. ... And become self aware... Yikes.
The "stores" make it dead simple for users to buy and load apps and feel less concerned about malware and other parasitic behaviors on the part of developers desperate to monetize customers.
.NET and Visual Studio are old; Microsoft is always introducing and murdering developer technologies. It's become an unreliable partner particularly in the mobile place. Now we see this pathetic article talking about convergence when that was Microsoft's argument for the better part of two decades and yet despite their focuses on one-size fits all PC & Tablet solutions they failed to catch on in the marketplace.
Apple did it by realizing the tablet space would be best served by different usability approaches. That's history. That's what happened in the marketplace. Microsoft finds itself behind the 8-ball.
Metro (Modern) versions of Office and integration into the Win 8 desktop is haphazard at best. It's a poor fit, a shoddy usability experience. This is the kind of thing users have become tired of seeing from Microsoft and why they've started looking elsewhere for something better.
Win 8 on ARM & x86 is as meaningless as Windows NT on Alpha, PowerPC and elsewhere back in the mid-90s. iOS and OS X share a common core, cross pollination is simple and Apple has vast experience in moving or supporting multiple architectures as once.
While I think you are correct on some level, I think people tend to draw too sharp distinctions between the various releases of windows. As someone who works in a related industry, I know that when a new release is brought out, it’s not as though they ripped up the old release and started from scratch. That sort of thing is just not possible nor desirable. There is typically a continuous train of development from which specific releases are pulled. If you could look at the source code for windows 2000, XP, Me, Vista, Win7 you’d likely find way more code in common than is different. In many ways the core OS likely stays largely the same while the ‘fit and finish’ is changed partly for functional reasons partly for marketing reasons.
As much as folks liked XP, XP is not coming back, any more than brick phones, cars with huge tail fins, or nehru jackets. All those things had their day and something else has come along to take its place. That’s just how things are.
This.
Exactly. I do art work, sound editing and video editing for business and there is no way it could be done with precision on a phone or iPad. Major motion pictures are now being shot digitally, can you imagine the film editors trying to put a feature film together on a phone or pad? PCs are going to be around for quite a while.
The default installation of Server 2012 installs server core, and the UI for server core is a Powershell console. That is not opinion.
If that is not the standard then what is, and where can I find the documentation that defines it?
Linux is doing fine server side.
Android is based on Linux and Android is expected to surpass Windows in the number of computing devices within 4 years. (Gantner).
That might be why Microsoft is developing a version of Office for Android and IOS.
They see the writing on the wall.
“The CodeToad doesn’t know its history. Visual BASIC came in 1991. Turbo Pascal was in 1983. “
I never said they weren’t. Apparently you have a problem with reading comprehension.
I was thinking of the Ice Nine in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle.
I think the Windows 8 UI and UX have leapfrogged over Apple. OS X basically has the same UI it did when it was introduced - windows, folders, files, icons. Not much has changed, except they’ve added more gimmicks to sell phones because the iPhone is Apple’s cash cow now.
The Windows 8 UI is a radical departure from what we are used to. I think that’s why it has created so much panic from some circles. People are uncomfortable with change, but in my opinion once users try it and get past the learning curve, they are going to love Windows 8. Apple’s tired old grid with icons will be the one playing catchup.
I did. No issue w/ the laptops in the store though just the Surface. Also the store was not particularly busy. I’ve been in Apple store in same mall when they were wall-to-wall & no WiFi probs so if it was due to poor WiFI then dumb of Microsoft not to beef up ahead of a major product release like the surface.
Indeed.
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