re: 5 Ways Microsoft Can Save Windows 8
I am a long time windows user and supporter, desktop, laptop, mobile, server. I am impressed by much of the great work done by Microsoft, and feel that a lot of folks use their technology and then badmouth them unfairly. I've used Windows 8 quite a while, and after my initial impressions of near horror, my feelings haven't softened much about this new version.
A new version of anything should be better, easier, or cheaper, and you shouldn't have to spend weeks learning how to make it work. I do see some "better" with Win8, and maybe even enough to buy a copy, though I hesitate. It annoys me that you have to look so hard to find what is better. It should put a smile on your face, instead of prompting a headache. I've been using the beta versions (off and on for months), and reading lots of books/blogs from other Windows experts. I'm still trying to decide if I should put a release copy on one machine just so I'll force myself to learn it well enough to support it if and when my company adopts it in the next five years. We skipped Vista, and will probably stay on Win7 until MS improves/changes Win8.
I didn't think MS did a good job on Vista because it was slower than XP, and it was not very compatible at first. Windows 7 is pretty good, but is really just a nice upgrade to Vista, fixing some of the worst problems. I think Win8 brings some similar nice performance improvements to Win7, but is a giant step in the wrong direction with the user interface. It is NOT easy to use (except mobile/touch..Windows Phone 7.5 & 8 are very nice). I expect that they will fix it, but they would have done much better to have done a better job up front. Much as in the case of the ribbon interface, MS has given us a lot of new stuff that's just not clearly better.
If vendors want to make a change in order to sell more new software, they need to get smart enough to make it really better, not just different. If it doesn't make me smile, they don't deserve to smile depositing my money. MS had plenty of internal and external warning that they weren't doing the best thing with this new release, but some very hard headed and arrogant executives apparantly thought that nobody was as brilliant as they, and that we would be falling over each other rushing to buy their scheme and sing its praises. Now we all see their lack of brilliance, and they will blame each other for the uproar until they remember that humility is a great and necessary commodity. True brilliance doesn't have to be hyped, it is clearly seen....but not in Windows 8 (yet).
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12/3/2012 | 6:14:57 PM
I suspect the issue won't be whether MS ignored what consumers wanted but rather how successfully they addressed the fundamental desire. My sense is with the disconnect between Metro and the "traditional" interface they have made a mistake, but that mistake is one of execution, not the recognition of what some significant consumer segment wants.