Posted on 07/28/2014 4:25:25 PM PDT by markomalley
Microsoft attempted something different and daring with Windows 8. It introduced a whole new interface and means of interaction with your PC that was identical to a smartphone or tablet. It threw out the “Start” menu and mouse-driven interface people had used for decades in favor of a touch-driven interface with tiles, some of which received active information updates.
And people hated it.
“They tried to get their entire audience to jump from a UI [user interface] they were comfortable with to a brand new one with a serious learning curve,” California-based Creative Strategies tech analyst and president Tim Bajarin said. “Had they done a more transitionary product, especially keeping the Start button, I don’t think the impact and perception would have been as bad.”
By removing the Start button, which had been a Windows fixture since Windows 95, Microsoft wasn’t just introducing a new way of using the operating system — it was trying to force people away from the only one they had known for two decades.
The result was that Windows 8 was slaughtered in the court of public opinion, often compared to the much-maligned Windows Vista released in 2006. It was an incorrect comparison; Vista was a technological hairball, a truly awful piece of software that often failed when people tried to install it on their PCs.
Windows 8 was technically sound. No one complained of crashing, slow performance or old apps not working on it. People noted it was actually a tad faster than Windows 7, they just hated how it looked. The result was slow sales for Windows 8, but Windows 7, the OS it was supposed to replace, kept selling like hotcakes.
“Its distinguishing feature was support for touchscreens but also legacy applications,” Endpoint Technologies President Roger Kay said. Endpoint is a Boston-based market research firm. “It ended up being a Frankenstein. So the good parts, like being a little faster and more reliable and more secure were almost totally invisible to the end user. So you could tell people it was faster and more reliable and they said ‘I don’t know how to use it.’”
Kay said the beating Windows 8 took in the tech press hurt, but users also hated it. Microsoft released a public beta for anyone to download and use on February 29, 2012, and released the product in October, 2012. During that time, in all the public Windows forums, “consumers were gnashing their teeth and stomping their feet about it. It was vilified in public forums,” Kay said.
The old guard who came up with Windows 8 and refused to listen to beta testers are gone and Microsoft has more or less given up trying to rescue its slandered OS. There will be another significant update to Windows 8.1 (called Update 2) later this year. After that, the new management are focusing their efforts on Windows 9.
Windows 9, which Microsoft internally calls “Threshold,” should ship around the second quarter of 2015. It will put the Windows 8 interface on the back burner but not throw it out, since applications written for Windows 8 would be broken. The familiar desktop with the Start button will be back.
Bajarin expects Windows 9 will return all of the familiar elements of Windows 7 and prior operating systems, with the new UI relegated to the back burner while new features are added to bring people forward.
“I don’t think it will be radical at all,” Bajarin said. ”I think they will make it easier to work with user interfaces of the past and provide better transition for those with older operating systems to come into this era.”
That could include tighter cloud services integration. One feature widely rumored but not confirmed by Microsoft is that it will offer seamless, tight cloud integration into the OS. Your OneDrive storage will be as easy to access as the “C: drive,” so all of your documents, personal files, photos, etc. will go right to the cloud without having to think about it.
Apps might also be potentially stored in the cloud as well. Say you log on to another Windows 9 PC using your login and password –not only will your data files be accessible from your cloud storage, but also the apps you use.
Kay expects more cloud-oriented features as well.
“It would be good to move to a cloud-oriented OS to do updates more frequently and keep the OS alive,” Kay said. “That way you would check in to the cloud at login but run locally, so you could work anywhere.”
He also doesn’t expect Windows 9 to be a major departure from the operating systems of old.
“You’d expect them to do more in order to justify all of the effort of creating a new OS other than fixing the old one. There will be a lot of it will be bells and whistles, but a lot of that stuff tends to fall into Who-Cares? territory,” Kay said.
Another rumored addition to Windows 9 is Cortana — the digital voice assistant currently being rolled out to Windows Phone users. Cortana is like the iPhone’s Siri: ask it a question and it fetches the proper contextual answer. Microsoft has made comments in recent weeks about bringing Cortana to Windows PCs, and Windows 9 would be the most logical candidate to get its own answer to J.A.R.V.I.S.
At this point, it’s all speculation, but one thing is for certain: Microsoft needs to get Windows 9 right. Kay noted that Microsoft has had only one good operating system in its last three releases over the last eight years. Windows 7 (2009) was good, while Vista (2006) and Windows 8 (2012) were bad.
“Those are not good odds for software. Maybe for blackjack, but not operating systems. I would love for [Windows 9] to work great and do the right thing, but they are one for three in recent releases. So I’m a bit cynical,” Kay said.
You can get crate engines from a dealer. Some of the engines are available for decades. I got a pair of fenders form a Chevy dealer for my GMC pickup over a decade after it was made. I have gotten differential parts from a dealer after the model had been discontinued.
Reality is, NO MANUFACTURER, none supports their products forever.
Now you are adding forever. Automotive manufacturing offer parts much longer after the products have been withdrawn than do software makers. The only thing that seems forever is this conversation.
Serious question: At what point does Microsoft give up on the OS business and focus on the areas where they still have cachet: Office/Exchange?
“What is the best non windows operating system?”
For non-techies, I would say the Apple Mac. Their sleek hardware impresses me. Their hardware, software and programs are tightly integrated.
However, Linux does not seem that inferior to the Mac as the software experience goes, particular if your needs are basic (email, web browsing, “office” functionality). Before you plunk down $1,000+ on a Mac, you ought to check out Linux on your existing hardware if you have the slightest technical aptitude and a willingness to experiment a bit.
Probably never. Even with all the whining and predictions of doom they still own the OS market. And that ownership gives them leverage in the Office/ Back Office market. It’s important to keep in mind these predictions of doom have been around a long time, industry analysts insisted the XP adoption rate was glacier and showed MS had lost its cachet, and most of the OSes they’ve shipped since have had similar adoption rates.
” Serious question: At what point does Microsoft give up on the OS business...”
Serious answer: when enough hardware OEMs decide they are sick enough of complaints to go with an alternative.
As long as hardware OEMs continue to load MS OSs, Windows will be around, no matter how bad it sucks.
That is hysterical! Those Kindle forums are absolutely brutal. I’ve never seen so many supercilious, unhelpful jerks concentrated in one forum, and that includes liberal political ones! If you criticize the device or ask for any advice you’re downvoted into oblivion.
Yes, but not from Ford. They are produced by factories in other countries. Once upon a time a decade or so ago, I read an article that said one could build a totally new Model T from available parts. Wouldn't be cheap, but it could be done.
Which makes my point. You Joe Public had no alternative but to pay someone {usually Sears} for a repair. Microsofts new products are more often than not especially W8 like a car company putting the steering wheel on the right hand side and calling it an upgrade. The brake was moved to the back seat and you can buy a headlight app, Wipers app, heater app, for $100 a year.
The layout, the stability, the overall ease and reliability of W/XP simply isn't there with W/8. I had XP pretty well figured out within a day. W8 took over a month and I started out using W/98. Hiding files and functions in obscure places wasn't cute nor an improvement.
For those of us who due to location can not get high speed internet service W8 is a royal nightmare and PITA. So is "CLOUD" I liked to have never found the place to gain some control in what was uploaded. The IE crashes at least once a night usually more than that. IE also hates Bing Search for some reason how Ironic. Every other OS Microshaft puts out is Crapware and after W7 that's just what they did. That pattern started after W/98. W/ME junk, W/XP reliable, W/Vista more junk, W/7 reliable, W/8 crapware again. Not once in the past 15 years has MS acknowledged they made a serious blunder and made things right.
W/8 as a laptop or desktop OS should have never been released. It should have never passed Quality Control. Actually it should have never made it past the first level supervisor's desk in their R&D department. Microsoft is it's own worse enemy bringing much of the animosity & contempt on itself due to sheer corporate arrogance. They know better but refuse to do better and feel they don't have to because they hold the majority market. Much like Walmart and their on time delivery inventory policy these days. Empty storeroom, empty shelves, and too arrogant too care.
>>Nice Non Sequitur.<<
It was a humorous analogy.
Wasted on those with no sense of humor.
If I had the money to invest in another vehicle I'd buy a 1960's era vehicle with a basic ignition system. The newer computerized vehicles have left me stranded several times over the stupid CP sensor going bad.
I’m not even slightly a techie, but have worked on a computer since the late ‘70s. Daily. I write things. I loved WORD STAR. It had everything I need and nothing but. Everything else is endlessly complicated. Currently using MS Word on MiniMac. Ugh.
I’m not alone in this. George R. R. Martin writes with a DOS word processor. The “Game of Thrones” author confesses on a chat show that he writes his best-selling books using WordStar 4.0 on a DOS machine. So don’t distract him!
http://www.cnet.com/news/george-r-r-martin-writes-with-a-dos-word-processor/
I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am about this. Where do I get this equipment?
BEAUTIFUL! See my post 152 on this thread:)
W8 UI is confusing to users of pre-8 WinOS.
that’s a given.
My servers (running Win Server 2008) at work are easier to navigate than my Win8 devbox. So, I use classic shell.
With Win 8.1 I’m assured that all bleeding edge .Net assemblies are supported and all available bugfix/workarounds installed..
the thing to understand about software is that is evolves quite independently from how customers react, or can be predicted to react, by marketeers.
Some people are into having to learn a new OS many more want the transition as easy and hassle free as possible. Much of it was preventable. I can imagine business owners were cussing because the learning curve for employees to get used to 8 would have cost plenty or they are paying for XP support. I have noticed many doctors offices and hospitals went to 7 when it came to crunch time rather than W8.
I can also understand reverse compatibilities issues to a certain extent. That part isn't a biggie for me I have three operational XP machines and even an old 98/2.
Ease of use is a biggie for almost any electronic device unless it is a trade or specialty specific device where training would likely be a necessity. An OS change on a desktop especially from the same corp should not be made a nightmare.
Another issue is manufactures were betting on high speed coming to nearly every home in USA by now. It didn't happen. The cable companies went in to areas and grabbed up just enough territory to stop competition then stopped expanding. AT&T the major Ma Bell is in the process of getting out of the landline business and as a result neither DSL or Fiber Optics is being expanded. The landline grid isn't being maintained anywhere near the standards it once was. Open cable boxes is one example. With people moving more and more into rural areas more and more people right now either have to depend on Hughestnet or dial up. IOW they won't be buying Tablets they'll be buying laptops and desktops. I don't see that issue changing in this economy.
or James earl jones....
I doubt that. MS will be like IBM, still around.
Me too. I haven't used one since I used to switch between Red hat 5.2 and Windows 98. I had just gotten my very own static IP and was blazing along on DSL.
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