Windows 8.1: Five Hopeful Signs

Research firm Forrester says IT isn't interested in Windows 8, and that the platform's success relies on consumers and BYOD. Given that consumers aren't exactly embracing the new OS, Win8's prospects are easy to dismiss -- so much so that Frank X. Shaw, Redmond's VP of corporate communications, recently felt compelled to reprimand the media for its emphatically bleak appraisal of his company's plight.

But here's the thing: Shaw could be right. Windows 8's consumer appeal is about to get a major upgrade.

There's been some doublespeak from Microsoft on the usability point. Redmond executives have claimed that customer feedback informed Blue's development -- but they've also defended Win8's Live Tile start screen, which has been a significant driver of user criticism. There's a fine line between upholding one's convictions and alienating one's fans. Win 8.1 looks like it will land on the right side of that line -- but I'll come back to that later.

Intel's Haswell core chips should be shipping inside Windows 8.1 devices by this fall. If you found the Surface Pro somewhat attractive but were deterred by its poor battery life and modest i5 processor -- your time is coming. Haswell is expected to deliver major improvements in power management, which means designers have more flexibility to balance CPU power and battery life. The result should be Win8 tablets and Ultrabooks that function like high-end laptops but can run all day on a single battery charge. Intel's chips are also expected to facilitate thinner, lighter form factors, and to deliver improved graphics performance -- perfect for the high-density screens that will be common on the next round of high-end, Surface Pro-like machines.

Intel's Bay Trail Atom processors, meanwhile, won't be on the market until later this year. But the new mobile-oriented chips are expected to substantially improve the graphics performance and central processing muscle of Atom-based Windows 8 tablets. Intel says the new processors are twice as powerful as the current ones, and Intel is clearly looking to challenge ARM, the chip of choice for smartphones and tablets. If Bay Trail lives up to its promise, it will enable the lightest and most portable of tablets to not only run the full version of Windows 8, but also, and more importantly, do so without a hitch. In a space dominated by cheap Android tablets and the iPad Mini, the ability to run Microsoft Office and legacy x86 apps could be a major differentiator.

For many users, the first wave of Windows 8 devices was prohibitively expensive. The next wave, however, should offer options to fit all budgets. Intel has stated that Haswell-based Ultrabooks should reach the $600 price point. There will be more expensive options too. But given the improvements the new chips should facilitate, Intel's promise means that devices with more raw processing power and better battery life than the Surface Pro will soon cost only a little more than much-ignored, and x86-incompatible, Surface RT.

Atom-based Windows 8 tablets, meanwhile, could be much cheaper. The prospect of $1,000 Win8 Ultrabooks didn't entice many people -- but $300 for an extremely thin tablet that can capably run Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Angry Birds and most anything else? That could take a bite out of the iPad Mini's sales.

Windows 8 struggled partially due to a lack of elegance in the new interface. But a lot of that bad buzz came from people who ran the OS without a touchscreen. Some of these Win8 installations involved new licenses installed on old machines, which gain little value, if any, from the new UI. But OEMs exacerbated this problem when, heading into last winter, they managed to release only a handful of touch-enabled options.

By the time this year's back-to-school and holiday seasons roll around, store shelves should not only feature a great abundance of touch-oriented Windows 8 devices but also a greater diversity of form factors. This variety will include some novel ideas, such as 30-inch hybrid tablets that can be docked like a desktop but also laid flat to create a table display. But the entrance of mini-tablets is probably the most notable development.

As mentioned above, these devices -- thanks to not only their ability to offer legitimate productivity tools in a consumer-friendly tablet but also their low prices -- could be enormously popular. Microsoft might even debut a 7-inch Surface model as soon as this summer.

Windows 8.1's biggest hurdle will be addressing core usability concerns -- more on that below. Aside from this point, though, the update will -- based on information gleaned from leaked Windows Blue builds -- deliver a more refined version of the Metro interface. Many of the tweaks, such as the ability to resize and customize Live Tile sizes, are small but welcome. Others, such as an improved Snap Views function that allows up to four Metro apps to be displayed simultaneously, are more functional. Other changes include deeper Sky Drive integration, Internet Explorer 11 and support for new touch gestures.

Nothing earth-shattering has come to light, but the numerous small improvements should contribute to a smoother, more cohesive user experience. Control panel tweaks aren't exciting, for example, but because Windows 8 currently forces users to jump between the Metro and desktop interfaces to access these controls, it's significant that Windows Blue will likely make these tools easier to access from either environment. It's not flashy -- but it makes the user experience significantly less frustrating.

To be fair, "less frustrating" doesn't exactly equal iOS-level user delight. But Windows 8 is still a new, radically different model, and it will take Microsoft some time to figure things out. Plus, to gain market share, Windows 8.1 doesn't need to be great. It just needs to be good enough.

Microsoft products are still an entrenched part of most businesses. It's one thing for a BYOD employee to use Google Apps and an iPad because he doesn't want to spend $1,000 on a Surface Pro that has lousy battery life, is relatively heavy and features an aggravating interface. It's another thing, though, to pay $300 or $400 for great battery life, complete compatibility with the office, a light form factor and a decent tablet UI that does most things it's supposed to do. If Win 8.1 is expected to disrupt the market, it's bound to disappoint. But if it's meant to lead to organic growth that could lead to future gains, then "good enough" could actually work -- at least until Google, Samsung or Apple does something to move the mobile goal posts.

The native Windows 8 apps weren't great, but Microsoft has already released updates to improve them, and Blue is expected to bring new alarm, sound recorder, movie and calculator apps.

Win 8.1 won't change the fact that Metro still has only about one-tenth the number of apps that iOS has. Still, Redmond's new OS now has enough apps to compete; it can't do everything, but the Windows Store no longer resembles a bare cupboard.

As Windows 8's defenders point out, the OS is usable -- as long as you endure a short learning curve. The problem is, many users gave Metro only a brief look and dismissed Win8 without a second thought. To a certain segment of users, a tablet that can access x86 apps is a dream come true. But iPads satisfy most people's most common needs, and when they require something heavier, most of them still have a computer. Windows 8's merits, for many of these users, did not make learning the new OS worthwhile.

To be fair, some of this adoption hesitancy has to do with cost, and Microsoft and its partners are about to address that. But it's clear, fair or not, that the UI hurdle needs to be removed. That doesn't mean Redmond should kill Metro, but it means the devices need to be engaging as soon as users pick them up.

The extent to which Microsoft understands this is unclear. On the one hand, Windows CMO and CFO Tami Reller has conceded that the "learning curve" imposed by the new Live Tiles UI is "real and needs to be addressed."

But Windows chief Julie Larson-Green has defended the Live Tile start screen as a "dramatic improvement" over the familiar start menu it replaces. Microsoft is "principled ... but stubborn" about the new interface, she said, even while conceding that a resurrected start menu "might be helpful" to some users. Muddying the waters further, she also said that Windows 8.1 won't deliver "major changes," and that "some things" -- presumably, the stream of Win Blue rumors that had been steadily flowing for months -- "are wildly inaccurately reported."

Speaking of those rumors, with Windows Blue, users will likely gain the option to boot directly to the desktop interface, rather than being force-fed the Live Tiles start screen every time they start their machines. Window 8.1 might also feature a restored start menu, but rather than functioning like its Windows 7-equivalent, it's rumored to be a Live Tiles shortcut. There's also been talk of search charm enhancements intended to wean users of their old-UI dependencies, and better integration of tutorials and help functions. Whether any of these changes actually materialize remains to be seen.

But whatever Microsoft does, it must make the OS easier to use. If the company does so, watch out. Based on the five factors above, the conditions are right for Microsoft's consumer market share to jump.

Does this mean the next Surface will catapult to iPad-like sales, or that Windows 8 is about to explode the way Android did in 2012? No. But an important shift is nonetheless primed to occur. At launch, Windows 8 presented users with one very important reason to buy: a tablet UI and legacy applications, all in one device. Unfortunately, it also gave users many reasons not to buy: a counterintuitive UI, costly devices, uninspired native apps, lackluster app library, poor battery life, and so on.

Now, most of the deterrents have been eliminated. Ease of use is the big one that remains.

>>times itself out<<

Go to “power options” in control panel — they are all set way too low. And NEVER sleep if at all possible — Hibernate is much better (too bad that isn’t an option).

Also — VERY IMPORTANT: Go to the device manager and find your network card(s). For all of them, under the “Power Management” tab DE-CLICK the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” Let’s face it, when the network card is down yo have a doorstop or a brick on your hands.

As for me, well I like to do multiple things and have multiple windows in “windowed” mode. Live Tiles won’t do that (or not very well).

I use the Desktop tile and ignore the rest of that crap.

And yes, Win 8 is much more unstable than Win 7. It is like my first wife: easily offended and shuts down for no good reason.

But I don’t WANT to run a touchscreen on my desktop or (probably) laptop. It’s stupid. I have to clean my monitor at least once a month now. Why would I intentionally put my grimy little fingers on it? I work with industrial UIs, which of necessity are often touchscreens, and sometimes on PC’s rather than dedicated devices, and using the touchscreen PC’s in normal PC non-industrial-UI mode, blows. It’s moronic.

I’ve never seen the problem you talked about with classic shell. And it’s free

It's a setting option - Start8 allows you to retain some features of the Windows 8 interface or disable. I hadn't perused all of the options prior to this, since the most important issue was resolved with the default installation.

Yes, Start8 is $5, but I didn't mind paying. Had I looked at your option, I might have chosen that instead, but I'm not unhappy with my modest purchase.

"They sold 100 million copies (insert stupid remark about how all of them are unused), obviously consumers have “rejected” it. /s"

I use windows based computers because I can make them work. and they are way cheaper than Apple Gadgets. I have learned you do not upgrade to a new version of windows till at least the first service pack and then waiting a bit more is usually worth it.

The computer I am typing this on just recently (1 month ago) was updated to Windows 7. Why? because XP was doing the job. Then I noticed I could update and add some Ram and make a few of my programs I use extensively to work much better.

I will upgrade this computer to newer version of windows some day. But it may not be Version 8. 7 is working great right now. Its the whole "sleeping dogs" theory of Desktop computing. It works for me!

Nope. If I did, then of course it needs a touch-aware OS (or something embedded that you don’t even think of as an OS), but it doesn’t need to be Windows, and there’s certainly no reason to assume that the same thing that would be good/necessary on a tablet would even be acceptable, let alone desirable, on a normal PC.

Well that’s too bad that this person is conning himself into thinking that his Mac will be in perfect working order permanently with now interaction from himself. People like that are the reason why he had to “maintain” Windows. It doesn’t break on it’s own unless you are completely careless. I’ve never had to do anything. My systems also are filled with crap nor do I goof around with stuff that isn’t meant to be goofed around with.

Maybe he isnt too aware that Each Apple store has a repair desk in the back just for that same reason?

Sorry, you are way off base. I helped him move his corporate accounting stuff over to Mac, including virtualization to support the *one* program which he needed to keep from Windows. He and his bookkeeper both love it, and commented that everything just seems to keep working. With Microsoft, even without any tampering from the user, you can bank on one of Microsoft’s updates to screw up something on your system sooner or later.

Mac OS X 10.7.3 update causing severe app crashes for some users

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/2/2766036/mac-os-x-10-7-3-update-sever-app-crashes

Like I was saying.

If you think that just because you bought an Apple machine it’s all nothing but roses and sunshine, then you are both the naive user types that always have issues “caused” by the OS just magically doing something wrong.

I saw your reply to me and got to wondering if you purchased a new PC with Win 8 or decided to install Win 8 on an existing PC. The latter can be a receipe for disaster. Before I retired and MIS departments were under my supervision, we never would upgrade the operating system on existing PCs.

If you use Microsoft Outlook to send and receive emails, your problem likely is with the POP and SMTP settings, as well as maybe another setting in the email setup. In such cases, your Outlook cannot direct itself properly. If you are using web based email such as gmail or hot mail, then that simply is a matter of going to their website and signing on to view your emails.

We just converted our internet vendor from Verizon to Time Warner. I had to reset Outlook Email on our two desktops. We have Outlook 2010. Once I got to the setup page and inserted my new email address and password, it completed the process automatically. With my netbook that runs on Win XP, and has Outlook 2003, I had to manually input each of the settings. Then you can run a test email to see if it goes out and then gets delivered to your in box.

As to the screen going dark, it sounds like you need to go into the Energy Savings settings and either change them to allow more time or turn them off entirely in which case your screen would never turn off.

I would suggest you look for a PC guru with experience in Win 8. Also, there is a book available on amazon.com titled Windows 8, Inside Out, a Microsoft publication by Tony Northrup. It is very comprehensive. You might also try checking out the Microsoft Windows 8 Help site and bulletin board.

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