Hi everyone. So there's some really
interesting rumours coming out of Microsoft about the next version of Windows
code-named Threshold, we'll probably see it as Windows 9 I would have
thought. Now, as a lot of people know Windows 8 has been a complete disaster for
Microsoft.
They attempted to force everybody down the Metro tiled interface and it blew up in
their faces.
Now what we know of Threshold, the rumours coming out
via Mary J Foley is that essentially
Metro is dying. It's going. It's gone. It's dead if you're on the desktop
You will not see the Metro interface at all. The tiles will not be shown -
only if you are on a resolution of, say, a television set
or a smart tablet or a smartphone
if they continue with their unifying of the operating system
will you actually see the tiled Metro interface, otherwise
on desktop you are just going to get a desktop experience
with a start menu. Hurrah! What they are going to do by the looks of it
is still allow Metro style apps, the one app, one window
philosophy, but those will be accessed through the start
menu on desktop. Perfect that make sense.
So what we really need to consider is how did it actually go so badly wrong
for Microsoft for Windows 8
and why did they not learn any lessons from the previous times they screwed-up
Windows releases?
Ultimately it comes down to a fact that Microsoft has a very simple pattern with
products.
It spends one product listening and it spends another product ignoring
everybody.
It spends time listening, it spends time ignoring everybody
and this cycle tends to happen because in the beginning Microsoft ignored
everybody.
Then they find that their enterprises, their consumers
and developers simply turn round and say, well Microsoft you screwed this up. We're
not going to put time and effort into retraining staff
creating apps for the one app one Window philosophy and so on
whilst you've got such a badly conceived operating system working across so many
different displays and adapters.
The main issue for Microsoft, like I say, is that they go through these we're not
listening exercises where they seem to think that they can dictate
to a billion-and-a-half people how to use Windows. No Microsoft,
no, no, no. It has never been that way. As you know when you launched Vista,
when you launched Windows ME, when you launched various other
products and services over the years when you blinker yourselves,
when you turn around and say that you know better than the people using your
product every day
that's where you come a cropper. So as we saw with Windows 8
everybody and the dog was telling them that if they removed
this one app, one window philosophy with the Microsoft Tiles and metro system
that they were effectively going to hole the entire operating system for
desktop users.
What happened? They belligerently went ahead anyway,
enterprise users refused to adopt the operating system,
consumers were so confused by the new operating system they refused to upgrade
and developers had nothing to develop for. And so Windows 8
is seen as being yet another turkey, another Windows Vista.
The time Microsoft failed to listen and of course,
they nearly sank the Windows division with Vista. This time
things are a little bit better because at least they were able to play across multiple
ecosystems
not quite so rigidly stuck with the desktop
but ultimately they still have not been able to gain anywhere near the kind of
traction they should have gained
being the largest manufacturer of operating systems in the world.
Now when you actually look at how Surface has performed
it's performed very badly. Not because Surface isn't great
but because Surface's overpriced at the price point that people would want
to buy a Surface, the pro range, and it's completely hobbled in the RT range.
Again, developers split ecosystem - well what are we going to develop for
let's just not bother, let's just build iPhone apps eh? So
Microsoft is in a very strange situation right now where essentially for the last
three years it has been pushing a product
that is a failure and until Windows 9 comes out
it can't really reverse the feelings people have towards Windows 8.
If I was given a choice between Windows 7 and Windows 8 I would choose Windows
7 if I was a desktop user.
even Windows 8.1.1 or 8.1
update one if you want to call it that it doesn't really solve some of the
major problems Windows 8 actually
has. That Metro interface is still there on the desktop
and it's still getting in the way. I don't need full screen I just need quick
access to everything whilst leaving my desktop in place.
It's a really strange metaphor for Windows 8 really
that on desktop at least it's a broken paradigm
with too many bits that don't make sense for a touch user interface, and don't make
sense for a mouse-driven interface.
That is what Threshold and Windows 9 is going to have to now try and overcome.
They've got to now bring the Windows operating system back into a position
where every consumer across any type of device can just walk up to the thing and use it
naturally
with the expectations in place as to how those UI elements are going to operate.
That's one area Microsoft has still got to really kind of wrestle with.
Not sure they'll completely pull it off in Threshold.
So what do you think? Has Windows 8 been a complete disaster for Microsoft? Was it
just another case of them not listening again?
Do let me know in the comments and do please throw a like on this video if you found it
helpful.