Microsoft to maybe almost get it right regarding tablets
ZDNet‘s Mary-Jo Foley:
Back in September, there was controversy as to whether Microsoft planned to allow “Desktop” (non-Metro) apps to run on Windows 8 ARM-based tablets. But I was told they would, and, indeed, the Softies and partners showed off the Desktop app on ARM tablets at the Build conference.
This was, by some parties, considered a very bad idea, given that Windows apps would run like crap on a tablet, but anyway.
However, if my Windows Weekly co-host Paul Thurrott is right, Microsoft has rethought that plan and is leaning toward cutting the Desktop from Windows 8 ARM tablets. That would mean only Metro-style apps would be supported on that platform.
This is a big ‘if’, given Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s massive hard-on for all things Windows.
If Microsoft does do away with the Desktop App on ARM, it also would mean — unless Microsoft also changes its strategy for x86/x64-based Windows 8 tablets — that Windows 8 will be different on different hardware.
It would also mean that it would be bloody stupid to call it Windows 8, in the same way it wouldn’t make a great deal of sense to call iOS ‘Mac OS X’. But, you know, Ballmer.
In January (Wired):
Whatever device you use, now or in the future, Windows will be there
And last month (Business Insider):
We are in the Windows era — we were, we are, and we always will be.
Foley, again:
I don’t hate the idea that Microsoft might pull the plug on the Desktop App on Windows 8 ARM tablets. In fact, I think it’s the right thing to do if Microsoft and its partners want to position ARM-based Windows tablets as more of a true iPad competitor.
It’s precisely the right thing to do, not least because the Metro interface is pretty good and, crucially, not a half-baked iOS rip-off. It offers something different. But, as stated earlier:
Windows 8 will be different on different hardware
On tablets, it won’t have Windows. It won’t really be Windows. And a great deal of people who use Windows don’t even like Windows—the name is roughly synonymous with “ARGH! YOU PIECE OF JUNK! WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT? ARGH! I’M GOING TO THROW YOU OUT OF THE WINDOW! NO! HANG ON! I’M GOING TO CHOP YOU UP AND FEED YOU TO WOLVES!”
To that end, Microsoft, why not cut the cord entirely, and present your next-generation tablet system as something truly new, rather than a system shackled to the past?
I think Windows gets a bit too much of a bad rep based on faults of the past and the crud that OEMs like to shove on new machines.
In it’s current incarnation as a clean install it’s a very very good OS and I say that as someone whose been using Macs exclusively for the last ten years. When a job last year required me to work on Windows 7 machines I was dreading it but after getting used to the differences I found it to be every bit as good as OS X and in some aspects better (I find task bar is cleaner and easier than the dock, and dual monitor work with a Cintiq is much much easier than on a Mac in fact in some ways it’s got worse with Lion. Full screen Hnngh) . I’m now finding myself using bootcamp on my Mac Pro more than I’m booting into OS X. Which is bizarre. but using Adobe programs is easier in Windows 7 for me no I can remember the keyboard shortcuts.
So I don’t know if calling it Windows is a problem, they should maybe call it Windows Metro to help differentiate and not confuse people but even without the ‘Desktop’ app as it were it’s still WinRT underneath for Metro so all the same APIs are effectively there. Ultimately it seems the desktop will be phased out in favour of the new metro stuff much like DOS was gradually let go.
It’ll be interesting to see how it does, I’m hoping a more balanced 3 or computer/tablet ecosystem will emerge.
For the record, I’m not saying Windows *is* horrible, but that it has legacy baggage. And while Win 7 is pretty good, a ton of people working with Windows are lumbered with Vista and XP. But even with Win 7, I don’t think the brand has enough love for it to really push tablet sales. Perhaps Ballmer’s banking on the enterprise getting excited by a ‘Windows tablet’, but the iPad has a massive head-start in this space and is already fighting for enterprise dollars.
Like you, though, I’m hoping for more balance in the future. I’d hate to see Android totally dominate smartphones and iOS totally dominate tablets, because that doesn’t really help anyone. But maybe three big players could really push the industry on, in a manner that utterly failed to happen in PCs for a very long time.
I agree about the brand not having enough love for the name to be the sole selling point. But I can also see their desire to leverage the 90% or whatever market share they have in PCs to help them get a foothold in tablets. They’re too far behind in releasing something to do anything else in a way and the Windows name whether loved or hated will at least be familiar. And of course although people will still have PCs as we move onwards that number will start to fall as more and more people decide they want smaller, lighter more convenient devices because what they’re mostly doing is browsing. If they can find a way to migrate Windows with some of those people then it might work.
Whatever they call it,with their ‘Three Screens’ strategy they’ve clearly made ‘Metro’ their future play as a UI/UX for all these devices ( the more I say it the more I think it’d be nice if they just called it Metro ) with both Windows and the Xbox moving to the Phones design language. I think that’s ultimately a smart move and I think it’s fascinating watching this all develop. OS X is becoming more and more influenced by iOS. Xbox with Kinect is already exploring voice commands on TV and indications seem to be that Apple will be using voice in the form of Siri as its TV play and these will surely spread to other areas of the strategy. It’s really amazing how the small screen super PDA that is what we call the ‘Smartphone’ has turned everything on its head and dictating the future of all these devices.