Reports of the PC’s death have been highly exaggerated. And yet, the world’s largest purveyor of PC operating systems seems to betting on the PC’s demise. Today, Microsoft released its highly anticipated operating system update called Windows 8. This is no small upgrade. Windows 8 completely changes the interface that millions of users have come to know and love–ok, tolerate–on their desktop. With its touch gestures and tiled appearance, Windows 8 is more geared toward mobile phones and tablets. Sorry Windows 7 desktop users–you’ll have to get with the program. And this is Microsoft’s big bet: that users will favor a seamless experience across an increasingly wide range of devices, from phone to desktop. While the mobile hipsters and cloud fashionistas (we’re both) capture the headlines, office workers across the world will be in agony as learning a completely new interface saps their productivity. Windows 8 will come to be known as one of Microsoft’s most brilliant moves, or one of their worst. In six months the dust will have settled and we’ll know the answer. What are your predictions? The team at Twentyseven Global would love to hear your comments.
Here is an article from www.pcworld.com on the launch of Windows 8.
Microsoft is taking a huge risk with Windows 8, and that’s OK
Microsoft is ready to make a bold shift with the launch of Windows 8. Windows 8 is a dramatic departure from its predecessors, and Microsoft seems to be putting a lot on the line. Windows 7 is phenomenal, and people inherently resist change, so Windows 8 is a risky proposition. Frankly, though, it’s a risk Microsoft has to take.
Risk is a part of life. Not only is risk a part of life, but it’s an essential part of evolving and maturing as opposed to just stagnating. Don’t take my word for it—here are some quotes:
“If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot
Technology changes rapidly. For decades, those changes all revolved around improvements in PC hardware, or ways to use a PC—changes that drove the success of the Windows operating system, and Microsoft as a whole. Since the smartphone and tablet revolution hit, though, Microsoft has found its relevance fading fast.
The landscape has changed. Over the past few years, the smartphone and tablet have replaced the traditional PC as the primary device for a wide variety of tasks. Tablets take the mobile productivity potential of notebook PCs, and make it easier to work on the go with a device that’s thinner, lighter, and lasts longer on a single charge.
Apple introduced the iPad just two and a half years ago, and it has already sold 100 million of them. Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed this week that Apple sold more iPads during the quarter ending June 2012 than any PC manufacturer sold of its entire lineup.
iPads don’t run Windows, and that’s a problem for Microsoft. It’s a problem that Microsoft has recognized, though, and Microsoft is working hard to adapt. Microsoft is looking beyond 2012 at where computing is headed, and it has put all of its chips on Windows 8 and the future of Microsoft rather than stubbornly clinging to its former glory.
