Grossly exaggerated

Mark Twain used to joke, “Reports of my demise are grossly exaggerated.”  As I read the latest technology headlines, this is how you should feel about Windows 8.  It has not been a good week for Microsoft in the press for the folks in Redmond.  In this blog, I will explain why and how our firm fits into that scheme.

Many of these issues came to a head this week when an article appeared from Financial Times.  In it, they pointed out that Microsoft is publicly admitting failure and that they are getting ready for the release of "Windows Blue" which is a possible replacement to Windows 8.  Quickly, other technology blogs and sites jumped on the bandwagon and decided to kick Redmond while it was down.  Motley Fool even blamed the poor performance of PC sales on Windows 8.  

I am a new adopter of Windows 8, and I have to confess that without the particular widget Classic Start Menu 3.6, I would be lost in this operating system.  This is because it relies heavily on touch screens.  This means that your 20 inch monitor you purchased must be swapped for a $600 monitor or an $80 Logitech touch pad to be helpful.  Many people will find the live tiles off-putting.  Finally, Windows 8 offers apps using the live tile motif and the desktop for traditional applications.  I have been using the desktop exclusively.

What this means is unless you have a Surface tablet or a Windows 8 laptop your home system is going to need a significant upgrade.  During recessionary times like this, it is a lot to ask.  Windows 8 is a massive leap of faith that the user community is willing to adapt, and once again, the user community has been disappointed.

All is not lost, though; I find that Windows 8 is very fast.  I can download podcasts that used to take five minutes in less than thirty seconds.  The Windows Explorer is clean and quick, with additional means of organizing files and systems.  Internet Explorer 10 fully embraces many of the features of HTML 5, and development with Visual Studio 2012 and Web Matrix 3 is clean and slick.  Windows 8 is a natural choice if you are a software developer.

So, to me, Windows 8 isn't a failure.  It is too much too soon and too early for the general consumer.  For a techie like me, it is a logical extension of the Windows operating system.  This means that at E₃ Systems, we will start experimenting with Windows 8 applications and more adaptive websites so that our systems can work across multiple systems.  Find out what we mean by dropping us a line. It also means that we will be more cautious with our user design to not shock people too much with the changes.

Windows 8 is great if you are ready for it.  If not, you are going to be in for a huge shock.

Until next time.