Microsoft shows-off Windows 8. Stop all the fuss

Microsoft are not blazing a trail they are playing catch up – they have to. Apple has taken the high ground. This is how it has been over the last few decades between these two. I spend my time on the keyboard at work I don’t want to do this outside the office as well. HP recently announced selling off its PC division just as IBM did a few years ago. They had to jump ship, the tablet and the smartphone are the only games in town now. We’ve been here before in the 80s. Mac users had icons and ‘windows’ in a ‘graphical user interface’ while the Microsoft crowd were bashing out a series codes to get their computers to do something – anything! Microsoft speak is now about ‘apps’ and ‘tabs’ – as I said in our Computing issue this month, ‘Windows’ and ‘icons’ seem to have become dirty words. Change is tapping at the ‘windows’ – who do you think is leading the charge?

Hang on a minute John. Most companies and other organisations present their employees with Windows desktop and laptop computers. If there is a move, I don’t think it will be to Apple, which means buying both the hardware and operating system from the same company. Even in the home environment, price is a major factor when buying computers and Macs are too expensive for many to afford or justify.

Shiny new gadgets excite more people than computer operating systems. Many move to a new operating system simply because they get a new computer, and there are plenty who are happy with Windows XP and Windows Vista, though I cannot understand how anyone can cope with Vista.

This reminds me that I must pay my £21 to upgrade the operating system on my Mac.

What we have to remember is that people actually don’t necessarily want major changes from Microsoft’s latest OS. Compatibility is a huge issue for corporate clients, and even consumers. Even Metro, an optional feature, is getting criticised simply from being included at all.

There are innovations in Windows 8 for desktop users, and there will likely be more on the horizon. And frankly, Lion has had its fair share of criticism since launch, so I don’t think the assumption of Microsoft playing catch-up is fair either.

I couldn’t care less about windows 8 it seems to be more for tablets and touch screen and as I don’t have either of these I will not be buying it. Microsoft are leaving a lot of people behind in making it look more like a tablet OS then a PC OS after all windows has always primarily been a PC OS why couldn’t they just modify WP7 to run on tablets and keep windows 8 as a PC OS. I hope the whole thing fails on computers and forces Microsoft to rethink their plans and release 2 OS’s on the different devices, Apple do it the iOS is not Mac it’s completely different so why are Microsoft turning their PC OS into a tablet OS? It’s stupid and I really do hope it fails.

Microsoft used to be leaders, now they appear to play catch up. The role of computing is changing. PC is not “Personal computing” it is now Personal Communication as these new “toys” (no disrespect) are aimed at the mass market to gain the all mighty $. Throwing in the ability to design space craft, mines, sky scrapers, schedule complicated railway points systems, analyse blood blood samples, is a side line that 99.999% of users will not take up but the 99.999% will listen to music, watch TV, talk with friends, liase on Facebook while walking in the park.