There has been a lot of talk around the internet lately about what will happen if Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 8, doesn’t take off. The majority of the speculation surrounds what will happen to Microsoft itself if it doesn’t. The short answer is a lot and also not a lot and below I will explain why.
Desktop
Microsoft’s is the dominant force in the world of the desktop operating system – fact. If Windows 8 doesn’t take off would customers turn towards Apple or even Linux? Some customers might switch to another operating system but the majority would probably switch back to Windows 7 (just like they switched back to XP when Vista flopped). If this did happen Microsoft would continue to sell Windows 7 licenses instead and so by default increase revenues.
Tablets
This is where Windows 8 should work and work well. I have played with Windows 8 in a virtual machine and would say it is useless on a desktop but should be pretty good as a tablet operating system. To put it blunt it has to work here!! Apple and Android between them have over 85% of the tablet market so if Microsoft wants a piece of the pie then Windows 8 has to work. If not then I can’t see them competing in the future as they have been late to the party already.
Windows Phone
Again Microsoft were late to the party when it came to smartphones and their previous offerings haven’t been great. Windows 8 should be good on a smartphone but if customers don’t buy it then it could be the last hurrah for Microsoft in the smartphone market.
The Enterprise
This is Microsoft’s nest egg. They dominate the enterprise and will probably continue to do so for quite a while. While it is true the enterprise are looking at Windows 8 with some trepidation, if it is not for them they will revert back to Windows 7.
So to conclude. If Microsoft 8 doesn’t take off will it break Microsoft? No. They might have to admit defeat in the tablet and smartphone markets but their core business (business software and desktop operating systems) would still continue and with everything slowly moving to the cloud anyway there is always new opportunities.
What do you think?
About the Author
Hi I am Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows and Linux based IT Support, laptop repairs and computer repairs to both business and personal clients in and around Stirling.
For a list of what I can offer you why not visit my website www.comtech247.net where you will find a list of my services, testimonials, blog and much more.
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I am currently running Windows 8 Release Preview at home. It is a desktop PC with quad-core CPU, 8GB DDR3, and a SSD.
Pros:
1) It is lightning fast. Reboots in 20 seconds, faster than my phone. If Windows 8 even has the dreaded “circle of wait”, I wouldn’t know because I’ve never seen it.
2) It will be cheap at $40 upgrade (for the pro version!), assuming that you download the release preview for free first and install it, or you already have a Windows license for a prior version.
Cons: The interface is horrible. I have no idea what they were thinking. It is totally unintuitive and I can’t wait for the calls from aunts, uncles, parents, etc. saying that they bought a new PC and don’t like it. They will ask me to show them the tricks to using it or downgrade them to Windows 7.
Conclusion:
This will fail on PCs in the consumer space. I understand why MS is doing it. They want to force the issue and get people using their tablet/phone interface.
Nice information about windows but according to me this windows give more preference to the tablets. And the shut down button is very far which should be on the top of the screen or the menu so that anyone can get to it easily. But the good thing is is shuts down fast compare to other windows.