Microsoft **** Aero in Windows 8, bets on tablets over desktops

I like Windows Aero....

Microsoft **** Aero in Windows 8, bets on tablets over desktops

Microsoft Insights: Microsoft **** Aero in Windows 8, bets on tablets over desktops

from the website:

At virtually every tech-centric event I’ve attended in the last year or so, I’ve asked both hardware manufactures and software developers what they thought of Windows 8, off the record. Reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. A few folks have even hinted at as-yet-unannounced features that will supposedly wow consumers. Here’s hoping they know something we don’t, because it’s looking more and more like PC users that actually need to get some real work done may be better served by sticking with Windows 7 or switching to an alternative OS. Many of the changes coming with Windows 8 are designed only for content consumers, not content creators, which doesn’t bode well for fans of powerful desktop systems that actually like to get some work done from time to time.

Before concluding, here’s one final—I think very telling—quote from the post, “The new Windows 8 user experience is no less than a bet on the future of computing”. A bet? Microsoft is willing to risk the success of its next major OS on a bet? They better hope it pays off better than the bet Microsoft has already made in the smartphone space or that huge install base of desktop systems Microsoft currently enjoys is going to shrink.

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Comments

Tackle

I like Aero as well.

I like having a Start Menu better though, hopefully that is one of the things they are adding, especially in Server 8.
If you've used any of the beta or consumer previews it's pretty easy to see that it would be well suited for a touch screen tablet.

tr1x

I've really grown to like Aero as well, I was surprised when I read this. The Start menu is a must have - I will be sure to put one on there one way or another

demonfurbie

welp time for me to totally switch to linux on new builds and keep my copy of windows 7 as long as i can for games

tr1x

You're switching to Linux because they're dropping Aero? I was thinking about switching to Server 8 on my desktops (not installing any of the server features of course) if it ends up retaining more of the old features (like the start menu) than Windows 8 does.

N2IT

Glad Windows 7 is here to stay...........I think

Aero is a great feature that I personally think gives Win 7 it's personality. End users are crazy about it, it makes them more efficient according to them. I am one who believes this.

Can't have it all and MS is doing their best to forecast need, functionality, against the mobile device market. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

ptilsen

I really haven't seen much of anything I like about Windows 8 (client, not server). Tablets and all that are fine, but everything I'm seeing is basically that Windows 8 will be not dissimilar to Vista in the desktop/laptop market. The trends in the market towards BYOD, cloud computing, etc. ultimately don't negate the need for traditional Windows sessions, be it in physical desktop, virtual desktop, or virtual session form. Windows 8 doesn't seem attractive or compelling for these environments, and I think it will be largely skipped by businesses, just as Vista was.

I think this is probably Microsoft's intent. Corporations will still finish moving from XP to 7, and 7 will be the standard -- the new XP, if you will, while MS works on a more PC-oriented follow-up to Windows 8. Windows 8 will keep Microsoft products viable for that BYOD trend and work towards recapturing the consumer market.

SteveLord

But let's be honest...the flip 3D since Vista (windows key + tab) was just pointless.

demonfurbie

tr1x wrote: »

You're switching to Linux because they're dropping Aero? I was thinking about switching to Server 8 on my desktops (not installing any of the server features of course) if it ends up retaining more of the old features (like the start menu) than Windows 8 does.

on new builds so if i wont be able to buy windows 7 for it, currently i have windows 7 and use a good bit of linux as well

Claymoore

Touch isn't just the future, it is also the past, and has always been the goal. Touch is what the mouse has been trying to mimic for the last 30 years, only now we have the hardware like capacitive touch screens to make it cheap and practical. For a good piece on the evolution of the Windows interface, check out this post:
Creating the Windows 8 user experience - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

I am glad that I spent some time following the Windows 8 build blog before I installed the consumer preview as I knew some of the navigation tricks that made the switch less jarring. I won't switch over my primary work laptop until they release an RTM build, but I am running it in my lab with Server 2012. Both are different, dramatically in some cases, but the more I use them the more I like them.

Tackle

Nice link Claymoore. That really puts it more into perspective. I wasn't using computers before the mouse and start menu, I was in kindergarden when Windows 95 came out - it's all I know (besides minor linux and mac usage).

Windows 8 looks like another step in OS evolution. To be honest I didn't like the taskbar when Windows 7 came out, only having icons but I love it now. I still call the little round orb a start menu when I'm on the phone.

N2IT

Sounds like they are copying the iPad3 and OS X Lion

I personally think desktops and laptops are dinosaurs. Why else would MS risk market share and move to this technology? They see the future and it isn't desktops and laptops.

I just wonder what the end product will look like? More tablets or hand helds with docking station? It's exciting times!

Iristheangel

Our desktop support guys were playing around with Windows 8 on a Dell touchscreen desktop here. The best way I could describe Windows 8 is if Windows 7 and Android 4.0 got together and had a child, it would be named Windows 8.

Here's a guy playing around with it. There's an actual start menu and desktop space in the developer preview: Windows 8 :: Exploring the Start Menu - YouTube

N2IT

The OS looks very different but very fresh. If you are at work watch out for the F bombs at 3:21.

It's a lot like OS X Lion. I can't wait to install a VM session of this trial.

Iristheangel

Give the consumer preview a test drive: Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview

One complaint I have is that it doesn't scale well with multiple monitors. That's just my gripe but you might like it. Give it a shot

N2IT

Thanks for the link -Rep

paulgswanson

Iv poked around on Windows 8. I gotta say I don't like it. Besides thinking back to Microsofts track record Good-bad-Good that means 8 is gonna be a repeat of vista hate.

I for one am sticking with 7 and Xp till 9 unless they pull a miracle outta thier but and break the track record.

Biggest Grip with 8- No Dvd codecs are natively installed. Seriously? Write your own Microsoft, why back pedal?

onesaint

I don't see why they haven't forked the OS to Win 8 tablet and Desktop versions. Lord knows they had enough versions of Vista. I think though, ptilsen is right, that this release will be stepped over in favor of win7 on desktops. Unless of course a Leap comes free with every Win 8 copy.

Introducing the Leap - YouTube

YFZblu

N2IT wrote: »

Sounds like they are copying the iPad3 and OS X Lion

I personally think desktops and laptops are dinosaurs. Why else would MS risk market share and move to this technology? They see the future and it isn't desktops and laptops.

I just wonder what the end product will look like? More tablets or hand helds with docking station? It's exciting times!

How can a desktop be a dinasaur when the tablet isn't even a standard as a person's 3rd device in many companies? I don't think MS is risking market share at all. I think MS could be doing for windows what Apple did with IOS - they'll want your desktop, your laptop, your phone, and your tablet running the same operating system. Windows won't be asking you to toss your desktop in the trash; they'll be asking you to sync it to your other Windows-based devices.

Anyway, desktops will always be around due to the brute power they can offer.

N2IT

Look no farther than the devices on line or HTML 5. Mobile computing is in full force and not showing any trends of stopping. On the development side any respectable company is developing to meet mobile demands of tablets and smart phones. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and hundreds of other companies are developing to the mobile device first and then the desktop or laptop OS second. Look no farther than the statistics.

A previous post I threw out there a few month ago showed the trends and the forecast. Laptops and Desktops days are numbered.

More smart phone and tablets exist than toothbrushes.
More people have smart phones or tablets than they have electricity.
Mobile devices are sucking the dollars of most R&D departments.

We are in a transition which is exciting and scary at the same time. I don't know the future, but I can see a massive trend in a very accurate and large data set. Families are moving away from home PC's in regards to tablets and smart phones. My mother and old school mainframe DBA now has an iPad2, with no plans of getting another computer. (Only so much computing dollars to go around, just like entertainment)

As we transition into the future I believe you will see hybrids come and go with several iterations of devices and operating systems. Good times ahead!

ptilsen

One word: Keyboards.

Thin clients and thinly-provisioned desktops are what you're going to see more of. You can make a tablet a mobile thin client with a keyboard, but its more expensive, more complicated, has a quicker life-cycle, and less reliable. Regardless, they're going to connect to Windows sessions in some form - XenApp, ThinApp, RDSH, VDI, XenDestkop. We'll see some more mobile apps, including HTML5 web apps, but it's not the same as a Windows environment with a keyboard and mouse and probably never will be.

Honestly, thin clients, desktops, laptops, netbooks, notbooks, tablets, and smartphones are all going to coexist. Each will carve out its niche, but it's crazy to think any of them will disappear in the next five or ten years. It's ten to twenty years from now that will be interesting, because we might be looking at neural interfaces and some big hardware advancements, maybe commercial quantum computers. Those will be the game-changers. Everything else is an incremental shift in market presence, not a game-changer.

cxzar20

I played around with Windows 8, really not a fan. It's a poor bet on their end to think that they can develop one OS for desktop and mobile while fulfilling the functional needs of both. I like 7 but that will be my last Windows product bought if 8 is indicative of their future direction. Looks like sooner rather than later all my stuff will be Apple homogeneous.