Microsoft shipping Windows 8 to PC builders

You mean like windows update and office update?

I mean, have new versions of Windows with less drastic changes. Instead of going a full version all the time do a Windows 7.1, 7.2, etc. Right now it seems every version of Windows is a reinvention of the wheel.

@salsero69 – Sorry, I can’t seem to reply to your reply.

Windows point releases are known as service packs. Windows XP had 3 of them. Vista had 2. Windows 7 has one so far.

Fully agree. At the same time, they might try unifying their platforms to lend to better multi-platform hardware compatibilty. In the end, it’s about sucking money out of their user base.

The problem is all of Microsoft’s “shock value” updates end up being simply incremental without any “shock value”.

Different people like different things. The best way to please the most people is to give them a choice and grow the choice into a full selection as time goes by.

Windows did this with widgets. If you wanted widgets, you could have the sidebar. If you don’t, just don’t use it. If you want them always on the side no matter what, you can easily make that happen.

OS X isn’t quite as good about it. You have to activate widgets in order to see them.

Android is quite good about widgets on a handheld OS. You can use them or not.

WP7′s hubs and tiles are the best implementation of the widget concept so far.

You got many valid points, and they are surely microsofts pitfalls. If the rumors are true, W8 is going to have highly customizable UI, that can both be optimized for tablets and regular desktop use. So a W8 tablet can also be used as a regular desktop when you get home. For example by connecting it to a larger screen/keyboard/mice. So if they do it right, you have a touch friendly tablet on the move, and full-fledged desktop solution when you get home. All in one device. Best of both worlds.

Hmmmm…. a Windows tablet that turns into a powerful desktop when a keyboard and mouse is plugged in at home…

Maybe when hardware catches up!!!

I think the iPads and Honeycomb tablets of the world are gonna be the “3rd devices” for a while before Windows tablets can successfully cover both bases.

Microsoft has OEM’s to deal with. Legacy is easy (again, crank up the copy machines – apple has shown them how to deal with it with their Carbon/Aqua/Cocoa migration plan).

Apple can design the OS to work with the HW, and visa versa.

That’s where the one size fits all falls down, as it’s darn near impossible to do that across multiple PC vendors, let alone multiple delivery platforms.

Microsoft’s biggest legacy issue is that developing mobile and cloud applications puts them in direct competition with their Office Suite… Now you have EVPs of 3 divisions at odds with each other, effectively causing design by politics. So… does Win8 support a cloud computing model? Or a model that allows Office 2012 to charge $500 for a seat? That’s the legacy issue.

Personally, I think Microsoft should go into consulting services, and cloudify Windows data center management. It worked for IBM. If you’re not making Hardware, and you can’t create a monopoly, you may as well just be a high priced sweatshop.

It’s vice versa.

Unless you are still using Vista, only then would your post be logical. The fact that win7 addressed everything in Vista showed the changes. Win7 set the bar much higher, and win8 seems ambitious, but possible. I’m looking forward to see how it will be done.

And unless you’ve seen win8 for yourself, your entire post is heresay..clueless.

For the record, the popularity of the ipad has nothing to do with the os. Its because it is an apple, and has a cult like do no wrong following. The os itself is just panes of icons. Win31 with a new paint job. The real power of the os comes in what it can do, and how it can be modified to suit the needs of different users. That’s the win8 concept again.

Agreed. MS is a bug, lumbering company. Even when they were smaller and more nimble, they were never the fastest off the block. Their strategy has always been successive approximations to the goal. However, they *do get there* eventually. That’s what their competitors need to worry about. They still have lots of time to get things right.

Win7, WP7, IE9, Kinnect, Azure, and Office 2010 are all *excellent* products — the best MS has put forward in years (decades?). They are finally showing some life, thanks to some real robust competition. They may never dominate again — indeed, when you are at the 96th percentile, it’s pretty hard to go up — but that doesn’t mean they won’t continue to be successful.

With the world going cloud, they are one of only two companies (the other being Google) with a front-to-back solution for consumers and businesses. And they are much, much bigger than their competitor. If they can leverage that position into success in both areas, they will present quite a challenge for the rest. Fun times!