Why Windows 8 won't be a success...

Posted by jordancj on February 28, 2012 08:54 pm 56

I really like the concept of Windows 8. The overall design of the operating system looks great and you won't have a learning curve if you have already got a Windows Phone. However, the thing I just don't think goes with a desktop operating system is a touch interface.

I can remember when the iPad was announced (before I knew what OS was on it): I thought "how cool would it be with Mac OS X on a touch device. WOW!" Post iPad release, my mind has drastically altered. I came to the realisation that a touch device (whether that be a tablet or a phone), needs a completely different GUI (graphical user interface) and a different OS (operating system) compared to the desktop counterpart. The same should be said for Microsoft with their Windows 8 operating system. Microsoft should not try and merge the operating systems of tables at PCs - both are used for different things.

Lets take a look at mobile phones. Apple has made iOS a massive hit on their iPhones and iPod touches. Google has open sourced Android and allowed hardware manufactures to use their operating system on their phones. Microsoft then developed Windows Phone Operating System. A completely different OS to their desktop counterpart. The similarity to all these companies? The operating systems that are used on the phones are completely different to those that are used on the desktop. If you again look at the iPad and Android tables, the OS is again, completely different to that on their desktop machines.

Both Apple and Google realize that tablets are not the same as PCs, hence, their operating system should be different.

My advice to Microsoft is this: don't mix PCs and tablets. Do to tablets like you did to phones. People (especially Enterprise environments) will not lightly decide to upgrade their existing hardware to touchscreen PCs, likewise, consumers won't purchase a keyboard and mice with a tablet. Don't mix tablets and PCs. Follow the crowd. Just this once.