Just Because You Can Say It, Doesn’t Make It True

Windows 8 is coming. Can you feel it? If your a Mac fan it might be that feeling of complete disinterest or maybe slight curiosity, but all the same it is coming. The closer it gets however, the more the big promise seems to be broken.

The promise that it would be one operating system to rule them all (if “them” were traditional laptops & desktops, as well as tablets) certainly can’t be said. Granted, versions of Windows usually ship in 20 different “Editions”, so the 3 shipping for Windows 8 is a breath of fresh air, but it can’t help but break the “no compromises” promise that was made when Windows 8 was first announced. The promise that no matter what device you wanted to use, you could run Windows 8 turned out to not be true. This was THE feature that Microsoft was touting for their tablet strategy and one that has delayed them for 3, almost 4 iterations of the iPad. Yet SOME apps will work on any device versus ALL apps will work is a very different premise and makes the differentiation from the iPad minuscule at best. Why are only some applications only going to reach across the platform? Well, you can only beat a dead horse for so long until it starts to stink. And Microsoft can only continue to provide complete backward compatibility if they leave legacy desktop alive.

Why not kill off the legacy desktop if you are looking to make some big strides so you can  become the Prom Queen of the Valley again? Well, Microsoft isn’t completely stupid. There is still a place for desktop Windows in this world (which I would like to point out Apple understands perfectly well). The consumer market is shifting in a big way and Windows 8, especially Metro, is a direct response to that. In theory it would work beautifully. Consumers don’t usually run very old software and can be persuaded not too. Consumers are also more likely to be adventurous in what they operate on. Just ask John Moltz . But…

In comes the ball & chain, the market that Microsoft still primarily owns in a big way, the Enterprise. The Enterprise does as the Enterprise has done. They move and change slowly. A $1000 upgrade is easy for a Consumer, but a multimillion dollor shift is a hard pill to swallow. Not only is this reflected in adoption rate (see 50% XP users after 10 years and 2 new versions of Windows), but it also comes by way of the legacy software that companies refuse to give up because time is money. Working in IT, my coworkers and I have joked that Metro is going to be switched off upon upgrading to Windows 8 for our 500 or so users. I would say we are a fairly progressive IT group, and still its not even a consideration. This causes a huge jilting among a Windows 8 user. Metro isn’t the Yin to the Desktop Yang. They are two unharmonious experiences that shouldn’t be put together.  As John points out, its like a shotgun wedding and Microsoft is the dad handing off his two-faced, ugly bride off to you the groom.

It isn’t an easy problem for Microsoft to solve. To stop the bleeding of the consumer market to Apple and even Android (in fewer, much more uninformed instances) they must act. And Microsoft can’t dump it’s second girlfriend even though she isn’t as pretty, because then they have no girlfriends. However, Desktop/Metro isn’t the way to do it, and delaying a tablet strategy any longer will only leave them further in the dust.