Microsoft released Win 8 consumer preview last week. I have an old Lenovo X60 tablet at home, a fabulous little tablet even after 5 years, and I loaded the Win 8 preview to check it out.
It is a new paradigm (yes, I used that word!) in the Windows world. It's built to be a tablet OS and it shows - takes a little while getting used to, and unlike several reviewers I did not find the switch to Win 7 interface all that jarring. I quite like Win 8 interface though not so much on a non-touch surface. It really needs a touch screen to shine, but it sure is a refreshing departure.
Microsoft had two approaches, either go step-by-step and take years to move into a very tablet oriented interface, or take a jump and drag people along. They took the latter - betting that in the near future most screen surfaces will be touch surfaces. I think that's the right bet. Enterprises will always take many years before they move, but that's the nature of enterprise computing anyway. My company still runs on Windows XP. My guess is Win 7 will keep business consumers happy for another 3-5 years by which most outsourced equipment providers to enterprises will have begun introducing touch-enabled laptops, paving way for a slow but steady introduction of Win 9 or whatever it is that's running then.
It is a new paradigm (yes, I used that word!) in the Windows world. It's built to be a tablet OS and it shows - takes a little while getting used to, and unlike several reviewers I did not find the switch to Win 7 interface all that jarring. I quite like Win 8 interface though not so much on a non-touch surface. It really needs a touch screen to shine, but it sure is a refreshing departure.
Microsoft had two approaches, either go step-by-step and take years to move into a very tablet oriented interface, or take a jump and drag people along. They took the latter - betting that in the near future most screen surfaces will be touch surfaces. I think that's the right bet. Enterprises will always take many years before they move, but that's the nature of enterprise computing anyway. My company still runs on Windows XP. My guess is Win 7 will keep business consumers happy for another 3-5 years by which most outsourced equipment providers to enterprises will have begun introducing touch-enabled laptops, paving way for a slow but steady introduction of Win 9 or whatever it is that's running then.
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