We mentioned a few weeks ago that Windows 8 has taken its time ramping up compared to other Microsoft launches in the past. I ran into a provocative article this past week saying that Windows 8 has failed.
While Windows 8 does not have a huge following yet, there are probably lots of reasons for this having to do with the buying, adoption, and implementation cycle in IT, and it is probably premature to say that it is a failure.
For one thing, all desktop applications running on Windows 8 will still run on Windows 7. In addition, there is really no compelling business reason to introduce touch based applications today, as there is no killer app we know of yet that revolutionizes the business world.
Here are a few other thoughts on Windows 8’s slow start:
- Bad press has scared a lot of potential users off. People fixated on things like the missing start menu and leaped to the conclusion Windows 8 in desktop mode is a difficult-to-use joke. Using it for more than 15 minutes belies this.
- The desktop/touch mode split is indeed clunky and weird at first. I barely use any apps and the layout actually makes it somewhat harder to find and launch rarely used desktop programs. It’s off-putting and has attracted negative reviews. I happen to like Windows 8 simply for its performance and some new utilities and UI features, but I barely go into Metro mode. I can see how the things I like are not going to be compelling for someone who’s on the fence based on the bad reviews.
- There aren’t that many touch enabled laptops yet, which is one of the drivers for having a touch interface in Windows. A big part of the OS is not really relevant to a majority of Windows 7 users.
- Similarly, Micrsoft put a lot of energy into allowing you to share apps and data between devices, say a laptop and a tablet. If nobody has a Windows tablet this feature is again not compelling.
- The Surface seems nice, but might be caught in a Catch-22. Not many people have it, so not many apps are developed for it. Since there aren’t any great apps for it, why would I buy it? Similarly, maybe it would be nice to have one interface for tablet and PC, but I don’t have the tablet, so why would I upgrade my PC operating system? Also, I hear so many bad things about Windows 8, I won’t upgrade my laptop, so when I go buy a tablet it’s not compelling to me that it inter-operates with my laptop, because I haven’t upgraded it.
- The expense for big companies to upgrade operating systems across the enterprise is typically huge. Windows 8 so far is much more oriented to the public rather than corporate users. There’s not enough added value for companies to invest in the upgrade at this point.
- Metro-style apps are a major pain and that probably doesn’t help the bad rap surrounding Windows 8.
I read recently that 90% of users either won’t know how or won’t care to learn to use a new operating system like Windows 8. So while Microsoft hopes business users will start adopting Windows 8, the hassle and longer learning curve probably mean until Windows 7 starts to sunset and/or there are a steady stream of compelling Windows 8 business applications, Windows 8 will continue to experience slow adoption.
For more on Windows 8 upgrades, check out a few of our resources…