Windows 8 Microsoft on Windows 8: Staying Centered

[kemical]

A recent Official Microsoft Blog spells out how Microsoft see the recent launch of it's new operating system and the resulting criticism.

There are many advantages to living in a world that is mostly connected. Feedback is immediate. Weak signals are easily amplified. Voices can be heard.
Of course, every benefit has a drawback.
In this world where everyone is a publisher, there is a trend to the extreme – where those who want to stand out opt for sensationalism and hyperbole over nuanced analysis. In this world where page views are currency, heat is often more valued than light. Stark black-and-white caricatures are sometimes more valued than shades-of-gray reality.
It’s been a week like that, from a couple of unlikely sources.
So let’s pause for a moment and consider the center. In the center, selling 100 million copies of a product is a good thing. In the center, listening to feedback and improving a product is a good thing. Heck, there was even a time when acknowledging that you were listening to feedback and acting on it was considered a good thing.
Windows 8 is a good product, and it’s getting better every day. Unlike a can of soda, a computer operating system offers different experiences to different customers to meet different needs, while still moving the entire industry toward an exciting future of touch, mobility, and seamless, cross-device experiences.
We are going to keep improving Windows 8, as we do with all our products, making what’s good even better. There will be new devices, new use cases, new data that makes us think, “Hey, we should do more of this, or less of that.” And we will. There will be people who agree, strongly. There will be those who disagree, equally strongly. All good, all expected.
So perhaps this week’s lesson is look less to the edges and more to the Link Removed. There’s more light there.

Personally if all we hear about the next 8.1/Blue/Service Pack update is true regarding the inclusion of some legacy GUI features then I think Windows 8 stands a real chance. I'm fine with the system as is but many users especially coming from XP simply see the learning curve as too steep. Have the option to place back some familiar landmarks and I'm sure Windows 8 usage will rise dramatically.

Ref:

Staying centered - The Official Microsoft Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

 

[Joe S]

Hopefully they are really listening and make some real fixes. If returning the Start button is simply a toggle back to the Start page full of tiles it may make people even more angry. Everybody doesn't wnat to relearn how to use the computer. Most desktops are never going to touch screens either. Businesses certainly don't want to retrain a lot of low end users on how to use a PC. Many businesses are now just starting the process of switching from XP to Windows 7. That has enough problems with old specialized software and hardware. The attitude MS showed is amazing. They knew after the first public beta that Metro was widely hated and the following releases just bulldozed ahead.
Joe

 

[davehc]

Like Kemical, I am 100% comfortable with Windows 8. I believe, with sincerity, that the only mistake MS made, considering it a new product with a different look, was to drive a new user straight to the so-called "metro", rather than let them dabble their feet in the shallow end first, by taking the initial boot straight to the desktop, old start menu included. Had they done this, perverse as we humans are, their would, possibly, have been complaints about the extra click to get back to the Metro. One rumour in the "blue" saga, is that it will, indeed, be a choice.
But, notwithstanding, Kemical's phrase, "but many users especially coming from XP simply see the learning curve as too steep." was the most significant blow to Windows 8's future. It is now historical, that Vista had the same experience. I was fortunate enough to fet onto the Vista Beta testing program, this gave me an early insight into its, rather dramatic, differences from earlier OSs, which led to a position of strength, in the help field. But, with that particular program, the acceptance, or, rather, non-acceptance, was from a different area. The manufacturers, across the board, di not cooperate quickly enough to the new requirements for drivers, and compatibility quirks in programming. As a result, Vista was marked down as a disaster. In that instance, Microsoft covered their losses by bringing along the much improved Windows 7.
It does look like history is repeating itself with the rumoured "Windows Blue". I have had the chance to look at some of the latest builds and would argue that it is not, as referred to by the media, a service pack. In my mind, maybe splitting hairs, a service pack is something, large or small, which arrives via updates or notification for download. In this case, Windows Blue is, in fact, a complete and self standing OS.-
I will, whatever, find any improvements welcome, but I would add, as an experienced user, that I will always regard Windows 8 as a dual purpose OS. You may elect to use it as a desktop or as a more portable, possibly touchscreen /Tablet OS. It is unlikely, in my limited future, that I will ever use a tablet, except to help out my children/grandchildren, but, I will, as said previously, continue to use the OS, only for it's modest performance improvements.