OS (Operating System… or Oh Shit?)

By Gerald McGrew on December 26, 2012 in Other

It’s the end of the year and what better way to get excited about Christmas and the New Year than to talk about the new Windows 8 operating system – I know, its ball-tearing stuff!

All sarcasm aside, this is a bit of a big deal. Microsoft has been under assault from Apple, Android and others for a few years now. While it maintains a stranglehold on the business desktop market, in recent times it’s gone absolutely nowhere with personal consumers, particularly with anyone using Windows on a tablet or other touch screen device. The Windows phone is a bit of a laugh, and tablets running Windows are basically little clumsy laptops, without a decent touch keyboard. Not good.

Enter Windows 8, and Microsoft has gone all-in by releasing a product that really only makes complete sense on a touch device, be that a phone or tablet. This time Microsoft has bet the farm, building something that is the most radical departure from their usual staid fare for almost twenty years.

For a start, there is no ‘Start’. The ubiquitous Start button in the bottom left corner has vanished, its function replaced by a swipe gesture of the fingers. What better way to prove to the world that you’re eschewing the mouse than removing the first place that you’ve pointed your mouse to since 1995? With Windows 8 Microsoft has created something that it hopes will please a Baby Boomer Excel user while also winning over a Gen Y hipster social networker.

And this of course is the big gamble that Microsoft is taking. It’s not so much about pissing off the Start button; it’s about pissing off the millions of people that will be lost without it. Considering that most of those millions won’t be using it on a touch device any time soon, you might get a sense of the risk they’re taking. My gut feel is that Microsoft is on the right track. The desktop as we’ve known it is on the way out and the world has shown that the future is all about touch interfaces.

Bill Gates became the richest guy on the planet by virtue of being very clever, and playing his hand conservatively. In poker terms, he didn’t have to be the flashy guy at the table with the trendy sunnies and the douche-bag attitude. He was steady, safe, didn’t take silly risks, and made billions along the way.

With Windows 8 we see Microsoft swap the dark suit for skinny jeans. Pundits are wondering if they can avoid alienating their customer base, while avoiding the ire of the younger touch-savvy generation… many of whom have already sold their souls to newer and cooler players like Apple and Google. Microsoft will have to grit its teeth for a year or two to really see if this plays out in its favour.

There is also a certain delicious irony to all this: while Apple are releasing ho-hum products like the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, it’s Microsoft who are taking risks and shaking things up.

My tip? Get rid of the black Steve Jobs skivvy and buy the Bill Gates coke-bottle goggles ASAP. You’ll be pulling ‘em at the local trendy watering hole in no time!