CAM Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 Even the Windows Phone 8 version of Metro is different to the Windows 8 version (and better by a long shot). Metro does not belong on PCs, Windows 8 was a gamble that everyone would move to tablets and mobile devices and whilst the update of such devices has increased, Microsoft have been given a sharp lesson that the desktop PC still has it's place and needs to be catered for. Hopefully Windows 9 will be a culmination of those lessons into a product that doesn't suffer from mobile schizophrenia as my non-touchscreen box under the desk tells me to tap and swipe the screen for the billionth time... They need to make the following changes really: 1) Restore the desktop to the #1 top spot in terms of importance. In Windows 8 it feels like it was tacked on for legacy reasons instead of being the forefront of the product (as it should be). 2) Scrap the store's abysmal interface and go back to making the UI quick and easy to use. There is nothing wrong with a package manager style system in Windows (well overdue in fact) but the Windows Store is just clunky and awful for browsing through. 3) Unify the Mobile and Desktop marketplaces. If I buy an app on Mobile, I'd expect to be able to use the desktop variant of the app as well. 4) Metro must die. It does not work on desktops, the only possible use I can see for it is using Metro apps and live tiles as widgets. Exclusive full-screen apps harm productivity and are a waste of screen space with vast tracks of emptiness. Metro really is a jump backwards from the current Explorer interface with multiple windows on screen showing information ready and available in front of your face. They need to come up with something better.
sparkeh Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 Its interesting to look at where MS makes its money: Where does Microsoft make money? (Updated 2013) - Tanner Helland (dot) Com in relation to where it seems to be concentrating its efforts. Nearly half of MS's money comes from its Business division alone which makes me question this drive to go for the consumer dollar. Windows is now third in line behind the servers division (as the report says, this is the first time that this has happened). Personally I think its too late for MS in the consumer area, Andriod and iOS got on the boat at the right time and I can't see MS making a huge dent into this as I believe that consumers are too far down the road of their chosen eco-system to make jump to MS in big enough numbers. MS need to concentrate on where is making the money and keep businesses happy before that starts to slide as well.
Gatt Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 MS need to concentrate on where is making the money and keep businesses happy before that starts to slide as well. They've even upset business users with the demise of TechNet Subs imminent and some of its Certifications..
tmcd35 Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 MS need to concentrate on where is making the money and keep businesses happy before that starts to slide as well. Agreed. But as I said above a year is a long time to wait. Could we be heading towards a more splintered desktop - as in the variety of competing micro's of the 80's? What do business computers need? Word processor, spread sheet and a web browser? The only thing keeping corporates tied to Windows is Active Directory IMHO. Will other's make a play into this area? Is there more that can be done with a Google Chrome style device?
Quackers Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 Its interesting to look at where MS makes its money: Where does Microsoft make money? (Updated 2013) - Tanner Helland (dot) Com in relation to where it seems to be concentrating its efforts. Nearly half of MS's money comes from its Business division alone which makes me question this drive to go for the consumer dollar. Windows is now third in line behind the servers division (as the report says, this is the first time that this has happened). Personally I think its too late for MS in the consumer area, Andriod and iOS got on the boat at the right time and I can't see MS making a huge dent into this as I believe that consumers are too far down the road of their chosen eco-system to make jump to MS in big enough numbers. MS need to concentrate on where is making the money and keep businesses happy before that starts to slide as well. Looking at those numbers, they need to get an iOS and Android version of Microsoft Office out there. Office is a good seller by those stats, Im convinced it would sell well on non Windows platforms, its not like they don't already do Office for other platforms like Office for Mac. I know its there Ace card to try and get people over to Windows on mobile devices but it aint happening, they have missed the boat so should try and make the most out if it they can and thats open up Office to millions of potential customers.
tmcd35 Posted January 14, 2014 Posted January 14, 2014 Looking at those numbers, they need to get an iOS and Android version of Microsoft Office out there. Office is a good seller by those stats, Im convinced it would sell well on non Windows platforms, its not like they don't already do Office for other platforms like Office for Mac. Never tried, but, how does the web based Office 365 work with those platforms - if at all. And how far away in features is the Web version from the retail version. This is where MS need to develop Office. Not sure native clients are worth the asking price anymore. Remember the future is atleast 4G Internet at 98% coverage once telcos get their acts together.
Michael Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 And here we have it Even more of a reason to wait for Windows 9...
gshaw Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) The funny thing is after the 8.1 update I don't mind it at all now, even on my desktop. Problem is they made such a mess of the 8.0 original release with some shockingly poor design mistakes and it's never really recovered. Also the hardware the OEMs have produced tablet-wise hasn't been good enough either, far too expensive and generally not that great in terms of design when compared to some of the Apple / Google stuff. Surface had the design right but the RT version was a mistake (although I think that was more down to Intel not getting low power x86 chips done in time, forcing MS to go with ARM). Never tried, but, how does the web based Office 365 work with those platforms - if at all. And how far away in features is the Web version from the retail version. This is where MS need to develop Office. Not sure native clients are worth the asking price anymore. Remember the future is atleast 4G Internet at 98% coverage once telcos get their acts together. It works OK on an iPad but the browser controls and various other bits of screen estate get in the way. Also annoying multiple logins if you move between, say the SkyDrive or Office app to go and edit a document. It all needs to be brought together into a single app, could use the web apps code but just skin it into a full screen dedicated browser and pass credentials to it based on what the user signs into the Office app with. Alternatively look at the OneNote app for iPad and imagine Word and Excel using the same interface, that would work well imo. The other thing MS need to do sharpish is sort out their awful product naming and create business only versions of certain apps. For example I was trying to use OneNote to save to my Office 365 account but I have to make a consumer MS account to even log into it! The 365 account has to be tacked on after and all new Notebooks default to the consumer SkyDrive, horrible user experience that ruins what would otherwise be a good product. Edited January 18, 2014 by gshaw
Arthur Posted January 18, 2014 Author Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Looking at those numbers, they need to get an iOS and Android version of Microsoft Office out there. Office was released for iOS and Android over five months ago... www.edugeek.net/forums/news/120973-microsoft-office-android-released.html Even more of a reason to wait for Windows 9 Wouldn't this imply that Windows 8.1 is the "new" Windows 7, if 8.0 was Vista? Edited January 18, 2014 by Arthur
Gatt Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 Wouldn't this imply that Windows 8.1 is the "new" Windows 7, if 8.0 was Vista? No, it was technically an update - so is still part of of the Windows 8 family
sparkeh Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 Wouldn't this imply that Windows 8.1 is the "new" Windows 7, if 8.0 was Vista? No, it was technically an update - so is still part of of the Windows 8 family But wasn't Threshold originally going to be 8.2 but given the 9 name to distance it from the negativity towards 8. Soooo is it really an OS in its own right? :head spin:
Gatt Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 But wasn't Threshold originally going to be 8.2 but given the 9 name to distance it from the negativity towards 8. Soooo is it really an OS in its own right? :head spin: It probably started as "8.2" but now that 8.x is "Vista MKII" - I suspect that with the rebranding to Windows 9 it will be treated and coded as a new OS and built accordingly as one
SteveM555 Posted January 18, 2014 Posted January 18, 2014 Not looking forward to the Metro 2.0. Why can't we just stick with a standard desktop! Or at least have an optional feature. Personally, I think it's too soon after the fail of Windows 8. They've only just fixed it with the 8.1 update...
sparkeh Posted January 21, 2014 Posted January 21, 2014 Most vendors have stock to shift, partly due to Win 8 debacle. Sticking Win 7 on them is probably a good move ;-)
Arthur Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 HP bringing back Windows 7 PCs? Not so fast... « ZDNet HP never stopped selling Windows 7 PCs, and it's actually selling fewer Windows 7 models today than it did last summer.
woreilly Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Update 1 wouldn't be a major update, so they can't call it 8.2. How about 8.1.1?
gshaw Posted January 22, 2014 Posted January 22, 2014 Using some of MS heritage it should clearly be 8.11, maybe with an enhanced tablet management add-on called 8.11 for Workgroups
Arthur Posted February 1, 2014 Author Posted February 1, 2014 Internet Explorer 11 to get new 'enterprise mode' [in 8.1 Update 1] « ZDNet Enterprise Mode for IE (EMIE), as it's referred to internally, is supposedly going to be a new feature of IE11. According to my sources, EMIE will allow businesses to specify which sites should be loaded in IE8 compatibility mode and which don't need it. Users who need IE8 to view certain intranet sites and internal apps would still be able to move to IE11 on Windows 7 (or Windows 8.x) thanks to the new compatibility mode functionality. But they still would be able to make use of all the rest of IE11's features the rest of their browser needs. Microsoft should have done this years ago to get businesses off of XP and enable Windows 7 PCs to be upgraded to the latest version of IE.
gshaw Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 That's a good idea, we've got a few bits of software that really don't like IE9+
josiahe Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Office was released for iOS and Android over five months ago... www.edugeek.net/forums/news/120973-microsoft-office-android-released.html I still can't open password protected sections in OneNote on iOS and Android though
gshaw Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 The quality of the mobile Office 365 experience leaves a lot to be desired, the lack of dedicated tablet apps is bizarre as well
Arthur Posted February 3, 2014 Author Posted February 3, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Dvxh4t9jGyE
gshaw Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 The ModernUI apps are slowly turning back into standard ones; close button, minimise button, title bar, taskbar... all it needs is the maximise / restore control and the backtrack is complete The Start screen improvements just go to show common sense isn't that common, how the power and search buttons weren't in 8.0 in the first place is a mystery to me - normal users were never going to find their way with them hidden from view. Interesting about boot to desktop possibly being default, is Metro a dead duck? Just as I've grown to kinda like it... typical haha
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