ATKA SA | What Does Windows 8 Mean For The PC

 

In recent years, Microsoft has come under fire for some of its questionable choices when it comes to Operating Systems.  

 

After its release in 2006, Windows Vista, the Windows OS that was unlucky enough to follow the massive success of Windows XP, was plagued with bugs, and quickly became the least liked OS of its time. Three years later, Windows 7 saw significant improvement, both to User Interface and performance. 

 

A mere two years after that, in the midst of the smartphone and tablet revolution, Windows 8 defined it’s self as a touch interface based OS.

 

 

 

While this move towards integration between mobile and desktop computing could provide a useful shifting point towards a fully touch computing market, the popularity of smartphones and tablet PCs has not been enough to completely crush out the need for desktop computers, and with them, the need for peripherals and peripheral friendly Operating Systems.

 

Windows 8 has made it much more difficult for the casual, and even professional user to make sense of the interface and functionality while using a keyboard and mouse, and the trashing of the traditional Start button (which has been a staple of the Windows OS since the step-up from DOS) in favour of the ‘Metro’ style interface has angered many users, and dampened Microsoft’s hopes of making Windows 8 their most successful product. 

 

In recent years, smartphone and tablet sales have outperformed desktop computer sales and shipments worldwide, making the shift even more apparent.

 

While Windows 8.1 (code-named ‘Blue’), which is ultimately a service pack for Windows 8, brings back the Start button (although not to the extent that it once existed), the anger shown over the dramatic shift indicated that the need for a single OS for touch and peripheral-based computing is not quite there yet.

 

Surely, Windows 8 does show that Microsoft, more so than their main competitors such as Apple, are beginning to shift slowly towards a more unified system and the next few years will show how much. 

 

Whether or not the popularity of peripheral-less computing takes off in time for Microsoft to make this generation of OS’s a success is yet to be seen, but the writing is already on the wall.

 

 ....It may be time to get used to the idea of change...