How well do you expect Windows 8 to do?

[MrX8503]

I believe Windows 8 wasn't in development for very long just like how WP7 wasn't in development very long either.

I suspect Windows 8 being an ok OS, with the followup OS being a knockout.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I think MS has lost the game.

They screwed up when they didn't port Office to every mobile OS they could, and people have learned they can do without it.

 

[smartpatrol]

I'm afraid that Windows 8 is trying to do so many things, it will do none of them well. As far as Windows 8 on tablets. . . why would one pick that over an iPad? Metro will be its own app ecosystem and will likely trail behind iOS for the next several years.

The only real "killer app" I can see for Windows 8 is for something like a Transformer style dock-able tablet. You can transition from a touch OS to a desktop OS. Then again, you will only have a few first-party desktop apps for desktop ARM. . . no 3rd party apps at all http://www.techradar.com/news/softw...ows-8-arm-desktop-no-third-party-apps-1062187 Hope you love Internet Explorer because you won't be running Chrome or Firefox on your ARM desktop.

Windows 8 looks like a flop to me. No more Start menu, instead it's a jarring transition to the Metro start screen. Metro is designed for touch input, but you are forced to go through it just to launch freaking desktop apps.

It's like they took 2 completely separate operating systems and jammed them together. They should have just made Windows Metro its own separate OS and made it into the ultimate companion OS for your Windows desktop.

 

[MrX8503]

I think Windows 8 on a tablet would be a knockout if they can fully integrate their desktop applications like MS Office with it. There's a market for content creation that hasn't been tapped yet and its there for MS to pick up.

Knowing MS, they'll totally fail at this open opportunity.

 

[corkyg]

Apparently it will not be a winner in Geekdom. But, Geekdom is but a small part of the market. Ludditedom will make it a financial success, and thus a significant player.

 

[Deeko]

I think MS has lost the game.

They screwed up when they didn't port Office to every mobile OS they could, and people have learned they can do without it.

Operating income by division last quarter:

Business (includes Office) - $4.152 billion
Windows - $2.850 billion
Server & Tools - $1.996 billion

I don't think the Office franchise is struggling at the moment.

 

[shortylickens]

Operating income by division last quarter:

Business (includes Office) - $4.152 billion
Windows - $2.850 billion
Server & Tools - $1.996 billion

I don't think the Office franchise is struggling at the moment.

No one said they were struggling the point being made was the perhaps they could have taken control over the mobile market by making more stuff available on more platforms as soon as they became popular.

 

[Deeko]

No one said they were struggling the point being made was the perhaps they could have taken control over the mobile market by making more stuff available on more platforms as soon as they became popular.

My point is that Office still controls its market. Do you really think people are going to start using OpenOffice because they have DocumentsToGo on their phone?

 

[smartpatrol]

Apparently it will not be a winner in Geekdom. But, Geekdom is but a small part of the market. Ludditedom will make it a financial success, and thus a significant player.

Haha yeah, geeks just love to hate on any new MS (or Apple) product.

The thing is, I'm not so sure Ludditedom will be so accepting of Windows 8 tablets either. It could end up much like Windows Phone: a good OS that's in some ways superior to the competition, but with a lack of apps and an image problem. For that matter, it could end up like the myriad "iPod killers".

Bottom line: MS will have to answer the question "why would I go with a Win 8 tablet instead of an iPad?" I have a feeling the only answers will be "MS Office" (which is not suited for a tablet anyway), or "because you can get it on a cheap, plastic $250 tablet".

 

[smartpatrol]

My point is that Office still controls its market. Do you really think people are going to start using OpenOffice because they have DocumentsToGo on their phone?

True, but there is a very strong chance that MS will release Office for iPad, and/or put greater emphasis on Office365. They're not going to risk driving people away to Office competitors by making it Windows 8 exclusive IMO.

 

[ITHURTSWHENIP]

It doesnt have to beat the Ipad to be succesfull. The tablet market is still growing with plenty of marketshare left to go around in the coming years. Android doesnt have the same strength here as it does in the phone market, it doesnt have that many pure tablet apps and it only recently got a proper OS.

With that said, i hope they have a plan on how to differentiate between X86 tablets and WOA tablets. It could turn into a disaster if MS makes commercials for X86 tablets and John Hancock goes and buys a WOA tablet only to realize none of his legacy apps will work on it

 

[Deeko]

True, but there is a very strong chance that MS will release Office for iPad, and/or put greater emphasis on Office365. They're not going to risk driving people away to Office competitors by making it Windows 8 exclusive IMO.

Sure, much like there's an Office for Mac - but, the point I'm making is just that not having it at this point isn't sinking the division.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Apparently it will not be a winner in Geekdom. But, Geekdom is but a small part of the market. Ludditedom will make it a financial success, and thus a significant player.

I think the Luddites are why Windows ARM tablets fail.

Apple succeeded in getting around the Window's hegemony by setting the expectations right:

An iPad is not a computer, it is an iPad. That means that Grandma Joe's Quickbooks software doesn't work, because it is not a computer! Instead look over here Grandma Joe at all the pretty sudoku apps an iPad CAN play.

Meanwhile, if the tablet says "Windows" on it, then Grandma Joe probably assumes it IS a computer like her Windows desktop. But unfortunately for Mrs. Joe despite this tablet's Windows label her Quickbooks won't work. The expectations when she bought it was that she was buying a Windows computer, and so even if the Windows tablet gives her exactly what an iPad can, it is worse than the iPad because at least the iPad lowered expectations first.

If MS REALLY wants ARM Windows to be successful they will rebrand it something else, and they will try VERY hard to separate those machines from "real computers." But of course this is MS we are talking about, the company that exposed 32 bit and 64 bit to masses (dumbest thing ever, 7 should have only been 64 bit), so I expect failure on the marketing front which means failure for Windows ARM tablets.

 

[janas19]

But then again Poofyhairguy, there is more potential for cross platform sharing between Windows 8 devices and desktops than there is with iPads and Macs. We may see some really cool things develop out of that.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But then again Poofyhairguy, there is more potential for cross platform sharing between Windows 8 devices and desktops than there is with iPads and Macs. We may see some really cool things develop out of that.

That is very true. Just a real version of Office would go a long way.

 

[janas19]

That is very true. Just a real version of Office would go a long way.

 

[Zaap]

On tablets, modestly well. But ONLY if Microsoft fully understands that the TabletPC is not a direct competitor to the iPad or Android tablets. It hasn't been, and it won't become that. The TabletPC market is for people that need full Windows applications on a tablet, not 'apps' on a watered down mobile-OS.

In other words, if Windows 8 quacks like it's really Windows CE 2012, then FAIL. If Windows 8 is actually Windows 8; a full desktop level OS running desktop level applications, then it will be a modest success.

Not a blockbuster success at the consumer level where it will outsell the iPad- that's a silly, unrealistic goal. A success as in: it'll fill needs of consumers that would have the same needs if the iPad never existed, and if it's what would have been developed anyway had everyone not sidetracked into the 'copy the iPad!' kick.

Another thing realistically: there likely won't be a gazillion successful models of Windows 8 Tablet PCs. A lot of companies that don't understand the real TPC market will try being 'the iPad killer' and FAIL. A very small number of companies that do understand the market will make successful models that sell well to certain industries for years on end. That's the actual market.