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Things sure aren't going swimmingly for Windows 8. Click the image to enlarge it.[/caption]
Microsoft has been cast as the more conventional, IBM-esque, company, and Apple the maverick innovator, yet Microsoft's Windows OS has developed in fits and starts, while Apple's OS has, superficially, at least, followed a smooth evolution. Why is that?
I won't pretend to know. Besides thinking how great it is that they have Xbox, I've no idea what's on Microsoft's corporate mind. I think, that where Windows is concerned,though, there is no right or wrong. This spectacle of one of the world's most accomplished software developers, seemingly bungling their flagship product is fun to watch, but who among us doesn't believe that Windows 8 will ultimately be successful. It's not like all those millions of business customers will be switching to OS X, or Linux, any time soon.
When I think about the Windows 8, I can't help but imagine some Mac user waking up out of a twelve-year-long coma, only to find the Macintosh operating system completely reinvented, but also completely familiar at the same time. I'm willing to go back even further, having our poor Mac user fall into a coma while trying to install Microsoft Word 6 for Macintosh -- from the floppies -- and, waking up twenty years later, to find they still recognize the Macintosh operating system. Under the hood, there isn't so much as a comma of code from the 1990s, but that famous Mac graphic user Interface provides real continuity.
It's no surprise to me that Apple has been conservative about it's GUI. The surprise is that Microsoft has been so cavalier; not once, not twice, but, at least three times, they have attempted to reinvent the wheel. Doesn't Microsoft believe they've developed anything, interface-wise, of lasting value?
I do not understand Microsoft's apparent attempt with Windows 8, to deprecate the desktop experience in favour of tablets. I've always understood Windows' strength to be business customers; business is about data entry, and number-crunching. Touch screens suck for speedy data entry. I also do not understand the difficulty in having one operating system which can adjust, on-the-fly between so-called tablet, and desktop metaphors. It's not like Microsoft couldn't do it with Windows if they wanted to, but, for whatever reason, I guess, they don't want to.
Things sure aren't going swimmingly for Windows 8. Click the image to enlarge it.[/caption]Microsoft has been cast as the more conventional, IBM-esque, company, and Apple the maverick innovator, yet Microsoft's Windows OS has developed in fits and starts, while Apple's OS has, superficially, at least, followed a smooth evolution. Why is that?
I won't pretend to know. Besides thinking how great it is that they have Xbox, I've no idea what's on Microsoft's corporate mind. I think, that where Windows is concerned,though, there is no right or wrong. This spectacle of one of the world's most accomplished software developers, seemingly bungling their flagship product is fun to watch, but who among us doesn't believe that Windows 8 will ultimately be successful. It's not like all those millions of business customers will be switching to OS X, or Linux, any time soon.
When I think about the Windows 8, I can't help but imagine some Mac user waking up out of a twelve-year-long coma, only to find the Macintosh operating system completely reinvented, but also completely familiar at the same time. I'm willing to go back even further, having our poor Mac user fall into a coma while trying to install Microsoft Word 6 for Macintosh -- from the floppies -- and, waking up twenty years later, to find they still recognize the Macintosh operating system. Under the hood, there isn't so much as a comma of code from the 1990s, but that famous Mac graphic user Interface provides real continuity.
It's no surprise to me that Apple has been conservative about it's GUI. The surprise is that Microsoft has been so cavalier; not once, not twice, but, at least three times, they have attempted to reinvent the wheel. Doesn't Microsoft believe they've developed anything, interface-wise, of lasting value?
I do not understand Microsoft's apparent attempt with Windows 8, to deprecate the desktop experience in favour of tablets. I've always understood Windows' strength to be business customers; business is about data entry, and number-crunching. Touch screens suck for speedy data entry. I also do not understand the difficulty in having one operating system which can adjust, on-the-fly between so-called tablet, and desktop metaphors. It's not like Microsoft couldn't do it with Windows if they wanted to, but, for whatever reason, I guess, they don't want to.
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