As
an operating system running on somewhere around 90 percent of the world's
desktop computers, Microsoft Windows isn't just an 800-pound gorilla. For the
overwhelming majority of us, Windows is the computer. Microsoft sold more than
100 million copies of Windows 8 in the first six months of release, and it
considers this number below expectations. Perhaps you're one of the holdouts.
If so, you're probably wondering if the freshly unveiled Windows 8.1 is worth
dipping your toes into, and what the future holds for this OS. And where does
the company’s $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia's phone division fit into this, if
at all?What 8.1 Is Not
What It Is Windows 8.1?
Has
boosted discoverability. The Modern interface's search function can now combine
results from your local files, your "apps" (what some crusty desktop
users still refer to as "programs"), and Bing, Microsoft’s competitor
to Google. Speaking of apps, Microsoft also says that its app store has been
updated for more accurate search results, and 8.1 brings some pre-installed
apps. Reading List is like a clipboard on steroids, and Windows 8.1’s Photos
app is supposed to have smoother editing workflow. Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud
storage service is now pre-installed as the system default, and Internet
Explorer 11 is also thrown in for good measure. Lastly, the update to 8.1 is
free, and MS will probably stop selling the base Windows 8.0 version sometime
next year, anyway.Windows 9 and 10
Right now, we have only rumors circulating on
the Internet, from people apparently outside of Microsoft. A person known only
as "WZOR," on the Russian forum Ru-Board.com, has been widely
reported as the source of Windows leaks for several years and has accumulated a
respectable track record for accuracy. This fellow claims that we'll see
Windows 9 sometime in 2014, and that it's allegedly returning to the Aero
interface for desktop mode (but will presumably retain Modern alongside it).
It's unusual to have even this much information about an up- coming OS from
Microsoft so far ahead of time. So there's still time for the basic elements to
change, assuming that we understand them correctly. We even have some tidbits
about Windows 10: It's apparently going to be cloud-oriented for apps as well
as data, à la Google Docs. As computing becomes an increasingly mobile experience,
it makes sense to store data at a location where it’s all synced and accessible
from a single service. But maintaining that kind of service costs money,
eventually more than a one-time pur- chase of an operating system would
support, even when multiplied by a hundred million purchases. A unified mobile
future seems to call for a subscription-based OS—something Microsoft is already
setting precedent for with Office 365.
Getting
Mobile
That's
presumably where Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia's phone division fits in. Apple's
iPhone experience is all under one roof, while Google has juggled dozens of
different partners with varying degrees of success. Microsoft wants the minimal
barriers that Apple benefits from, and it has the deep war chest for it. Rob
Enderle, founder and chief analyst of Enderle Group, tells us, "The firm
gives them a much more solid position as a European company, very important if
you want the European Commission to see you more favorably. It assures
[Microsoft] can hold on to the phone beachhead [it has] established, and it
corrects inefficiencies between Microsoft and Nokia that were slowing ad-
vancement and hurting their ability to execute globally." Overall,
Microsoft looks like it’s betting that the bulk of its "desktop"
platform will become a mobile, always-connected future. The form factor of
workstations and servers probably will not change much for the foreseeable
future—but it’s clear Microsoft is preparing for a future where the desktop
looks like it will shrink dramatically, or be more frequently replaced with a
laptop.
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