I’ve heard more noise about Windows RT needing to die over the past few weeks. It doesn’t need to die; but MS needs to get out of its own way…

Despite what everyone says, Windows RT doesn’t suck. It doesn’t… IF its viewed in the right way; AND if it gets a few needed tweaks.

I’ve heard recently that Windows RT holds just .04% of the market. I’ve also heard that analysts are urging Microsoft to dump the misunderstood OS in favor of Windows 8. While that may not be a bad idea, what most people are missing is that Windows RT could be very good at what it does IF and ONLY IF it were marketed as what it truly is – a tablet OS.

The OS is misunderstood. End users don’t understand that Windows RT is the Microsoft answer to iOS. Microsoft also didn’t help itself by using the Windows branding with it, either. To most PC users, Windows is Windows, and having Windows on a tablet is an interesting experience… Provided I can get all my software on it… or at least that’s what most users think.

Windows RT’s biggest problem – aside from a really weak to non-existent software store and an anemic ecosystem – is its Desktop mode. Its needs to leave that behind. Windows RT is NOT a desktop OS, and Microsoft needs to help users get over it. Everyone I know who has seen Windows RT doesn’t understand why they can’t get their older Windows apps to work on it.

Surface RT needs a marketing remake if it’s going to survive. It needs developer subsidies so that developers write RT based applications. And I mean USEABLE applications. Windows RT doesn’t need 50 bazillion different farting and pull my virtual finger apps.

Despite what everyone might think, I really believe that Microsoft has a decent chance to compete in the tablet market. However, it needs to make a few needed changes. If it can do that, then it can crack the tablet nut. Unfortunately, the marketing blitz needed is something that I really don’t think Microsoft is going to do, and that more than anything, is the biggest disappointment I’ve seen out of Redmond is a long time.

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It’s not a good idea.  Well, it *COULD* be, if Microsoft did it right, but they’re not going to…

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal announced that Microsoft is planning to spin up production of a 7″ Windows based, Surface branded tablet later this year.  The tablet is intended to compete with Apple’s iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7. The question one has to ask is whether this is an RT or x86 compatible device.

I think the RT model could work for a 7″ device if the price and margins were right.  Windows RT doesn’t completely suck as an OS or even as an interface. Its usable; though not very popular.  The problem is the ecosystem is extremely immature and there’s little to no native software.  Microsoft could solve part of that if it allowed Windows Phone 8 apps to run on Windows RT, but this isn’t currently the case.

Intel’s Clover Trail processor can provide a decent x86 option in powering a 7″ MS Surface tablet providing power and battery life at a reasonable price point, but I don’t see Microsoft using the x86 platform and Windows 8 on a 7″ device.  We’ve proven over and over again that full blown Windows on a smaller device (phone or tablet) is not what we want (part of that was due to lack of horse power in that form factor, the other that the apps weren’t designed to run on the smaller screens). People would still try to run Photoshop, or similar desktop app, on their 7″ tablet in this scenario, and it would definitely [still] suck.

I think this is not so much a “can we” but perhaps more of a “[what] should we [do]” situation. IF MS has a plan, now would be the time to publish that, make it known, and then move towards it with expediency.  They don’t have much time left.  The PC market appears to actively be in free fall. Without a clear plan that all of their partners and customers can see and support, I don’t see Microsoft being relevant for much longer.

Believe me when I say I am NO fan of ModernUI.  Windows RT/8′s ModernUI is  the most un-Windows version of Windows in the [modern] history of Windows.  It’s a complete unWindowing of Windows; and Microsoft should not use the Windows name with RT at all. It’s a huge marketing mistake that many industry pundits will attest to.

While neither you or I may like ModernUI, Microsoft could make it work, if it did a little bit of work and enhanced the ecosystem or changed their marketing, or did almost anything to right the ship. Currently, there are no signs that any of this is happening.  As such, introducing a 7″ tablet into the mix is going to do nothing for Microsoft except create an unprofitable cost center.

I think the thing that bothers me the most about this entire situation is, again, that pundits everywhere are panning Windows RT, Windows 8 and ModernUI.  Consumers are looking at alternatives, including tablets, Linux, and Macs. PC sales, regardless of operating system, are in free fall.  Windows 7 adoption is either steady or flat; and Windows 8 adoption is far below that of Vista. For Microsoft, none of this is good.

What other information does Microsoft need before it takes appropriate action?  It kind of makes you wonder if Ballmer, or anyone at Microsoft, is paying attention, or cares.  If I were a shareholder. I’d file  a formal complaint with the SEC at this point, if for NO other reason than to get Microsoft’s attention. It may not do anything in the long run, but it WOULD get press, and would likely require some sort of formal, public response.

Microsoft needs to take these issues seriously; and though they MAY be internally, from an external perspective, they are asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately, there are a couple icebergs in their direct path.  The 7″ tablet with their current marketing plans – price points, margins, etc. – operating systems and UI’s are NOT going to provide a competitive solution and are not the right choices.

Microsoft needs to act.  Based on this news, they are just throwing good money after bad. Why would MS offer an RT tablet, simple – because it offers choice.  Windows  RT doesn’t work if its comparatively priced with the iPad.  An RT tablet needs to be priced between $149 and $199 to work. Microsoft needs to find a way to get there, or they need to get out of the tablet market. They won’t do that at $399 to $599.  They have to make it crazy cheap or it will never take off.

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One of the things that most new Windows 8 users won’t like is the lack of interface customization options it has. The OS is almost completely new, and most users don’t know which end is up as far as putting a personal spin on it is concerned. This is why Decor8 is so important. It’s a Windows 8 customization tool.

Microsoft Windows 8 currently limits your start screen customization options to only a few provided background images and a few pre-defined color schemes. While this isn’t earth shatteringly disappointing, Windows 8 doesn’t really provide a lot of customization options, either.  This is where Decor8 comes in. It removes these limitations and provides the freedom to personalize your start screen with your own images and colors.

With Decor8, you can choose from more background images to personalize your start screen.  You can add your own photos and images, select multiple images to create a custom slideshow, randomize background images in timed intervals, and apply effects to scroll, fade, blur, recolor and add contrast to your background images.  You can also choose an image for your lock screen background.

Decor8 will automatically create a color scheme to match each of your background images. You can also customize the color scheme, if you prefer. Custom color schemes can also be applied to your charms bar. You can also control how many rows of tiles are available on your start screen.

Decor8 is a decent app; and it’s one of the very few customization apps out there right now for Windows 8. The app follows the same look and feel as Start8, also from Stardock.  The one thing that I would do at the time of this writing is to hold off on any purchase of Decor8 until after the release of Windows Blue. The update is supposed to add to Windows 8′s customization options, and that will likely cause a rev in Decor8 as well.

Related Posts:

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• A 7″ Microsoft Tablet?

Enough already, will ya?!  I want interoperability!

Attention computer vendors everywhere – I use your software tool it because it solves problems for me, not because it makes you money, or it looks cool, or any other reason other than it solves problems for me. So when you either don’t allow something to work OR if you reduce functionality – i.e. make something stop working that was previously working before, all you’re going to do in the long term is lose a customer.

Case in point – the latest update to the Mail, Calendar and People ModernUI app in Windows 8 removes Google Accounts from its syncable and supported accounts list. This is driving me nuts, because I spent a good 3 years in the Android camp before switching back to my iPhone. Unfortunately for me, my “master PIM account” is my Google Apps account.

This is a problem in an iPhone world because Google and Apple don’t’ work and play well together as they used to do. Both companies are busy having a “smartphone measuring” contest, trying to figure out whose smartphone is bigger, better, faster, etc.

I’ve got the same problem with Google and Microsoft over in the Windows 8 camp. Google recently removed Exchange ActiveSync support from its Google Apps suite. If you’re using a non-Google tool to sync PIM data, you may soon be out of luck. What this means is that if you have an Android Smartphone and a Windows 8 tablet, you can’t sync your contacts from Gmail to your Windows 8 tablet with Windows 8 Mail. An email program without your contacts in it is useless.

If you have an iPhone, you might be able to use CardDAV and CalDAV, but…oh yeah… Windows 8 doesn’t support those either. Apple is also dropping support of EAS from Mail.

So what we have here is a RETURN to the non-interoperability of 2007-2009 before both Google and Apple announced support for Exchange ActiveSync and everybody worked and played nice together.

From a vendor perspective, this is Google, Apple and Microsoft trying to lock users into their paid services. From a consumer perspective, this is a giant pain in the @$$.

Now, more than ever, until everyone decides that it’s politically correct to work and play well together, consumers must pick and choose their tools wisely. If you want all of your information to sync where and when you want it, you’re likely going to have to choose compatible tools.

In other words, due to the fact that it’s becoming increasingly harder to use off-vendor devices and service together, you aren’t going to be able to mix and match devices any longer. If you want to use an iPhone, you’re likely going to have to work with a Mac computer and an iPad tablet. If you have an Android smartphone, you’re going to be tied to Gmail/Google Apps and an Android tablet. Same thing for Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT.

All of these vendors have software and SaaS products to sell you and they want to insure that they hook you, and keep you in THEIR camp, in THEIR ecosystem. This is going to do nothing more than widen the gaps between vendors, their services and tools and firmly draw lines in the sand that users are going to have to cross.

This is going to create some very interesting opportunities for 3rd party developers who might be able to setup sync and consolidation services – think The Missing Sync and Plaxo – but both of those are having their own issues and problems to get around. All of this may do nothing more than narrow and eliminate choices for users as vendors like MS, Google and Apple try to lock them in. it’s going to be an interesting couple of years before this is all worked out. We may end up back with interoperability, but don’t think that it’s going to be for free… if it comes back, users are going to pay subscription and licensing fees.

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If this isn’t a “V8 Moment,” I have no idea what might be…

There’s been a bunch of articles hitting the tech rags lately indicating that the current rate of Windows 8 adoption is slower than the adoption rate of Windows Vista was at about the same point in its release cycle.

Well, duh.

If that isn’t a “V8 Moment” (think of the V8 vegetable juice commercials, where people smacked there head out of “stupidity…”) I have no idea what is.

The major reasons why Windows Vista failed were:

• The interface – Microsoft moved our cheese
• XP adoption was still strong
• Enterprise adoption didn’t take off

Unfortunately for Microsoft and Windows 8, the conditions the market is seeing with Windows 8 is either the same or much worse than with Windows Vista. I’m going to break it down, very quickly.

Graph Source: Net Applications via ComputerWorld

The Interface
Unfortunately for Microsoft, I think there’s more negative press with ModernUI than with the Vista version of Aero. The biggest problem with Vista was that MS changed where people had to go to get to most of the same functions they were using in Windows XP. What they were doing when they finally FOUND what they were looking for didn’t really change, though there were some updates to process, method, etc.

Unfortunately for Vista, the changes were considered so drastic that its consumer adoption tanked. People didn’t want to have to relearn what they were doing and those that were buying new PC’s decided to use Windows XP instead. Which brings us to the next point…

Previous OS Adoption
At the time that Windows Vista was introduced, Windows XP was still in very wide use. It was stable. People were comfortable and familiar with it, and most importantly, were productive at home and at work.

Enterprise Adoption
This was a foregone conclusion – enterprise adoption of Windows Vista wasn’t going to happen quickly, even under the best of conditions. IT Admins and managers don’t introduce unknowns onto their networks. They just don’t. They want tried, tested and reliable equipment, software and tools they know won’t fail or cause problems. At the time, Vista wasn’t it, and wouldn’t be for at least a year or more.

The problem with Vista’s enterprise adoption was that people weren’t willing to wait to learn where Microsoft had moved everything. Vista failed to gain any traction because it was considered too different in a sea of Windows versions that had evolved and moved users towards greater productivity.

Now let’s take a look at Windows 8. The interface is a more drastic change from Windows 7 to Windows 8 than Windows Vista was from XP, Windows 8′s touch interface also doesn’t work well with non-touch hardware.

Windows 7 is still very popular and very usable on laptops, desktops, slate styled tablets and ultrabooks. Windows 7 also hasn’t made it into the enterprise in many cases because of the upgrade path from Windows XP to Windows 7. You either need to jump to Vista (and pay a license fee to do so) or wipe the PC and install from scratch. Enterprise adoption slows to a crawl there due to the amount of heavy lifting and/or large cost to upgrade from XP (where many companies still reside) to Windows 7 or even Windows 8.

So what’s the bottom line here? Please don’t be surprised that Windows 8 adoption is slow. Please also don’t be surprised when Windows 8.x (including Windows Blue) is declared a flop. I am seeing a great deal of press on all of this and no one should be surprised.

Windows RT should be the tablet OS and Windows 8 should be a desktop/laptop OS. The Live Tile interface on the desktop doesn’t work, and Microsoft is being VERY stubborn about admitting it made yet another mistake.

My biggest fear is that I’m right about all of this. My biggest fear is that Microsoft takes too long to make changes to address the way its users work and it waits itself right out of business. I’m not saying it’s GOING to happen… I’m saying I’m afraid it might if someone at Microsoft doesn’t take control of how the ship is spiraling out of control…

If I were a shareholder, I’d be demanding changes be made…quickly. If I’m wrong, I’d love for someone to present convincing evidence to the contrary. I’m willing to listen…

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Microsoft recently launched the latest version of their Windows operating system, Windows 8, and reports say they have sold an impressive 60 million copies since the October 2012 release. However, reviews of the new product have been mixed to say the least, and the response from the business world has been particularly cynical.

With Windows 8, Microsoft aimed to accommodate the increased popularity of tablets and smartphones. The design updates may look smart, but reviewers have complained that there are many usability issues. MIT Technology Review commented that although the new interface, which Microsoft has optimistically named “Modern,” is “a pleasure to use on phones and tablets,” it “fares poorly” when used on a PC.

The news of usability problems with Windows 8 has spread quickly among business users. The criticisms have damaged Microsoft’s reputation when it comes to operating systems, which is still in recovery from the negative response to 2006’s Windows Vista. Official sales figures state that only 17% of business computers shipped in December 2012 used Windows 8.

It seems that businesses perceive Windows 8 as an operating system targeted to the needs and desires of consumers, and therefore not a useful update for their PCs. Windows 8 is particularly designed to suit touch screen devices such as tablets and mobile phones. Touch screen is a major consumer trend, but for business users a more practical operating system is a priority. MIT Technology Review summarised: “The touch-based user interface is clearly designed for consuming information and having fun, rather than for doing serious work.”

Windows 8’s Modern interface looks markedly different to what users have come to know and expect from Windows. When the computer is switched on, the user is met with a screen comprising of different sized squares, where they once would have seen the familiar desktop layout, with various icons, wallpaper and a toolbar. The new interface is colourful and appealing for casual computer users, but for businesses where productivity and usability are key, the new look seems more of a gimmick than an innovation.

Windows 8 has received many criticisms for its functional problems, for example technology website The Verge said that its included apps were too basic, and Ars Technica stated that the interface was not intuitive, complaining about a lack of instructions. However, reviewers have also pointed out a number of positive improvements, which have been overshadowed by complains about the interface. The Verge were impressed by Windows 8’s updated Task Manager and the File History and Storage Space features.

With Windows 8, Microsoft has launched an ambitious new product, which has had some very well documented teething problems. For businesses, an operating system with such functionality issues is not a viable option, but in the long-run Microsoft’s bold move into new territory could give them an advantage over their rivals Google and Apple. For now, they will need to work hard to win back their business customers’ valuable loyalty, perhaps with updates or a separate business edition.

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Put the Start button and Windows 7 styled Start Menu back on your Windows 8 computer with this must have utility.

In the corporate world, we say that someone moved our cheese. Microsoft changed the way that Windows 8′s Start Menu works, and it’s really not sitting well with a number of people who don’t have a touch enabled PC. If this is you, or if you really don’t like the new interface, then Start8 is definitely for you. It’s a Windows 8 Start Menu utility, and its pretty awesome.

Start8, part of Stardock’s Object Desktop, does two things – it puts a Start Button on the Windows task bar and creates a Windows 7 styled Start Menu on your Windows 8 powered PC. You still get access to the Windows 8 Menu with all of its Live Tiles, but at least while in Desktop Mode, where many will spend their time, you’ll have a familiar interface to work with.

The nice thing about Start8 is that it’s completely configurable. You get most, if not all of the same Start Menu options you’re used to, and the utility works with both legacy and Modern UI (Metro-styled) applications. In other words, you can search for and pin Windows 8-styled apps to Start8′s Start Menu and use them like any other application.

Stardock has been creating some really awesome Windows software for the past 15 years or so. Start8 is part of its Object Desktop suite of Windows enhancements and is specifically for Windows 8. The only bad thing about Object Desktop, is that much of its components don’t work on Windows 8 as of this writing. Those that do, seem really awesome and are highly recommended.

Start8 does a great job of reproducing the Windows 7 desktop UI without adding any real overhead. I’m running it on a Dell Latitude 10 ST2 Windows 8 Pro tablet, and it doesn’t tax or burden the device in any way. This is a must have application for your Windows 8 PC.

Download Start8

Related Posts:

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When 53% to 64% of your device’s storage is consumed before you turn the device on, something is wrong…

Over the past few years, we’ve got from gigabytes of desktop and notebook storage to terabytes. Shortly after the 2TB and 3TB hard drive hit, SSD’s started to become popular and come down in price. We still don’t have a 1TB SSD available yet; and even if it were available, it likely wouldn’t be available at an affordable price.

With the growing popularity of Cloud Storage – things like Dropbox, Google Drive and SkyDrive – the growing thought is that the need for a great deal of off line storage is declining.  This is a very progressive point of view, and one that is still gaining acceptance.  One of the prerequisites for moving the masses to the Cloud is readily accessible, solid and reliable internet access. Without it, the Cloud Storage Model doesn’t work…but that’s another topic for another day.

It is related, however, because there are a number of newer PC’s or computing devices that are being introduced that seem to either fully embrace or lean towards embracing the Cloud Storage Model. Microsoft’s Surface Pro is one such device, and it’s a bit problematic if you ask me, especially when 53% to 64% of Surface Pro’s storage is given over to system related, preinstalled software.

This is the crux of the issue – nearly all the storage on Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablets is consumed before the user takes the device out of the box. ZDNet’s Ed Bott argues that this isn’t an issue, as some of the space is reclaimable by the end user and there’s always the Cloud.

ZDNet’s Robin Harris comes closer to hitting the issue on the head but still misses the mark.  His point is that Surface Pro doesn’t know what it wants to be – an ultrabook or a tablet. While he’s right about that, I disagree that the storage requirements on a Windows machine – tablet or ultrabook classifications are irrelevant – differ. Any computing device that runs legacy (read traditional) Windows software is going to need storage space for it to live in. It doesn’t matter if Microsoft created a new classification of computing device or if it will be successful or not.  The fact that users have to go through some kind of storage cleansing activity in order to get some decent, available, non-SD card type storage is silly.

The fact that you can double your storage space for $100 bucks is also a bit whacked. I mean, who isn’t going to spend $999 for the 128GB version? When you’ve already committed to buy Surface Pro, spending $899 for 1/2 the storage is ludicrous.

If Microsoft lowers the price of the 64GB versions – which is unlikely, by the way – then I might pick one up, but at this point, I likely won’t bother, which is a shame.  The tablets could have been so much more at a more reasonable price point.

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