Microsoft to merge desktop, tablet and phone OS

haven

Expedition Leader
Today was Microsoft's day to report earnings. (They were disappointing, thanks to the costs of the major restructuring of the Nokia group.) In the conference call with analysts, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the company plans to "streamline the next version of Windows from three operating systems into on single converged system for screens of all sizes." No timeline to achieve this task was announced.
http://www.businessinsider.com/nadella-merges-windows-phone-windows-2014-7

This plan is both obvious and revolutionary. Obvious in that today Microsoft sells Windows Phone OS, Windows R/T, and several versions of Windows 8.1. A single OS will help developers keep the faith. Users of Microsoft desktops will be able to use tablets and phones without a lot of retraining. Long live the PC!

It's revolutionary in that Microsoft's former CEO, Steve Balmer, was adamant that there should be different OSes for different types of computing. Nadella's announcement is 180 degrees away from Balmer's policy. I'm sure a lot of long term Microsoft employees will not like this, as it concentrates power into a single OS development effort.

There are several hurdles to overcome to achieve this plan. Microsoft has to come up with an interface that works across platforms. Remember how so many people complained when the "Start" menu disappeared from the new Metro desktop? That's just a taste of things to come. And Microsoft has to convince corporate customers to speed up their migration from previous versions of Windows. (Windows XP, introduced in 2001, is still popular in corporate America.) They need to find a way to convince their large customers to journey into the future.

Apple is slouching in the direction of one OS as well. iPhone and iPad work the same today. And most iDevice owners are familiar with using a Mac desktop. But so far MacOS does not use a touch screen interface. At some point, it will make sense for Apple to bring MacOS into alignment with iOS.

Google is the third force in operating systems. The Android OS is well accepted for phone and tablet use. But Google is pushing Chrome as a notebook, and eventually desktop, OS. It's not at all clear where Google is headed.

[Update: Google recently announced a plan to make Android apps run in a window on Chrome. Under the plan, apps will have to be significantly updated to work in Chrome. That's a stopgap at best, but will give Android users a way to use their favorite tablet apps on a laptop. It may take a year or more for updated apps to start appearing. ]
 

zelatore

Explorer
I was an XP user until only a year or so ago when I finally had to break down and buy a new laptop. I was not a happy boy learning the new OS. And yes, I brought my start button and regular old desktop back - I still don't use the 'tiles' screen or whatever the hell they call it....seems a total waste of time that only complicates things. At the time I was learning my way around (and really, I've only learned the most basic bits) I recall thinking two things:
1-this is so far different I might as well have bought a freakin' Mac
and 2- the only reason I can see for going this far away from their previous style was to integrate better with other platforms (i.e. phones/tablets)
 

Jr_Explorer

Explorer
Yeah... Microsoft recovered from the Vista fiasco well with Windows 7. Laptops/desktop "computers" need to be power user computers and a smartphone OS just destroys that. Windows 8 sucks from a user interface point of view. The single OS is going to be a mistake. Even Apple has taken this too far turning their computer OS more smartphone'esque.

The reason tablets and phones have not displaced laptop/desktop computers is if you want to get serious work done (typing large documents, working with large spreadsheets or databases) you use a computer with as direct an interface as possible.

That's my $0.02.
 

robert

Expedition Leader
God I hate the tablet/phone type systems- everyone at Microsoft who though Windows 8 was a good idea should be burned at the stake. Their Office 2013 suites suck too; I want something easily visible that I can look at and work on for a while, not something that looks like some goofy app. Of course I've been called curmudgeonly for my views on smart phones and tablets and how people today feel they must somehow be connected at all times, even when it's rude and inconvenient to others. :ar15:
 

doug720

Expedition Leader
I don't know the technical term for this, but MS OS's have changed how documents are saved and displayed.

It used to be, a document created in XP, even Dos, could be viewed in Vista, W7 or other versions of the OS. The new OS will only allow the documents to be used back one OS generation! Meaning, you will have to change OS's on a regular basis, or risk losing your older files!

This keeps the "Churn"up and sales of new OS's! MS and the others OS's don't want a repeat of XP - an OS still being used by a large segment of users that is over 10 years old!

The brave new world...All about bring'n in da cash...
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
My wife and I are of the few who LOVE windows 8.1. I love the metro interface, and its very easy to use. I have it on my desktop, notebooks, tablet, and phone.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
perfect. Hope they keep it. Works great, Im on my asus vivotab RT now and lovin every min of it. Metro is here to stay as a normal windows desktop will not work in a mobile environment. So, I am guessing that it's the way MS is going and all the haters are going to have to live with it.
 

zelatore

Explorer
Am I a hater?

I never thought of myself as a hater.

But yeah, I guess I sorta am.

I've mostly gotten over it as I've been using it for a year or so, but I still come up with things that just don't work right. I'm sure it's user error and it would work right if I knew how to make it happen in the new world order, but I just don't like the hassle of figuring out how to do something that used to work just fine.

Like the Dyson commercials used to say 'I just want things to work'
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
It took some time for us as well. figuring out everything. I find myself swiping my two notebook screens obsessively, but they are not touch. ha ha! Time to upgrade! ha ha. Still they work great using 8. We both know how everything works now, so its all good in windows land here. The integration of our gear together is a god send.
 

millerfish

Adventurer
"everyone at Microsoft who though Windows 8 was a good idea should be burned at the stake"

Burning at the stake would be way to nice for them... Having used every Windows OS from 3.0 on, I can say 8 is by far the worst! I would rather go back to DOS than have Windows 8...
 

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