Microsoft’s new operating system—Windows 8—is out now, and the reviews have not been kind. One article says that 74 percent of businesses don’t plan to use it.
Doing IT consulting in Chicago for a number of years, I can see where this version is going: that Windows 8 is one of those unwelcome upgrades—like Windows Vista or Windows Me—that bring more grief and confusion than benefits.
What was the main reason for the upgrade? My guess is that Windows 8 is Microsoft’s attempt to accommodate the growing tablet and cell-phone consumer market. The operating system is designed to work well with touch interface—and it does. The problem is that Microsoft is forcing this upgrade on every PC user, though the benefits are mainly to the minority who use mobile devices. Also, Windows 8’s radically different look, with its tile-grid interface, will be jarring to many users.
The good news is that you can easily revert to a Windows 7-like screen if you’re using a laptop or desktop. But it does involve a few steps. Another benefit is that Windows 8 seems to boot up much faster (according to anecdotal feedback), which is always a welcome feature.
The bottom line is that Windows 8 will probably be grudgingly accepted. This is mainly because newer PCs will have it preloaded in their system, and the price of getting this upgrade will be drastically reduced, especially when bundled with the hardware. Like it or not, Microsoft’s dominance probably means that we’ll all start using Windows 8 in the not-too-distant future.