Microsoft made progress in the past few weeks but still has important things to prove. For starters, think Start screen and wearables.
Windows 8.1 Update 1: 10 Key Changes
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Microsoft has earned loads of praise this month and for good reason: The corporate faced tough questions within the first half April and answered most of them with aplomb.
Some feared Microsoft had missed the danger to profit from iOS’s success, as an instance, but Office apps for the iPad quickly leapt to the end of the App Store charts. At Build, the corporate also introduced new Azure and visible Studio features aimed squarely at iOS developers, including folks that don’t develop for Windows.
[Why are such a lot of people still using Windows XP? Read Windows XP Holdouts: 6 Top Excuses.]
Microsoft additionally made most Windows licenses free for OEMs, finally showing some spunk after manufacturers spent much of 2013 touting Android and Chrome over Windows. It also released the Windows 8.1 update to assuage disenchanted desktop users, throwing in a sneak peak of a future Start menu for good measure. And that is let alone Cortana and the remainder of Windows Phone 8.1, Universal Windows Apps, or the 40-plus other features added to Azure.
It’s been an exceptional month for brand spanking new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella but his company still has much to prove, particularly among consumers.
But good because the previous couple of weeks were for Microsoft, they don’t seem to be a panacea for all of the company’s challenges. Lots of its remaining uphill battles involve consumer products, that’s perhaps unsurprising, provided that critics say the corporate should focus more resources on enterprise products. Where does Microsoft still have to prove itself? Listed here are six pressing questions.
1. Will the trendy UI ever be popular?
At Build, Nadella made clear that Microsoft is devoted to fashionable-style apps. But whereas the unique version of Windows 8 tethered Modern apps to the tiled Start screen, the hot Windows 8.1 update severs the cord. The beginning screen remains there, but when users desire to, they could run Modern apps without ever leaving the desktop. The Live Tile-infused Start menu that Microsoft OS chief Terry Myerson showed at Build only reinforces this idea.
Although it is a smart decision, this modification is an intensive departure from Microsoft’s earlier strategy. The company’s initial determination to familiarize users with the beginning screen was so strong that a boot-to-desktop mode wasn’t even included. Yes, the hot update features a few tweaks to make the beginning screen more usable on non-touch machines, but one wonders, given Microsoft’s backpedaling, if the beginning screen will ever be popular on non-tablet devices, or if future Windows desktop PCs might even drop the beginning screen while keeping Modern apps.
In a screenshot from Microsoft Research’s now-removed video, Live Tiles can show deeper content, akin to an email inbox, or even launch desktop applications.
Although these questions won’t be answered immediately, Microsoft appears to have inadvertently leaked the various Live Tile concepts that may manifest in future Windows releases. Microsoft Research posted a video within which Human-Computer Interaction Group researcher Jiawei Gui demonstrates Live Tiles that permit users to drill down into app contents without launching into
Michael Endler joined InformationWeek as an associate editor in 2012. He previously worked in talent representation inside the entertainment industry, as a contract copywriter and photojournalist, and as a teacher. Michael earned a BA in English from Stanford University in 2005 … View Full Bio
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