Another record-breaking, breathtaking success for Microsoft

[guitarist]

Okay, well..not so much...

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/330c8b8e-...abdc0.html

[M A V I C]

Microsoft prepares rethink on Windows 8 flagship software

Microsoft is preparing to reverse course over key elements of its Windows 8 operating system, marking one of the most prominent admissions of failure for a new mass-market consumer product since Coca-Cola’s New Coke fiasco nearly 30 years ago.
“Key aspects” of how the software is used will be changed when Microsoft releases an updated version of the operating system this year, Tami Reller, head of marketing and finance for the Windows business, said in an interview with the Financial Times. Referring to difficulties many users have had with mastering the software, she added: “The learning curve is definitely real.”

Analysts warned that changing course would be a significant admission of failure for Steve Ballmer, chief executive, who called the October launch of Windows 8 a “bet-the-company” moment as Microsoft sought to respond to the success of Apple’s iPad.
[...]

[macphanatic]

Another flop. Who would have guessed that?

Does Vegas have an over under on the success of Microsoft products? If so, I'm guessing that the under doesn't pay out to well.

[bazookaman]

Steve Ballmer is like a meteorologist. What other job could you have where you are wrong more than 75% of the time and STILL keep your job.

[hal]

Win8 drove a lifelong WIn user to purchase a macbook pro last week.

A friend of mine that used WIn through out her career as a state employee asked me about buying a new computer for her retirement life.

My opinion has always been that if you're used to Windows and don't mind it, stay with it. Too many people become too accustomed to what they are used to to switch easily.

I had a long talk with her and she digested for about a month. She called a little while ago to say that Win8 was too weird and unfamiliar. She decided that if she was forced to go with unfamiliar, she might as well go for the good stuff and bought a refurb mbp.

A happy lady now...

[davemchine]

I applaud MS for taking a leap of faith with windows 8. It was a gutsy move but it didn't pay off. I think we are seeing the limit of what consumers are willing to learn in order to use an OS. I've turned off most of the multi gestures in OSX because I'm not willing to learn them all. Windows 8 pretty much required a person to learn extra gestures to use it well.

[guitarist]

I don't thing gestures played much of a role in the consumer rejection of Windows 8.

Also, the Windows 8 episode isn't itself the problem, it's a symptom of a larger underlying problem: the dysfunctional corporate culture and weak leadership at Microsoft.

disclosure: my wife worked at MS for ten years, up until a few months ago (joined a startup) and I got an earful about Microsoft's slow stale decline.

Balmer is universally disliked. The bureaucratic malaise that hovers over the company like a thick fog is courtesy of Balmer. In a way, it's unfortunate that Balmer's influence has been so mediocre-misguided, instead of obvious-disaster-bad. If it were more of a full-blown crisis that would force Balmer out, it's a crisis that would be more painful in the short term, but long-term, might have a healthier, more dynamic outcome.

Apple went through a few of those crazy panics in the 1990s, as they scrambled for leadership, and came out the other end as a globally potent high-growth company. But that's because they really were burning-to-the-ground in trouble, and didn't have a choice. It was about survival. Microsoft's bloated problems are easier to mask.

Windows 8? It's just a symptom.

[Article Accelerator]

davemchine wrote: I've turned off most of the multi gestures in OSX because I'm not willing to learn them all.

I think that's a mistake, davemachine. In my experience, learning Mountain Lion's gestures is 8 minutes well spent.

[guitarist]

Article Accelerator wrote:
[quote=davemchine]I've turned off most of the multi gestures in OSX because I'm not willing to learn them all.

I think that's a mistake, davemachine. In my experience, learning Mountain Lion's gestures is 8 minutes well spent.
I'm tempted to re-familiarize myself with them, as well.

I recall picking it up and finding them beneficial. But have neglected to employ the stand-alone trackpad (I'm not on a laptop) that I got to accompany my Mac Mini. I already have a magic mouse, and find it more familiar and easier to use regularly than a trackpad, for a desktop.

Also, keeping so many battery-powered devices, and keeping them charged, the mouse won.

Article Accelerator, do you use a trackpad for a Mac desktop? Or do you primarily use an Apple laptop? Just curious.

[Article Accelerator]

guitarist wrote: Article Accelerator, do you use a trackpad for a Mac desktop? Or do you primarily use an Apple laptop? Just curious.

Yes, I just got a new iMac and ordered it with the Magic Trackpad. I made a (small) effort to learn Mountain Lion's gestures and now find them to be a very efficient way to interact with the system.