How Windows 8 Will Shape Our Future

At the end of October, Windows 8 will be released to the general public.  Contrary to other companies, who make phone/tablet-specific OS’s, like iOS and Android, Microsoft chooses to use Windows 8 for desktops/laptops and tablets, instead of using the Windows Phone OS for tablets.  And, depending on which OS version you choose, you will still be able to run legacy desktop apps.

This is a differentiator, as it’s actually two OS’s in 1: the new “Modern UI” (or whatever terribly uncool name they renamed Metro to) with Windows Store apps, combined with the desktop apps we’re used to.  But is it ideal? 

No.  While keyboard/mouse works in the Modern UI interface, works quite well actually, it isn’t optimal.  No matter how hard you try, you cannot ignore the simple fact that a user interface designed for the best possible touch experience will not at the same time deliver the best possible user experience if you use the mouse/keyboard-combo.

A more important question to ask: does it make sense?  Yes it does.  It absolutely does.

Why do I state that?  Let’s take a step back.  We’ve all seen the video, touch screens everywhere, … but nothing seemed to really move forward in that area: touch on tablets & phones, sure, but touch on the laptops and desktops we use in our jobs?  No. 

One of the main reasons for this: we simply didn’t have an OS (desktop/laptop) made for this type of interaction.  No touch friendly OS = no touch enabled hardware, as vendors don’t have an incentive for it. 

Sure, they exist: my brother has a huge touch-enabled desktop.  One of the only ones I’ve ever seen.  It runs Windows 7, and he never uses the touch capabilities of the screen.  Because they don’t make sense on Windows 7.  They do when that same machine is running Windows 8.

To move forward to that world portrayed in the video, you need to accomplish a few things.  You need to create the hardware, or the incentive to create that hardware, to make it possible: availability.  You need to have an operating system that not only supports but also drives that hardware.  Next to that, you need to let people slowly get used to this new way of interacting: awareness.  And you need to create demand for applications that use this touch interaction.

And that is why Windows 8 is probably the most important Windows since Windows ’95, and why mixing desktop & modern UI makes sense.

Microsoft could’ve just made 2 OS’s: Windows 8 RT with the modern UI, and Windows 8 for Enterprises with no Modern UI whatsoever.  A lot of people would’ve liked that, probably.  The sheer genius of not doing that, and including the Modern UI & Windows Store apps by default on every Windows version, is that this creates the drive towards the world we can see in the video: availability, awareness & demand.  As we can already see, it’s driving hardware vendors to enable touch on a lot of their Windows 8 devices – because we now have an OS that’s treating touch as a first-class citizen.  You can’t really call it tablets anymore, a lot of those devices coming to the market are laptops with detachable touch screens.  That trend will continue, right up to the time where a touch screen is the norm for all devices: availability.  

Then there’s awareness: by mixing them, everyone gets a glimpse of what can be achieved with touch.  While Windows 8 is a huge change from Windows 7, users still have the possibility to work as they’re used to, on the desktop (so there’s no need to be afraid about your legacy apps) – but by also providing the Modern UI, touch-first interface, they’ll see what can be achieved with that, whereas not mixing them and designing two separate OS’s would not drive that awareness. 

When the most-used OS, by a huge margin, gets a new version in which touch is a first-class citizen, it drives hardware vendors to design touch enabled machines.  Next to that, in combination with new hardware, it drives consumers & enterprise-users to WANT touch enabled apps, as they can now experience first-hand what can be achieved with them: demand is created.

And then we can move on, further away from the mix between modern UI and desktop.  But the move will be in the direction of the modern UI, not in the direction of the old desktop – the number of times we need to use that will become less.  Sure, I don’t really see myself using Visual Studio or Photoshop as a Windows Store app.  But most applications most people use today can actually benefit from touch, or from a touch/keyboard combo, leaving the mouse out altogether.

Wait a minute.

Did you just say “leave the mouse out altogether”?

Yes. Because that’s what we’re moving to for most applications.  I’m sure most of us can see how touch devices can be useful for, let’s say, management dashboard applications, mobile apps for on-the-road use, … but what about those heavy data input apps?  Administrative apps, inventory management apps, … pretty hard to be productive in those with touch alone.  Combine that touchscreen with a keyboard, and it’s a completely different ballgame. Touch, pinch, zoom, gestures, keyboard input – that’s what we’ll use. 

Let’s take that inventory management app as an example: the manager is at his desk, with his touch-enabled screen attached to a keyboard.  He can now easily navigate through his inventory with his fingers.  Thanks to the keyboard, it’s easy to add or edit an item.  And when he’s not sure about the number of items he has in stock, he just detaches the screen and walks to the stock to input the correct number of items.  Or, why not, he does that on his phone if he happens to walk by and sees something’s wrong – because the data he’s editing is in the cloud, and he can edit it from any device.

In short: Windows 8 will drive the creation of hardware needed for the OS to be successful, and the availability of such hardware will drive the sales of the OS.  It takes a big player like Microsoft, with a huge consumer/enterprise-base, to achieve this.

Oh, and it’s a great business model for Microsoft as well: after all, they take a cut on every app sold through the Windows Store.

Windows 8, in my opinion, is a go-between OS.  It’s what needed NOW, to get ready for what’s coming. 

My conclusion, and maybe a glimpse into the future?  When I started at my current job, more than 8 years ago, we were all working with desktop pc’s with heavy CRT screens. Today, we all have laptops, and we can easily work from different locations, including home (depending on what you’re working on, of course).  However, bringing your own device or working on non-company devices is still a problem.  A few years down the road, and those out-dated policies will have changed.  Most devices we work on will be portable, have touch screens (which will influence HOW we work), and will be of a variety of form factors (laptop, laptop/tablet, tablet, phone, …).  And yes, that includes those devices now used for heavy data input.

Windows 8 is just the beginning, and it’s a transition I’m looking forward to.  Actually, if you look at it from a business perspective (which Microsoft undoubtedly does), Windows 8 is a stroke of genius.