Tag Archives: Microsoft

How long do you give Windows RT?

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RT sales are not in the pink

Windows RT sales are not in the pink

Windows 8 isn’t selling as fast as earlier Microsoft operating systems. Many customers who have the software dislike it so much they use add-ons to mask features. Windows Phone 8 is the fastest-growing smartphone OS, but has a tiny market share.

Both problems are solvable.

On the other hand Windows RT looks beyond saving.

IDC estimates Windows RT sold around a million units by the end of March. That’s after six months on the market. In comparison, Apple sells well over a million iPads every week.

RT suffers from being almost-a-desktop-OS in a non-desktop device. And there’s that clumsy business of needing to switch to desktop mode to handle certain tasks.

Windows 8, that’s the full version not RT, works great on more powerful tablets and touch screen PCs. If you must have Windows on a portable device, that’s the best way to go – even if it is expensive. HP’s Elitepad shows how this can work.

Although it has detractors, Windows Phone 8 is a fine smartphone OS.

Microsoft could have used Windows Phone 8 as its tablet OS. That’s what Apple did. The software running an iPad comes from the iPhone, not from the Macintosh.

It looks like the market has spoken and its response to RT is ‘no thanks’. This may change If reports of a 7-inch Windows tablet are correct and Microsoft delivers something compelling. Otherwise, RT is doomed.

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Microsoft concedes Windows 8 defeat?

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Windows 8 works much better on a tablet

Windows 8 works better on a tablet

A report in the Financial Times says Microsoft is preparing to reverse course over elements of its Windows 8 operating system – a move the paper says marks one of the most prominent admissions of failure since Coca-Cola’s New Coke.

The FT interviewed Tammy Reller, head of marketing and finance for the Windows business who refused to say what changes are on the way, but did admit users struggled to adapt to the new user interface. She also admitted not doing enough to train retail staff and education potential customers about the new OS.

Although it is not mentioned specifically, there’s no question the missing start button and the page full of large colourful tiles are seen as the main problems.

Microsoft’s Windows 8 is a brave attempt to straddle the gap between conventional PCs and tablets. In my experience it works well on tablets and makes sense on computers equipped with touch screens, but is clumsy on PCs with normal screens. There’s a clear cognitive gap moving between the two user interfaces that make up Windows 8.

However, after attempting to move back to Windows 7 for a week, I quickly discovered the positives of the new OS outweigh all the frustrations. Going by today’s news, I’m not in the majority.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this is how long it took Microsoft to get the message from its customers. The company no longer dominates the technology sector and an unforgiving market is no longer willing to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt. It really needs to fix this quickly.

See also: Windows 8 is a flop

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Microsoft’s confusing Windows names: Jack Schofield

So it turns out I’m not the only person mystified by the names Microsoft gives to its operating systems. Jack Schofield runs over the history of the names given to Windows versions and comes to the conclusion it all makes sense, if only on planet Zog.

Australia’s price gouging inquiry for New Zealanders

When did you last charge fair prices?

When did you last charge fair prices?

New Zealand’s technology press took little notice of the latest hearing at Australia’s parliamentary inquiry into technology price gouging. That’s odd, because it has implications for the way we buy technology.

On Friday Canberra ordered in three senior executives for a grilling on why their companies charge Australians more than Americans for the same products and services. In some cases they charge Australians much more than US prices. New Zealanders usually pay the same or higher prices than Australians.

Two of the three executives have responsibility for their company’s New Zealand operations. The third is a New Zealander by birth. Tony King is Apple vice-president for Australia, New Zealand and South Asia. Paul Robson is Adobe managing director for Australia and New Zealand, South East Asia and Korea. Microsoft Australia managing director Pip Marlow comes from New Zealand.

The parliamentary committee had invited all three companies to take part in the inquiry, but despite several requests they all avoided the hearings. Last month the inquiry issued a summons for them to appear.

Apple comes out of the inquiry with its reputation intact. Most Apple products sell for roughly the same price in Australian and New Zealand as in the US. Itunes songs, movies and TV shows are more expensive in this part of the world, but Apple’s Tony King says that’s down to the rights holders.

In contrast Adobe looks worse than ever. Company boss Paul Robson failed to explain why the standard edition of Creative Suite 6 costs almost twice as much in Australia as in America. He mentioned some nonsense about a “personalised” and “localised” web experience the company serves up to Australian customers.

To a New Zealander, that looks hypocritical – we don’t get a personalised or localised experience. Visit Adobe.co.nz and you’ll see an Australian site designed for Australians with Australian prices.

Microsoft’s Pip Marlow also struggled to articulate a case for higher prices in Australia than in the US or Singapore. In effect she told the hearing that Microsoft charges what the market will bear.

There’s little scope for the inquiry to force companies to change their price gouging in Australia. The politicians could make geoblocking illegal, which means Australians may be able to download software and content at US-prices. None of this is likely to happen as Australia looks to be heading for a change of government in September.

For my money, the transparency of getting this issue out into the open is a good thing. The exercise is good theatre, but it also helps us learn how big technology companies are thinking and that gives us information to make better buying decisions.

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Downgrading from Window 8 to 7 is no answer

Windows 7 Windows 8Windows 8 is not a sales success. That’s partly because many users struggle with the clumsy dual-mode user interface. Some hate the new interface so much they ditch Windows 8 in favour of Windows 7.

My advice: don’t do it.

I decided to see if downgrading is the answer. After a week using the older Windows, I can report Windows 7 isn’t the answer to Windows 8 woes. Unless you’ve got problems with an application that won’t run on Windows 8, deliberately downgrading to Windows 7 doesn’t make sense.

My trip back to Windows 7 only lasted a week, I didn’t have time to miss features upgraded in Windows 8 like account syncing or refresh and reset. I did notice the slower start-up time, but I use an SSD so the difference between 7 and 8 is seconds. File copying works better in Windows 8 but that’s not a big enough deal to swap operating systems for.

So if Windows 8′s features are not the issue, why am I now convinced the new operating system a better choice than Windows 7 despite the user interface? Mainly because Windows 8 is smoother and more polished. I like the file system, updated explorer and the SkyDrive cloud integration.

What about productivity? I suspected Windows 8 is lower than Windows 7, it turns out I was wrong. With everyday work there’s no noticeable difference. When it comes to tasks like moving files and backing-up, Windows 8 is better.

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Windows 7 returns fast thanks to cloud

Nothing illustrates the value of personal cloud computing better than my move from Windows 8 to Windows 7.

While there are benefits from Microsoft’s new operating system, I suspect my productivity is lower. Update: I checked this. It turns out Windows 8 is more productive.

Third-party tools can make Windows 8 look like Windows 7. I’ve used overlays before and found them not practical over the long-term. Sooner or later something comes along that breaks them.

However, memory of past Windows installations made me wary of jumping back to Windows 7 until I realised the job would be easier: cloud computing removes much pain.

In the past a fresh Windows install could take a day. That was when software and operating systems came on discs. Restoring my desktop PC to its pre Windows 8 state took around an hour. It could have been less with better planning.

Recovery involved:

  • Formatting the system drive – a SSD,
  • Installing Windows 7,
  • Downloading and installing the latest updates,
  • Fixing the links between the default libraries and the data drive – a conventional hard drive
  • Reinstalling applications

There are a dozen or so must-have applications on my work machine. Of these nine are essentially cloud apps. Some, like Xero, need no installation. Others like Office 365 and Google Talk take a few clicks. What would have been an afternoon of swapping discs, entering product codes and continual reboots took 15 minutes.

The hardest part was finding overlooked drivers. If I planned ahead in that department the entire job would have been well under an hour.

Two other advances speed the reinstall. SSD means reboot take seconds. This saved 15 minutes.

I’ve installed Windows from a USB disc image since XP days, today the process is made easier thanks to Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool. 

Moving back to Windows 7 took an hour.

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