BUILDing the Future Part 1: Windows 8
I’ve been stewing on what came out of BUILD for the past few weeks. There’s a lot to talk about: WinRT, .NET vs. HTML vs. native, C# vNext, Visual Studio vNext, Windows Server 8, desktop vs. “Metro”. It’s hard to know where to get started. The most obvious place to me is the star of the stage. The bell of the ball. The Helen of Troy. Windows 8 itself. Forget about the development story (although there’s a big one that has caused much speculation and moaning and gnashing of teeth), what does Windows 8 mean for the market?
Dual Nature
In case you haven’t noticed there are two sides to Windows 8. There is the “classic” desktop that is pretty familiar to us. There are some nice additions here and there (ribbon on the explorer shell, improved file copy) but for the most part there’s nothing really to see here. No new driver upgrades necessary, all the old apps run just fine Windows 8 classic desktop is just a perfunctory upgrade to Windows 7. If that was the entire story there wouldn’t be much to see here. Until you press the start button…
The Start Button has been a Windows mainstay since Windows 95 was released. It has undergone several changes but has served the same functionality for the past 16 years as a program launcher. I remember sinking a lot of time into organizing my start menu so that I could easily find my applications that I needed. When Vista came along and provided start menu search, my primary interaction with the start menu became as a searcher. I didn’t care anymore about organizing the program shortcuts because I could just type ‘visual studio’ and the start menu would find it for me. With Windows 7’s super app bar (or whatever they call it). I have more than enough room for my most common apps and the rest are a few keystrokes away from being found.
Regardless of the changes that have occurred over the years there is no denying the significance of the Start button (try finding a non-mac keyboard without one). It has become synonymous with Windows. That’s why tying the new experience to the start button is a bold and powerful statement by Microsoft (the Building Windows 8 Blog has a few posts on the topic of the Start Menu). There are a few subtle points to realize.
The Start Menu is the Default View
The first thing a user sees when she turns on her Windows 8 device is the Start Screen (very similar to the start screen for WP7). You have to “launch” the desktop view. This is a new canvas just waiting to be painted and Microsoft will be placing it (and potentially your app) in front of hundreds of millions of Windows users at power on. Think of that for a second. There are hundreds of millions of Windows 7 users right now. The adoption rates for new versions of Windows (barring Vista and me) have historically been high, so we can expect there to be a huge number of Windows 8 devices in users hands after launch.
Windows 8 Tablets are Hybrid Devices
Microsoft is creating an entirely new market with Windows 8. The Samsung device given out at Build is much more than a tablet, and much more than a Windows Desktop with touch. Today’s tablets (Android, iPad) are great at consumption and very light production. They are designed for the user on the go. The Samsung device with the new Start Menu is also designed for mobile users. Here’s the difference. Once you’re back at your desk, you can dock your Windows 8 tablet and it becomes a full Windows desktop. This seamless transition from tablet to computer is something that hasn’t been done in the tablet space yet.
I don’t think you heard me there. People buy PCs to get stuff done, they buy tablets to supplement their PCs. Windows 8 allows you to purchase one device to serve both purposes. The devices that pick up on that cue (like the Samsung or the Acer Iconia) will be the winners in the new market.