Microsoft is taking action to make Windows 8 more attractive to consumers in what is being seen as an admission of failure by the Redmond behemoth.
An updated version of the operating system, expected later this year, will make it more user-friendly, the company told the Financial Times.
According to the newspaper, Tammy Reller, chief marketing officer and chief financial officer for Microsoft Windows, admitted that “key aspects” of the software will be changed. “The learning curve is definitely real,” she admitted.
Sales of Windows 8 have been disappointing, relying heavily on OEM partners of Microsoft adopting the operating system for new computer designs. Upgraders have been less keen on buying into the proposition.
Last September, a survey by Windows 8 Forums of 50,000 users revealed that more than half Windows 8 users still preferred Windows 7. Only a quarter of respondents named Windows 8 as their favourite, citing the fast boot and shut down as their favourite feature. Only 22 percent named the touch screen UI as their most-liked feature.
Despite the FT interview, Microsoft has yet officially to confirm what is being hailed as the biggest U-turn since the “new-recipe” Coke climb-down by Coca Cola in 1985. The impact on the company will be huge – and not just the effect it has on its reputation.
Enterprises that have invested in costly and long-term upgrades of their computers will probably stall their efforts until Microsoft clarifies the situation. It is not known whether the changes will mean applying a “fix” or whether a complete re-installation will be required. This will impact many channel players that have contracted to undertake upgrades for their customers – or may have persuaded their customers to go with Windows 8.
More critical to Microsoft is the effect it will have on sales of its Surface tablets. Judging by Reller’s comment, the changes will probably affect all versions of the OS, including the RT release running on Microsoft’s tablets. This would be a major blow to the company’s hopes to challenge Apple’s iPad dominance and Android’s rapid growth in this crucial market – just as sales reports were picking up.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, made no secret that the launch of Windows 8 was a “bet the company” event. The share markets have yet to react to the news, and may not until Microsoft makes an official announcement of what the changes will involve. If a major revamp is on the cards the effect on Microsoft’s fortune and reputation could be catastrophic.
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Thanks to all those who commented but a glitch in the system seems to have removed them. Apologies for that - if you'd like to resubmit, I'd be happy to repost them
Windows 7 is the only version worth using - we won't touch Windows 8 with a greasy pole.
Dave
Instead of scare-mongering people over the impending OS update, it should be respected that a company as old (in the the tech world) and physical large as Microsoft not only had the balls to do something outlandish in th first but especially to listen to customers and hear them. From the rumours, they are not 'u-turning' as such, just amending the current product to address the complaints by its customers.Isn't that a good thing.
I agree that certain failures are not a huge thing in the grand scheme of things. Their arch 'fruity' rival has also had many flops, not that anyone cares to remember them.
I truly believe Steve Ballmer is the right man to make big calls if only because Gates says so, trusts him and has been with the company since the veritable beginning. However, presentation and marketing are everything these days and I feel they need a different frontman, someone else to step up on stage, to address the media, to go on interviews and invigorate excitement. Arguably Apple has not invented any wheels, just created some damn shiny spokes but Jobs was a fantastic orator which drive average products into the stratosphere.
Apart from the blistering fast startup times, the better use of RAM, the smaller O/S foot print, the better support for networking, all things that make Windows 8 better than windows 7, the only thing I can see that puts anyone off windows 8 is the new start screen...no issues with drivers, or poorer performance, just "I dont like the look of this new thing, so i will remain with an older system"...
I am a technical IT user, and there is no way that anyone can tell me that Windows 7 is better than Windows 8. First thing I will use as my arguement, Virtualisation, show me this product in Windows 7 that is better than Client Hyper-V in windows 8.
The one thing that make me annoyed, is that most the people complaining are just trying to jump on the new bandwangon without having a clue as to what they are buying...why adopt to the new technology if you are going to resist the new interface...surely it is your choice whether to move from 7 to 8
2012 and Windows 8 is much better than 2008R2 and Windows 7, look at any new feature, Direct Access, Branch Cache, VPN Reconnect, RD Gateway/Connection broker...all much much easier to setup and manage under the new O/S...dont use any of these features yet? why did you move to Windows 7 in the first place? was that not for a faster o/s? did we not see just as much complaining about changes to Vista when UAC came out...when people realise that Microsoft was the only O/S vendor which didnt have this security software in, everyone shut up...
If people are experiencing real problems with the new o/s (which is still major version 6, so same as vista and 7), I would love to hear about them, but people just tend to bat around the subject complaining about nothing...
As an early adopter of Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, I can say from all angles, that this release, this version, the included tools, are all brilliant...people just dont like "Metro/Modern UI" (even though you can install that archaic start menu look if you want under windows 8)
Totally agree with Chris - Windows 8 has more benefits which outweigh the negatives;
Sure, the interface is definitely geared around the tablet and touch screen, but the underlying tech is what makes it - fast boot, resume-from-sleep in a second (SSD!), superior hardware support, easier management, faster & optimized OS....
As the first user of the MSDN release, i haven't looked back, and was happy to spend the £25 (x4) to upgrade all home machines to Windows 8... beats having to buy a whole new computer to get an OEM version!
Big names are not infallible and can easily fall as we have seen in other sectors with major long term brands falling foul to market disruption (eg Kodak, Blockbuster etc).
Microsoft has made many such bad decisions over the years and been later to market in many area's but fought through due to sheer size and brand.
However brand is counting less and less and customers are more educated and able to discern the choices they have. Many are turning against MS as a legacy provider for the nimbler, slicker and more new world offerings and with MS still heavily weighted on windows and Office revenues there may be some shaky times ahead.
Seeing Microsoft make their 1st ever redundancies not so long ago shows the signs of change afoot.
Ian Moyse