Windows 8 may be ‘great’, but it’s not quite what we want

Microsoft is really pushing this Metro-bonanza hard. Not only is the interface on phones, but now it’s on the Xbox, the internet, PC’s, tablets, laptops….

I don’t know if Microsoft has entirely thought this through. The promise of a tablet PC that can do everything a desktop or laptop can do is beautiful, yet flawed if it’s not done correctly from the beginning. The concept of a tablet that can literally replace my desktop is a tantalizing one, but Microsoft appears to be removing key features of what could make it killer.

Windows on ARM was initially heralded as full-on Windows on a Tablet PC. Then, it was slightly backpedaled from that. Actually, Windows on ARM is limited; you can’t run third party applications on the desktop.

Ah, alright, everyone sighed. ‘Metro’ is the future anyway. Businesses will adopt these in record time, unlike the slow-but-steady adoption of the iPad in the enterprise. Actually… Windows RT devices can’t be managed by domains…. And there’ll be no tools to manage them in the enterprise (we still don’t even know if InTune will work with it yet) meaning the RT version of most devices is about as horrible to manage as the iPad is.

So… Windows 8 tablets are essentially as limited as iPads, with essentially no hard hitting applications in the catalog (yet; although Windows Phone, which has been out for a year is still touting 2009’s Angry Birds as a killer app) and their biggest advantage is a “fully featured” Office suite. But, we still haven’t seen that Office suite outside of demonstrations. Microsoft is being incredibly coy on what a “fully featured” Office suite actually is (and even the shipping version is only a “preview”). Not only that, but those applications aren’t even Metro based.

Is there something wrong inside Microsoft where the company can’t work between departments, and the marketing department can’t keep a leash on their developers’ mouths before they go promising something that actually won’t be delivered?

Microsoft promised, and almost delivered the company’s “three screens” strategy, which entails mobile devices, desktop computing and entertainment devices all working in tandem, flawlessly.

When Microsoft announced that they had ported Windows to ARM a few years ago, I had mad delusions of being able to be rid of my desktop entirely, replacing it with a nice looking dock and retaining just my screen, keyboard and mouse. It seemed like the future was upon us.

Whilst Windows 8 is a great step towards syncing everything everywhere, it’s not quite right. It doesn’t really sync to Windows Phone (Apollo is another untold story that Microsoft is desperately trying to keep secret), and it certainly doesn’t play nice with the Xbox (outside of the “Play to” button - which sometimes seems to go missing in Windows 8). The framework is there, but the devices just don’t co-operate yet. Apple’s already got this mostly complete. iCloud synchronizes everything important to you between your Mac, iPhone and iPad flawlessly. Applications install across different platforms, and music is downloaded to all your devices in one click.
It seems, that future isn’t this year. And that future doesn’t seem to be in Microsoft’s tea leaves further down the road, either.

Microsofties will cry afoul of this; and have done so to me airing some of my opinions on Twitter. They really believe Windows 8 is going to be the most incredible thing since Windows NT. Honestly, I’m disappointed. Windows 8 just doesn’t go far enough still.

As Apple drifts closer and closer to having a unified tablet and desktop OS and ridding itself of the “half desktop/half tablet” cognitive disaster that Microsoft has birthed, perhaps they are drifting towards finally snatching away some of that precious marketshare Windows has held onto for so long.

Apple, here’s your opportunity.

Disclaimer: An older version of this post was featured on my previous blog