Windows 8 Beta: 8 Questions That Will Make Or Break Microsoft's New OS

Windows 8, the recently unveiled operating system from Microsoft, is a huge gamble for the software giant. The followup OS to Windows 7 is split into two different views that exist on the same machine; the user can switch between either at will: First, the mouse-and-keyboard-friendly 'desktop view,' which features that classic Start-bar-and-icons look from Windows past; and second, the touch-friendly 'metro view,' which will run on all future Microsoft tablets and which Microsoft is pushing as the future of Windows and computing.

While Microsoft's software businesses still makes more money than I can count, the fate of its position in the consumer market just might depend on whether or not Windows 8 and its dueling views are a futuristic hit or a junky, clunky flop. With the spectre of America's forceful rejection of Vista (Microsoft's flop of an OS that preceded Windows 7) looming over this latest Windows redesign, Microsoft cannot afford many missteps. In order for Microsoft to avoid a Vistacular repeat failure, it needs to give satisfactory answers to the following make-or-break questions:

1. When is this thing coming out?

There is not even a timeframe for the release of Windows 8 at this point, which is a disappointing roadblock, given that it was displayed with so much flair and excitement earlier in the week. Sure, you can grab the buggy, un-supported developer's beta now, but paying customers hardly have a clue when to expect a final version. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says to expect Windows 8 some time in 2012, with analysis pointing toward the later part of that year. Will all of the enthusiasm have dissolved by then?

2. How much will it cost, and how easy will it be to get?

Mac's Lion OS X--though not the radical overhaul that Windows 8 is from its predecessor--cost $30, took half an hour to install and didn't require any physical media for installation. It really felt like the future of operating system updates, from payment to install method to speed.

With the function and feel of their OS pointing toward the future, will Microsoft's installation, too, be easier, faster and cheaper than it has been? Though it is currently possible to install Windows 7 from the Microsoft website, Microsoft does not recommend it, nor does it give a discount from the $120 it charges for Windows 7 Home Premium.

Might Microsoft change its minds and deliver a fast-acting, CPU-and-wallet friendly digital download for Windows 8 (especially with the bitter taste of Vista still in people's mouths)? And if they don't make any of these concessions to the consumer, will retailers at least wrap the software in packaging that doesn't require box-cutters and a butcher's knife to get open?

3. Can Metro View and Desktop View live side-by-side?

Right now, Windows 8 features both the Desktop view (the classic Windows look with the start bar and icons) and the Metro view (the tablet and touch-friendly look that has grabbed most of the press). Both looks will ship on all versions of Windows 8 for PCs, and users will be able to switch between the two as they like, between the apps built for Metro and the classic apps built for the Desktop.

Early reviews say that, as of now, this doesn't really work. Transitions between Metro and Desktop are clunky and unnatural; the existence of two different user interfaces on a single desktop has some skeptical that Windows 8 ever work smoothly, no matter how much tweaking and graphical smoothing-over Microsoft does between now and the official release.

Microsoft needs to figure this out, and fast. Windows and Windows Live Senior Vice President Steven Sinofsky has said that Windows 8 will not feature "modes": that is, the ability to open "Desktop Mode" or "Metro Mode," and that the team is committed to making Metro view and Desktop view live together in harmony.

If Microsoft can't do this in a visually appealing, easy-to-use way, Windows 8 may very well become Vista 2.0. The defining feature of your OS must not be simply adequate; it has to shine. Critics shouldn't be questioning its very existence on top of its functionality.

4. Is anyone going to design apps for this thing?

On August 31, the Windows Marketplace for Windows Phone hit 30,000 apps. This sounds like a lot of apps until you hear that the Android Market has over 200,000 apps and the iTunes store has over 425,000 apps.

This is for a smartphone operating system, of course, that has less than six percent of total market share, and not a desktop operating system that has somewhere near 90 percent market share among desktop OS's.

At the Build Conference for developers, the Microsoft team touted how easy it was to write code for Metro apps, spending a good hour on the new, apparently coder-friendly Windows Runtime development platform. What would take dozens of lines of codes can now be accomplished in five!--for example.

Did the developers attending (and watching around the world) catch what Microsoft was pitching? The Windows 8 Metro view, and the nascent Windows App Store, would both benefit greatly from a glut of third-party apps; an underpopulated app selection, on the other hand, would certainly tarnish the luster of Windows 8.

5. Will Microsoft be able to sell any tablets?

They are at a huge disadvantage already, with iPads dominating the market and Android tablets slowly creeping upwards across a number of different devices. Microsoft will have to win customers away from those two just like they are going to have to pry away developers. The announcement that Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 8 will not support Flash might be one lure, as Microsoft forwent the notably-absent-from-iPads plugin in favor of improved battery life.

The combination of long battery life, brand recognition, hype and a good user experience might be enough to convince consumers to buy Windows 8 tablets. And if not, then what? With even CEO Ballmer calling Windows Phone sales disappointing, what makes Microsoft think that a similar OS will attract new consumers to their tablets?

6. Will future generations of Apple software be a threat?

Mac released Lion in late July 2011, which means that by the time Windows 8 is ready for a general release, Apple will have had up to 17 months to respond with a new software release. Lion already integrated features of iOS, including several of the most used multitouch gestures and an iOS-lookalike Launchpad for apps; how much farther will they go in their next operating system to try to catch up to Windows' touch-based OS? Or do they want to catch up at all?

One analyst has claimed that iOS and Mac will have completely merged by the end of 2012; could Apple sneak in its own tabletified operating system before Microsoft, steal its thunder and render it late to the touchy-feely party?

7. When will touchscreen PCs become widespread enough to justify a touchscreen OS?

A much-quoted promise by Steven Sinofsky: "The minute you use a touch device with Windows 8, by the time you go back to your laptop, your desktop, you're going to be hitting that screen, and I promise you'll have fingerprints all over your monitor if it doesn't support touch."

Let's ignore the truth value of that statement for now and ask: Who is buying touchscreen PCs? Right now, touchscreen PCs are more expensive than their non-touch counterparts by what appears to be a fairly healthy margin. Will the buying public shell out extra money (during a recession!) for touchscreen capability on their primary desktops? My assumption is that most Americans view touchscreen monitors as luxuries rather than necessities at this point: Can Windows 8 single-handedly change this perception? Or will the price of touchscreen PCs have to drop before they become mainstream?

Tablets are, according to even the most optimistic estimates, are three years away from becoming primary computing devices. For Microsoft to bet on Windows 8 and Metro, it must be fairly confident that either consumers will soon be flocking to touchscreen desktops or that manufacturers will be implementing touchscreen technology on all of their monitors in the coming year.

8. Will businesses use it?

Microsoft's bread-and-butter is in software for Enterprise, where it still dominates Apple to a tune of 90 percent market penetration. Businesses, however, have been very reluctant to update their Windows even to Windows 7: It took until April 2011, or ten years after Windows XP was released, for Windows 7 to overtake Windows XP in terms of total market share.

One of the major knocks on touchscreen devices and tablets is that they are not good productivity devices; without a mouse and physical keyboard, typing is more difficult, using spreadsheets and word processors is more difficult, shooting off a thousand emails and managing dozens of website tabs is slower. Windows 8--especially if all of the emphasis and programming and app development is indeed being done for Metro view--appears to have placed value on a rich user experience over productivity. Though Desktop view will remain on machines, and the classic productivity applications will still function as they did, will businesses be distracted by the commotion surrounding the animations and apps and such and stick with their older versions of Windows?

Check out more of our comprehensive coverage of Windows 8. First, take a look at the best new features that Microsoft plans to roll out with the release of Windows 8. Then see an overview of the tablet-optimized "Metro" side of the OS. And check out how Microsoft's plans for Windows differ from Apple's plans its proprietary desktop OS.

Comments

[Juan Manuel]

06:35 PM on 11/06/2011

I tried this thing in a VM in my HackBook (that uses iHazard 10.6.8 AMD64 and Gentoo Linux i686 in dualboot using chameleon as bootloader), and it ran like a snail despite the fact that the VM had 2GB of RAM allocated to it. I had to allocate 4GB (The hackbook got 8GB of RAM) to get it running somewhat normal. The metro UI looked and felt clumsy and ugly. It was the type of dull, proffessional, productive, boring and uncustomizable thing that the corporate droids love to use. After like only two or three minutes I removed that VM and the win8 iso.

[Todd Franklin]

03:46 PM on 09/21/2011

Really? This is the future of Windows? People are actually going to buy this? I tried the beta in a VM. The 64 bit edition takes up 11 gigs of hard drive space and runs idle using 600mb of memory with no apps besides windows services running. This is optimized for tablets? Really? Start menu is effectively gone; it being replaced by "Metro" First thing I did was delete the shortcut (tile?) to IE accidentally and haven't figured out how to put it back. Terrible. I was truly dumbfounded that they expect everyone to throw away the "start menu" they've been using for 17+ years." There had better be a way to turn "metro" off completely if you want users, especially business users, to get on board. Also, they've ruined windows explorer now with the "ribbon" Remember drop down menus? You can turn them on, but they won't work with the ribbon. Quick Microsoft, back to the drawing board! Mr. Gilbert needs to add a 9th question: "How do we keep customers from saying: "WTF is this?" when they see Windows 8?"

[EggZacktly]

06:36 PM on 09/19/2011

Before I make up my mind on this I am downloading the Beta to install it and try it.
What I like about Windows is that I can install it on my computer unlike the Mac OS. When Apple can develop an operating system that can install on any personal computer then I will consider it. Even Linux installs on any machine, even a Mac.

[serbingood]

07:50 PM on 09/18/2011

As of today, I think the "Metro" interface will be a big fail for small business and anyone using it on a desktop PC. My experience is with small insurance claims companies where the "I.T." department was the smartest person in the room at the time of a problem. Staff using PCs are not trained in PC usage and generally have learned how to use a word processing program or spreadsheet program on their own. And even with that level of learning, their knowledge is minimal at best.

I would suggest to small companies, lock out the Metro, stick to the "classic" interface and reduce the frustration of trying to 'teach' a new OS to employees.

While the Metro might work great on a tablet, I just can't see it on a tower PC in the workplace. It strikes me as counter productive and unnecessary as a business tool. The general design of the present Windows, Mac and Linux desktops have remained very similar for 17+ years for a reason; they work well for the system they were designed for and more importantly, the user.

In the business world, let's not reinvent the wheel. It was pretty good to start with.

[p8q2b8ng]

06:19 PM on 09/18/2011

Metro view is awful. No reason for it.

Apps is a shortened term for applications. The things people refer to as "apps" are just small applications. Most are pointless, but a few are useful. It's not going to provide anything new, just make it more accessible for people who don't know much about computers.

Touchscreen PC is an awful concept. It is slower, less accurate, and less efficient than a mouse. A stylus gets in the way, but is the only way to "accurately" use touch screen. For a touchscreen computer, you have to be close to the screen and holding your arm up the whole time. It is also a far movement from the keyboard. The only benefit to touch screen is being easy for people that have never used a computer before. There are many reasons why it is bad. If a computer comes with touchscreen try and disable the feature. It will slow your computer down.

Business will stick to Windows XP and 7. Windows 8 will be good for people who nothing about computers, otherwise, stick to Windows 7. Boot time seems to be great though. Only good thing I've seen so far (and I've been reading everything, including technical, about it).

If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer.

[waukonwhite]

04:11 PM on 09/18/2011

At what point does cloud computing and OS/application virtualization start biting into the Windows client market? Do I simply rent Windows applications and storage space from Amazon as needed for example and it doesn't really matter what my native OS is?

With most smart devices being able connect to an external display and use a bluetooth keyboard will businesses simply move Windows applications into the datacenter and just provide docking areas for their employees?

What about the next generation of web applications based on HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3 that also provide client agnosticism and rich interfaces?

Microsoft is obviously asking themselves these questions and hedging their bets. They will win at some level whether its with Visual Studio, Windows Server, or Office but they could easily lose the client war. Having only a 1% share of the U.S. smart phone market with Windows Phone 7 doesn't really get the message out there around Metro. Maybe Windows 8 changes all of that but the clock is ticking and not in Microsoft's favor.

[bryanzth]

10:27 AM on 09/18/2011

OK. Poor MS-Fanbois. I'm too hard on Vista 7 and the soon to be officially named Vista 8. But here's something you all can bite into. The Design Principles of Metro:

Metro Design Language Principles:
http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/M­etro_%28design_­language%2­9#Principl­es

In the past, Interface Design of MS Products was either robust (Word and Excel) or derivitive (Winders). Now Word and Excel as well as other of their pet apps have experienced feature drift to the point that it's overly complex, more of a programming environment. At the same time, Winders (XP, Vista 6, Vista 7, and now Vista 8) has gotten overly pretty and overly "push" featured. Merging to the incomprehensibility of On-screen programming of VHS recorders, cable systems and so on.

So, look at the design principles cited, and other design guidelines ostensibly for Vista 8, and see if they are fulfilling their goals. I remain skeptical.

BZ.

[Valerio della Porta]

10:01 AM on 09/18/2011

Does anybody really care about the next version of Windows?

[bryanzth]

10:31 AM on 09/18/2011

Man, I don't know. They keep jerking the UI around and most newbies haven't even mastered XP much less the tile strategy of Vistaphone. I dunno.

Not to mention the constant finessing of popular social networking sites - a-hem. It feels like every time you enter the site yet something ELSE in the UI has changed. Facebook is a good example.

I really don't care about feature creep. I am frankly sick of it. I want robust features that don't jump around like recent versions of Word and Excel. But you know, the script kiddies who have now grown up and taken over the process from interface designers, they know better.

BZ.

[Valerio della Porta]

03:23 PM on 09/18/2011

I feel exactly the same way, I haven't seen anything truly useful in the last ten years.

[sazbad]

02:39 AM on 09/18/2011

Mac users are the most ignorant people in this world because they are so amused by the UI of mac. Read this articles and educate yourself.

http://www.macworld.com/article/140793/2009/05/macsecurity.html
http://www.macworld.com/article/140704/2009/05/java_vulnerability.html

[Marionette]

07:37 PM on 09/18/2011

i know right?

i love hearing 'MAC's don't get viruses, malware, crash, have security vulnerabilities and just generally run better'..

lol, MAC's are training computers.. learn2rightclick

[sazbad]

02:31 AM on 09/18/2011

Why on earth Mac users think that their OS is superior to Windows OS? When 90% of market shares are of windows 7 how blatant it is to say windows is crappy? Anyone who knows the software industry should be aware that 90% of the client software are developed in windows. Apple needs many many years to develop a developer suit like Visual studio which is the de-facto for the software industry. Windows has not been able to catch up on the server industry which is dominated by different Unix platforms. But in no way Apple is near to Microsoft.
Microsoft had the guts of creating a whole new OS by which the whole world changed because of its extensive impact on peoples life. If mac was the OS in this world there would be only 1% computer user and that's why MAC utterly failed to dominate the OS market in the whole universe where microsoft invaded each and every house in this world where people can afford 200$. Apple have used FreeBSD which is literally a free kernel and built an UI on top of that and making money out of it.
Thinking iphone as the primary computing device is nothing but an imagination because smartphones are still accessories to the computers. So having most market share on the smartphone does not hamper the computer world which is solely dominated by Microsoft.

[goijra]

08:04 AM on 09/18/2011

Pixar Studios would disagree and they have a track record second to none.

[Marionette]

07:22 PM on 09/18/2011

and everything they run on a MAC, will run on a PC.. next..

btw, if RISC was such a great concept, why was it trashed?

[EggZacktly]

06:24 PM on 09/19/2011

When Jobs ran Pixar he did everything on PC workstations and servers.

[desertlover]

11:19 PM on 09/18/2011

So marketshare is the best indicator of quality? Enjoy your meal at the world's BEST restaurant, McDonalds.

[sazbad]

02:15 AM on 09/19/2011

only a MAC user can compare an apple to an orange

[sazbad]

02:29 AM on 09/18/2011

Why on earth Mac users think that their OS is superior to Windows OS? When 90% of market shares are of windows 7 how blatant it is to say windows is crappy? Anyone who knows the software industry should be aware that 90% of the client software are developed in windows. Apple needs many many years to develop a developer suit like Visual studio which is the de-facto for the software industry. Windows has not been able to catch up on the server industry which is dominated by different Unix platforms. But in no way Apple is near to Microsoft.

Microsoft had the guts of creating a whole new OS by which the whole world changed because of its extensive impact on peoples life. If mac was the OS in this world there would be only 1% computer user and that's why MAC utterly failed to dominate the OS market in the whole universe where microsoft invaded each and every house in this world where people can afford 200$. Apple have used FreeBSD which is literally a free kernel and built an UI on top of that and making money out of it.

Thinking iphone as the primary computing device is nothing but an imagination because smartphones are still accessories to the computers. So having most market share on the smartphone does not hamper the computer world which is solely dominated by Microsoft.

[Querent]

08:19 PM on 09/18/2011

It's bad enough to post this mindless crap once without posting it twice in a row.

[edenooch]

11:28 PM on 09/17/2011

is it rushed? will it have bugs for the first 6 months like all windows versions? will it work with my hardware even though i dont have the latest? if not i have to buy costly ram and cpu upgrades?

[DRaymond]

01:56 PM on 09/18/2011

Windows 8 beta already has a smaller memory and processor overhead than Windows 7, so it is unlikely that it will need any sort of upgrade, although you may want to trade in your mouse for a touchpad or digitizer if you want to do much in Metro.

But my big picture advice to everybody is this.  Do not upgrade Windows mid-life on a computer.  Use the version that was current for your computer when it was built plus any Windows Update releases, but do not Upgrade until you upgrade the computer itself.

[Lahonda]

08:45 PM on 09/17/2011

Win 7 Pro and up are MS's best OS effort to date. It is rock solid. Just DO NOT migrate from Vista! From XP? All is well.

[Silverwolf72]

01:14 AM on 09/18/2011

I have win 7 64 on my new computer and I wish I could go back to xp
It is really buggy with a couple of my programs!

[DRaymond]

01:58 PM on 09/18/2011

You must have some really old stuff.  Anyway the cool thing with Windows 8 is that it will include hyper-v.  so if you have something that only works right under XP then you can.

[EggZacktly]

06:29 PM on 09/19/2011

Try right clicking the program, choosing 'properties' and running the program in xp compatiability mode. If that doesn't work try installing the 32 bit version instead

[Sunzuki]

12:03 PM on 09/18/2011

I have Vista and I have never had a single problem with it. A lot of these posts are totally out of date.

[Hanson982]

06:26 PM on 10/20/2011

lies

[RickfromDetroit]

06:02 PM on 09/17/2011

I have crashed Vista Ultimate 2 times since October 2007 and I am still running my HP Pavilion on restore points, and the machine runs beautiful. Stability is no longer an issue like it used to be with Windows 3.1, 95 and later versions. The main problem with windows has been the same for years, the REGISTRY, and this should the the top priority for Microsoft. Once Microsoft adds a REGISTRY CLEANER to the OS, Windows will be the CLEANEST OS available and will rival Unix & Linux.

[Roburt]

01:02 PM on 09/18/2011

nah, Linux can run on a 512mb PC, Windows can never catch that.

[DRaymond]

02:01 PM on 09/18/2011

And exactly why is that relevant to anything anymore?  When was the last time I used a 512mb PC?

[Marionette]

07:25 PM on 09/18/2011

mebbe, but then i like to think my OS wasn't written by a kid in his underwear drinking jolt cola at 3:00am when committing to SVN with little or no oversight..

additionally, having to write all of my own drivers sucks, either that or waiting for someone else to do it with no support etc..

[Randall Peterson]

05:43 PM on 09/17/2011

I don't like fingerprints on my screens. Period. It looks really cool on CSI and MI-6 but in the real world it's not gonna fly in MY house. All I want from Microsoft is a reasonably priced (did you read that Steve?) REASONABLY priced OS that won't crash and that will support all my software.

[DRaymond]

02:03 PM on 09/18/2011

Windows 8 desktops will likely feature large touchpads or small digitizer tablets like the Wacom Bamboo.  Touch monitors never have been ergonomic.  At the high end you might have some horizontal touchscreens like the Microsoft Surface.