Thanks to low-cost tablets and Ultrabooks, more powerful processors and a growing diversity of form factors, Windows 8 might be primed to make gains.
The OS remains unpopular, though, so the appeal of better, cheaper machines will take hold only if Win8 itself becomes more satisfying. That puts the pressure squarely on Windows 8.1.
All the pieces will need to come together by this fall, lest Redmond suffer poor back-to-school and holiday sales for the second consecutive year. But June will still be the OS's first major proving ground. At the beginning of the month, the company will face many of its corporate customers and developers at its TechEd conference in New Orleans, and at the end of the month, it is expected to debut a preview version of Windows 8.1 during its developer-centric Build conference in San Francisco.
Until Redmond actually divulges new details, it remains to be seen how much -- and how quickly -- its new OS will change. Even so, June represents an opportunity for Redmond to reclaim the Win8 narrative and to circumvent a summer of continued negative buzz. Here are five Windows 8 criticisms Microsoft is likely to address in the next 30 days:
1. Windows 8's learning curve is too confusing.
Even Windows CMO/CFO Tami Reller now admits that Windows 8 needs to be easier to use, but Microsoft officials have also stalwartly defended the new OS's Live Tile-oriented Modern UI as a key part of the Windows line's long-term vision. Redmond recognizes, in other words, the need to mollify confused and dissatisfied users, but it's not clear how willing the company is to make tweaks.
The rumor mill has already concentrated on several potential fixes -- namely, whether Microsoft will restore the Start button or allow desktop users to boot directly to the desktop. If Win 8.1 integrates these features, aggravated users will no doubt appreciate that familiar tools have been resurrected to help them along. But it won't be enough.
Many Win8 features rely on hidden controls, such as the Charms Bar, which is central to navigating the OS but only accessible if users know how to swipe it into visibility. This sort of absence of visual clues or other guides has contributed to Win8 user frustration, and many will expect Microsoft not only to implement key features -- such as a "boot to desktop" mode -- but also to make the OS more intuitive from top to bottom.
2. Windows 8 is too schizophrenic.
This criticism is related to the above but deserves its own breakout category. For all the success Microsoft users have enjoyed syncing documents across devices via SkyDrive, it's ironic that cohesion between Win8's two interfaces is so poor. Internet Explorer is a particularly notable offender; if a user switches from IE in the Modern UI to IE in the traditional desktop mode, the Web browser will behave like a distinct app in each environment. Open tabs can't be synced as the user jumps from one UI to the other, for example. Windows 8.1 is rumored to include IE11, so Microsoft will have a chance to address this problem, and it's also rumored to include similar fixes, such as making the Control Panel equally accessible in each environment.
3. Windows 8 doesn't have enough apps.
The Windows Store now included nearly 80,000 Modern apps -- a far cry from the 700,000 or so that both iOS and Android enjoy, but still a substantial tally that somewhat negates the "not enough" criticisms. Microsoft isn't out of the woods, though; if the problem was originally "not enough," it's morphed into "not good enough."
Indeed, at least one study has suggested that Win8 users barely touch Modern apps, and it's not unreasonable to implicate Microsoft's lackluster native apps for setting a weak example. The OS's built-in Mail app, for example, lacks the functionality offered in Outlook.com, Microsoft's free Web mail service. To Redmond's credit, the company has been making efforts to attract developers, and Windows Store submissions have picked up after leveling off during the first few months of the year. Even so, there's still more work to be done.
4. Windows RT seems pointless.
Windows 8 has attracted its share of criticism, but Windows RT has been an absolute dud, with -- literally -- a 0% share of the OS market, and little support from OEMs. Microsoft raised many eyebrows when it decided to split its new OS into full-fledged and lightweight versions, and the decision makes even less sense today than it did then.
By this fall, Atom-based Win8 tablets could cost as little as $300 to $400 -- less, in other words, than Microsoft initially charged for its Surface RT. If the complete OS -- including its x86 access, which RT lacks -- can be had for such a low price, why should anyone pay comparable sums for an RT device? Will Redmond and its partners produce RT offerings that are cheaper than low-cost Android tablets? Will Microsoft and company reveal some other appeal?
Rumors have suggested Microsoft will debut a smaller Surface model this month, possibly an RT-based tablet to compete with the iPad Mini. It remains to be seen if this gossip translates to a real product, but it certainly adds to the intrigue in the meantime.
5. Windows 8 offers nothing for desktop users.
Windows chief Julie Larson-Green has insisted in recent weeks that Windows 8's new Start Screen is superior to the Start button it replaces. So far, desktop users haven't been persuaded. Worse, some traditional users have felt alienated by Redmond's recent touch-centricism. For desktop users, Win8 features some stability improvements under the hood -- but the benefits of the Modern UI, such as they are, have so far been most apparent on tablets.
Microsoft knows that many enterprises are still moving to Windows 7, and that a large portion of its user base might consequently wait to upgrade again until Windows 9 appears. Nevertheless, many will look for the company to reassert its dedication to not only today's mobile-oriented BYOD users but also the desktop-minded users who've helped Microsoft make its name.
2013年5月30日星期四
Windows 8 Release Preview: new apps, improvements, and Flash support
Two months after giving people a first taste of Windows 8 with the Consumer Preview, Microsoft's back with the latest step toward the release of the company's next operating system: the Windows 8 Release Preview. The new version was supposed to be released the first week in June, but Microsoft is apparently ahead of its development schedule — though that hasn't stopped the leaks from coming fast and furious. The Release Preview isn't nearly the upgrade the Consumer Preview was, but it's a clear move toward a stable, feature-complete operating system. We got to spend some time with the Release Preview on a Samsung Series 9 laptop, checking out the new features and trying to figure out whether Windows 8 will be equally well suited to touch and non-touch devices.
The basic look and feel of Windows 8 hasn't changed — even Aero is still present, though it'll be gone before RTM — but performance has definitely been improved. There weren't major problems with the Consumer Preview, but it now feels like things move a little smoother and a beat faster, especially as you flip between apps.
Multiple monitor support has been improved, too, and as we flipped through a few screens or disconnected and reconnected a tablet things worked perfectly and automatically. Apps can now be opened and closed on any monitor, and hot corners are extended to all your screens.
Flash is perhaps the most significant new feature in the Release Preview. Microsoft and Adobe worked together to build a stripped-down version of Flash for IE10, which adds some features (like video playback) while skipping over the pieces that typically cause performance and battery life problems. Microsoft is also maintaining a list of sites that are authorized to use Flash on Windows 8, so your experience will certainly vary — YouTube's allowed but Rdio currently isn't, for instance. (Full Flash is still available in Desktop mode.)
From a hardware standpoint, we were curious to see how Windows 8 does on a device without touch capabilities. We'd primarily used the Consumer Preview on tablets, and spending some time using a mouse and keyboard showed us how much time Microsoft has spent making the OS work well with any input — there are keyboard shortcuts and hot corners everywhere you look. The company's also working with Synaptics and other companies on creating software drivers that add some of the Windows 8 gestures to a laptop's trackpad, so that if you swipe from the right on your trackpad it'll still bring up the Charms menu. Our device was running an alpha build of the drivers, and there were plenty of bugs and problems, but having the gestures available made it much easier to switch from a tablet to a laptop.
The gestures can be hard to figure out, though, and using Windows 8 is a little clunky until you know them. So we asked Microsoft reps how the company would help new users figure out Windows 8, and the answer was essentially that they're working on it. Gabe Aul, a director of program management for Windows, said that the company's research and testing showed that within an hour, most people (intentionally or otherwise) figured out most of the gestures, and even those that didn't were able to navigate the OS without any trouble.
The other frustrating thing about Windows 8 is how often we're still forced to jump between the Metro interface and the standard Desktop look, because a setting or an app only ran in Desktop mode. The onus for solving that, of course, lies with developers, who will be called upon to build the Metro equivalents of everything from Notepad to Photoshop to Diablo III. The store expanded today alongside Release Preview, and we got to take a look at a few new apps ahead of time, like drink-making app Cocktail Flow, which gives you a database of beautiful and clever drink recipes. Wikipedia also built a Metro app, which is really beautiful and intuitive — you can also search Wikipedia from anywhere, which is pretty great. The full store just went live today, and there are plenty more Metro apps to wade through in Release Preview; all are currently free, too.
Microsoft's Bing team also created Sports, Travel, and News apps, Flipboard-like Metro apps that style text for your particular screen, offer big images, and make it easy to flip through a lot of content. The apps look great, with easy sorting by category, news source, or your favorite team. They're solid examples of how Metro apps should work and look, and should be good examples for developers to follow.
Most of the core apps haven't really been changed beyond some stability and reliability improvements. The Photos app has a new splash screen, with a big image and icons for your various albums — Windows 8 continues to be all about full-screen content. You can now pin a particular inbox, so you can get notifications for that particular account on the Start Screen. The People app has also been changed a bit, so you can now see a Facebook-style feed of what your friends are up to.
Zune Pass also now comes integrated into the Music app, which adds a nice subscription music service to the device — you get 30 days free when you first install Windows 8. Since Microsoft is clearly phasing out the Zune branding, we can't help but wonder if this is the Woodstock music service we'd heard about, but at least until E3 it remains a Zune device. You can play Zune music, along with videos or photos, on your Xbox through the Xbox Companion app, though the app's not installed by default on this version.
Windows 8 Release Preview feels very close to a finished product. Microsoft assured us that there are plenty of surprises left for the final, RTM version of the operating system, but even in its current state it feels like something you could install and use full-time. It's fast and stable, and with the store open has plenty of new apps for users to explore. There are still some kinks to work out — we don't ever want to be taken to Desktop unless we go there on purpose — but it's clear that Windows 8 isn't far from ready for prime time.
The basic look and feel of Windows 8 hasn't changed — even Aero is still present, though it'll be gone before RTM — but performance has definitely been improved. There weren't major problems with the Consumer Preview, but it now feels like things move a little smoother and a beat faster, especially as you flip between apps.
Multiple monitor support has been improved, too, and as we flipped through a few screens or disconnected and reconnected a tablet things worked perfectly and automatically. Apps can now be opened and closed on any monitor, and hot corners are extended to all your screens.
Flash is perhaps the most significant new feature in the Release Preview. Microsoft and Adobe worked together to build a stripped-down version of Flash for IE10, which adds some features (like video playback) while skipping over the pieces that typically cause performance and battery life problems. Microsoft is also maintaining a list of sites that are authorized to use Flash on Windows 8, so your experience will certainly vary — YouTube's allowed but Rdio currently isn't, for instance. (Full Flash is still available in Desktop mode.)
From a hardware standpoint, we were curious to see how Windows 8 does on a device without touch capabilities. We'd primarily used the Consumer Preview on tablets, and spending some time using a mouse and keyboard showed us how much time Microsoft has spent making the OS work well with any input — there are keyboard shortcuts and hot corners everywhere you look. The company's also working with Synaptics and other companies on creating software drivers that add some of the Windows 8 gestures to a laptop's trackpad, so that if you swipe from the right on your trackpad it'll still bring up the Charms menu. Our device was running an alpha build of the drivers, and there were plenty of bugs and problems, but having the gestures available made it much easier to switch from a tablet to a laptop.
The gestures can be hard to figure out, though, and using Windows 8 is a little clunky until you know them. So we asked Microsoft reps how the company would help new users figure out Windows 8, and the answer was essentially that they're working on it. Gabe Aul, a director of program management for Windows, said that the company's research and testing showed that within an hour, most people (intentionally or otherwise) figured out most of the gestures, and even those that didn't were able to navigate the OS without any trouble.
The other frustrating thing about Windows 8 is how often we're still forced to jump between the Metro interface and the standard Desktop look, because a setting or an app only ran in Desktop mode. The onus for solving that, of course, lies with developers, who will be called upon to build the Metro equivalents of everything from Notepad to Photoshop to Diablo III. The store expanded today alongside Release Preview, and we got to take a look at a few new apps ahead of time, like drink-making app Cocktail Flow, which gives you a database of beautiful and clever drink recipes. Wikipedia also built a Metro app, which is really beautiful and intuitive — you can also search Wikipedia from anywhere, which is pretty great. The full store just went live today, and there are plenty more Metro apps to wade through in Release Preview; all are currently free, too.
Microsoft's Bing team also created Sports, Travel, and News apps, Flipboard-like Metro apps that style text for your particular screen, offer big images, and make it easy to flip through a lot of content. The apps look great, with easy sorting by category, news source, or your favorite team. They're solid examples of how Metro apps should work and look, and should be good examples for developers to follow.
Most of the core apps haven't really been changed beyond some stability and reliability improvements. The Photos app has a new splash screen, with a big image and icons for your various albums — Windows 8 continues to be all about full-screen content. You can now pin a particular inbox, so you can get notifications for that particular account on the Start Screen. The People app has also been changed a bit, so you can now see a Facebook-style feed of what your friends are up to.
Zune Pass also now comes integrated into the Music app, which adds a nice subscription music service to the device — you get 30 days free when you first install Windows 8. Since Microsoft is clearly phasing out the Zune branding, we can't help but wonder if this is the Woodstock music service we'd heard about, but at least until E3 it remains a Zune device. You can play Zune music, along with videos or photos, on your Xbox through the Xbox Companion app, though the app's not installed by default on this version.
Windows 8 Release Preview feels very close to a finished product. Microsoft assured us that there are plenty of surprises left for the final, RTM version of the operating system, but even in its current state it feels like something you could install and use full-time. It's fast and stable, and with the store open has plenty of new apps for users to explore. There are still some kinks to work out — we don't ever want to be taken to Desktop unless we go there on purpose — but it's clear that Windows 8 isn't far from ready for prime time.
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