{"id":3033,"date":"2011-09-14T09:49:55","date_gmt":"2011-09-14T08:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3033"},"modified":"2011-10-07T17:25:12","modified_gmt":"2011-10-07T16:25:12","slug":"has-microsoft-found-its-mojo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2011\/09\/has-microsoft-found-its-mojo.htm","title":{"rendered":"Has Microsoft found its mojo?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got home very late from work last night as I watched the keynote from Microsoft\u2019s Build conference before leaving the office. Tonight, I guess I\u2019ll be doing the same, for day 2.<\/p>\n

At the start, I was mildly interested, Microsoft has been uninspiring for a while now \u2013 failing to gain traction with a mobile operating system, with Windows selling well despite an uncertain future, and competitors apparently cleaning up in the tablet market. Microsoft\u2019s stock price\u00a0has been pretty-much static and many (myself included) have questioned the company\u2019s leadership, especially as it lost a succession of high-profile executives.<\/p>\n

[blackbirdpie url=”http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/markwilsonit\/status\/113642789048299520″]<\/p>\n

There was a time when I was a great Microsoft advocate, but the keynotes have always been a little dull \u2013 what we\u2019ve seen with Windows 8 so far is inspirational though. By midway through the first keynote I was tweeting:<\/p>\n

[blackbirdpie url=”http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/markwilsonit\/status\/113651607991877632″]
\n[blackbirdpie url=”http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/markwilsonit\/status\/113652108292657152″]<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve long since argued that Microsoft should bring its phone OS to PCs \u2013 dump the legacy, and make a bold move towards lightweight, single-purpose apps. After all, as\u00a0Brett King<\/a>\u00a0put it:<\/p>\n

[blackbirdpie url=”http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/brettking\/status\/113650275071442944″]<\/p>\n

Content is the future and operating systems, devices, all of that infrastructure is just a means to an end \u2013 it\u2019s how we get to the data. \u00a0Even so, I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m a pragmatist \u2013 and some of my colleagues are still ranting about the introduction of the ribbon interface in Office (almost half a decade ago) \u2013 so how will people respond to the removal of chunks of Windows NT legacy and a totally new user experience as part of the \u201cmetrofication\u201d of Windows?<\/p>\n

[blackbirdpie url=”http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/markwilsonit\/status\/113649993813983232″]<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I think Microsoft has been extremely smart. Some are questioning the\u00a0existence\u00a0of two user interfaces on one operating system but why not? I can swap out window managers on Linux, we have seen \u201cclassic modes\u201d of previous Windows versions and, yes, I\u2019m sure a traditional Windows 32 app will look ugly on a Windows 8 system but that\u2019s the price of supporting legacy \u2013 like Classic applications on OS X (now, thankfully, confined to the past).<\/p>\n

\"Windows<\/p>\n

Microsoft is supporting \u201ctraditional\u201d applications, alongside a move towards HTML5 and XAML and \u2013 this is the smart part \u2013 running apps on multiple architectures (x86 or ARM) without recompilation. In one huge leap they have taken Windows forward and there seems to be a convergence between PC, phone and web. One Windows to rule them all. Sure, that\u2019s what Microsoft has been telling us for ages but many of us doubted the company\u2019s ability to pull this off.<\/p>\n

There are some great new features in Windows 8 and whilst I\u2019m tempted to provide a run-down, others have done a much better job \u2013 I\u2019ll concentrate on the analysis\u2026<\/p>\n

For consumers, Windows 8 looks fantastic, supports some great new hardware, and could even win back some mindshare from Apple [steady on Mark…]<\/p>\n

For the enterprise, there is only one question that matters: what\u2019s the business case for a Windows upgrade \u2013 why would a CIO invest in Windows 8? Don\u2019t give me \u00a0features and advantages, but real business benefits (Microsoft has never been good at this, and would probably argue this is where partners add value).<\/p>\n