The future of Windows in personal markets

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antoniosk

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#230785 13-Mar-2018 09:41

Bill Bennett published an article on Geekzone this morning - Windows no longer Microsoft's main focus - with a referenced opinion piece on ZDNet by Ed Bott.

Reading both of these this morning got me thinking about the post Windows world, the post PC world, and other numerous post-something worlds that are coming.

Of course I'm sure MS will come out and issue committments to markets etc, but ignoring them, what do people here think? It's not a retreat from the personal market, but anyone who's worked in an organisation that is essentially paying attention to your area knows how awful that feels and limits what you can achieve.

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Antoniosk

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#1973797 13-Mar-2018 10:02

I still need a PC for work. I work off grid a lot and need to do some serious (for a laptop) number crunching.

95% of the time I don't need a personal PC. Every now and then there is something that is easier on a laptop. One example is getting content onto a hotel room TV screen. Most hotel TVs will take an HDMI cord.

Mike

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#1973816 13-Mar-2018 10:29

How many times have we heard that .

From that article. .
"Windows accounts for only a quarter of today’s Microsoft."
So they are going to abandon that & let another company (or Linux) take over. Will never happen.
At worst , Windows will be seen as a gateway to other services they sell.

Of course MS are focusing on new products & new markets . Its grow or die .

GEOMAX

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#1976662 14-Mar-2018 18:24

mmmm have read articles lately suggesting that after windows 10 lifecycle (2019) microsoft will revert to charging for new versions as in the past.Can you hear the money rolling in ?

alasta

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#1976684 14-Mar-2018 19:08

The reality is that Windows has never really delivered a good experience for the home user market. Hobbyists and tinkerers, yes, but not the average consumer who just wants to look at Facebook, pay bills and book travel.

With the huge range of internet connected devices that people have at their disposal, and increasing trend of workplace issued laptops, you have to wonder why non geeks would bother to buy a traditional laptop/desktop.

amiga500

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#1979195 17-Mar-2018 21:05

Many home users stick with a PC or laptop out of habit. If I could buy a reasonably priced Android phone that got timely security updates for a few years I might dump the PC altogether. In fact I could do 99% of what I need on an Ipad Mini. I was trying an Ipad Mini the other day, & typing on it was a pleasure compared to a smartphone.

Technofreak

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#1979207 17-Mar-2018 21:33

I use my laptop far too much to do away with it. I use Word and Excel at home almost daily. Doing that sort of work on a tablet or heaven forbid a phone would be tortuous. I've always seen tablets and phones as a consumption devices, whereas laptops/desktops are a creation devices.

Yes, I have a tablet with Word and Excel but pretty well only use it to view documents and not edit or create them on the tablet.

If Microsoft go away from a decent OS for laptop use I'd switch to Linux. I don't think they will, there's far too much use of the the OS in the business world to drop it altogether. As it is now the Home versions are just stripped down versions of the Professional versions. The work has already been done to produce the Professional versions. There's next to no extra work to make the Home version. Money for old rope in fact.

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TwoSeven

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#1979259 18-Mar-2018 10:22

I Find the development of Windows quite interesting at the moment. I hear the phrase ‘Modern Desktop’ and I think that is quite accurate if one changes the term desktop to actually mean device.

Traditionally for me as a Software Engineer, Windows has been a platform for development and for hosting developed applications. In an office environment it has also been the platform for creating and collaboration of information and hosting enterprise software. I have always seen the apps that are built into Windows (such as paint) as the surfacing of underlying APIs to demonstrate capability. I see that continuing, for example Paint3d

For myself, I don’t see the concept of mobile phones (or even phones) continuing for too many years. The concept of a dedicated phone device doesn’t make sense to me given eSims and LTE, so I think the term ‘smart phone’ will gradually morph to smart device, with telephony just being an app.

Finally, considering Windows Core, Project Andromeda, S Mode and the ability for Windows to handle complex subsystems (as features). As a developer I think Windows is a very good endpoint for delivering complex services that can be targeted more specifically to different audiences - both by MS and by third party vendors creating business and consumer apps. With apps being able to be cloud based, on premises and hybrid, I think it will be increasingly important for developers to be able to think in that 3D space and so I think having such a multifaceted endpoint to surface apps on is a good thing.

I haven’t referred to Social and Web because I think these are just apps and app-features. I don’t use the term ‘desktop’ much now either because this is just a reflection for a need for a certain type of compute and storage capability (a type of device).

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GEOMAX

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#1979368 18-Mar-2018 15:57

I have android phone and tablet and windows laptop and desk top and use them all.I also observe my grand children (and others) holding a phone or tablet in one hand and touch screen with one finger on other hand. I also see grand children at home using lap tops etc with two hand typing for more complex jobs (more than 160 characters) . I think back to when I got a new Nokia 5120 digital phone and saw it had messaging. I new nobody with a capable phone so thought it was a dead loss and would never take off....enough said. Evolution will continue in ways I cant imagine.

richms

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#1979405 18-Mar-2018 17:50

Do none of you play games at all?

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MikeB4

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#1979410 18-Mar-2018 18:05

If I didn't do a lot of photo stuff I would probably use Chrome OS

freitasm

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#1979430 18-Mar-2018 18:40

MikeB4: If I didn't do a lot of photo stuff I would probably use Chrome OS

First mention of a credible Windows replacement.

Tinkerisk

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#1979436 18-Mar-2018 19:21

1101:

So they are going to abandon that & let another company (or Linux) take over. Will never happen.

I'm not sure about 'never happen'. But I'm sure about more and more.

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#1979439 18-Mar-2018 19:46

I don't think we'll see a post-PC world for some time. It's interesting that some of you are talking about desktops and laptops interchangeably, and even considering dumping them altogether. I just couldn't do it.

I have a laptop, a smart phone, numerous servers, and a main desktop PC. I use the desktop daily, but I find using a laptop to be tedious. Mine is only pulled out when I need to demo software, debug something on another site, or travel. It is used so infrequently, that I literally reinstall Windows (or occasionally FreeBSD), and set it up with software on a per-use basis, before shoving it in a corner and forgetting about it until I need it again.

I use a 21 year old Microsoft Natural Keyboard (the original), and a nice screen at a comfortable viewing distance, with a choice of mouse or touch pad for navigation. There is no way a touch device, or keyboard/screen combination will ever give me the comfort I need to relax and write code. Quite frankly, I have no interest in a post-PC world... I'd rather take up another hobby than put up with the frustration that comes from using touch devices.

Windows is my go-to OS, because everything just works. Specifically, my favourite version was Windows NT 5 Beta 2, which eventually became Windows 2000. I've been in search of a replacement since then, but nothing else offers the ease of use, software diversity, and interface I enjoy. Microsoft seems intent on moving more towards a mobile-friendly design (still arguably better than the Teletubbies design of XP), which makes other desktop alternatives seem more appealing. I'm hoping Wayland support in FreeBSD eventually delivers that alternative, or ReactOS rapidly advances beyond the alpha stage.

I would hate to see Windows become yet another platform on which to run apps and collect personal information for targeted advertising, but that is the way I feel they are going. Provide a store, sell cheap apps, collect money from sales, and profile users. No thanks.

TwoSeven

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#1979441 18-Mar-2018 19:56

freitasm:
MikeB4: If I didn't do a lot of photo stuff I would probably use Chrome OS

First mention of a credible Windows replacement.

I don’t see this competing against windows as a whole, more likely System S (Windows 10 S)

I suspect Windows isn’t just limited to just one market segment. So I find it odd that something developed for a specific niche market could be billed as a ‘replacement’ for something that competes across quite a few market segments.

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mattwnz

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#1979444 18-Mar-2018 20:00

Windows 10 in terms of the metro interface and apps side of things is a bit of a failure IMO. IMO most desktop users just want an updated version of windows 7, with proper applications, where windows 8 moved away from this. Windows 10 moved back to it a bit, but it is still not idea. I still love the old control panel of windows 7 and older, rather than the metro settings section. It may be different for people who use windows 10 as a tablet, but IMO the metro apps still suck.Partly it is due to a lack of developers wanting to develop for it, and a lack of native google apps. The solution maybe for them to support android apps natively, or even ios apps, but I can't see apple allowing that. I think this is why the Mac is still popular amoungst creators, because apple have kept ios and iox quite separate. It is also a bit of a pity windows 10 always needs to be updated, rather than peopl being able to stick to an old version. But I guess that will change if they release a completely new version and require people pay to upgrade. I am just sick of things in windows 10 breaking after an major update, and having to reinstall windows 10 again. eg the start menu has a habit of breaking and not working at all after some previous updates, likewise the start bar.

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