Is Windows 8 ‘the New Vista’ ?
Microsoft employees reportedly refer to Windows 8 as “the new Vista,” a nickname guaranteed to make company executives cringe — and a perception that’s hastening the arrival of Windows 9.
Respected blogger Paul Thurrott, who covers Windows on WinSupersite.com, disclosed the nickname in a tweet.
“Can we call Windows 8 the new Vista? Not so fast, analyst says.” Call it what you want. That’s what they call it inside of Microsoft.
— Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) January 17, 2014
Although Windows 8 has received a somewhat warmer welcome from IT professionals and end-users than Vista (How could it have been colder?), Win 8 has suffered from slow sales traction. More than a year after it debuted, Win 8 (plus Win 8.1) passed the 10 percent marketshare figure, according to NetMarketshare. Overall, however, Windows (including Win 7, XP, Vista, and Win 8) continued to hold onto about 90.7 percent marketshare, while Mac retained 7.5 percent in December 2013. Linux garnered 1.73 percent that month.
This doesn’t bode well for Windows 9 Threshold, scheduled for release in April 2015. It’s critical, then, that Microsoft designs the OS customers really want.
Microsoft is expected to copy a page from Apple’s playbook, releasing different versions of the OS to take advantage of each device’s strengths — unlike Win 8’s approach, which used the same OS, regardless of device.
In addition, Windows 9 could see the return of the popular Start menu, according to published reports. When Microsoft unveiled Win 8, users maligned the company for removing this feature. (Sure, it came back in 8.1, but not where people wanted it.)
To avoid making Win 9 the “new, new Vista,” Microsoft has to listen to customers, both enterprise and consumer. Many have already had lots to say about Vista and Win 8 — and they haven’t been afraid to tell the technology giant their thoughts. Let’s see if Redmond responds. Source