Microsoft – Break with history?

Microsoft tries to break with its relentless history.

• Microsoft is attempting to break with a new version of Windows that delivers a new look and feel as well Android apps on the desktop but in an unwitting nod to history, the launch was not without problems.
• For 25 years, Microsoft has followed a good OS with a bad one and vice versa.
• Windows 10 is an excellent OS meaning that history is clearly indicating that Windows 11 will be a fiasco which is why there is so much pressure on Windows 11 to be a hit.
• The main features are:
  • First, visual design which is centred around what Microsoft calls a frosted glass aesthetic with rounded edges to app windows as well as many other touches.
  • The start button has been moved to the middle of the taskbar (it can be moved back) to make touch input easier as well as a number of other tweaks to optimise for touch.
  • These include larger touch areas as well as a new touch keyboard that is much easier to use than the current one.
  • A new feature called Snap Layouts makes arranging app windows much easier and much less random than in previous versions of Windows (although Linux has been able to do much of this for quite some time).
  • In short, it is a nice visual update but then again both the disastrous Windows Vista and the horrible Windows 8 also looked pretty good on launch day.
  • Second, the Windows store which will now support Android apps running on Windows as well as allowing other stores and payment mechanisms to co-exist at no charge in a clear dig at Apple.
  • Android apps come with the caveat that this has been enabled via a partnership with Amazon meaning that the user also has to have an account with Amazon and be signed in to use it.
  • Alternative stores and payment mechanisms are nothing new as the Steam and Epic app stores have been available on Windows for a long time.
  • However, what is new is that they may now also be able to offer their apps directly through the Windows Store.
  • The biggest change here is clearly Android apps and is part of the focus of bringing the PC and the phone close together.
  • Microsoft’s strategy here is clear which is to make the PC much more usable in conjunction with a phone to boost loyalty to the PC and compete against the device integration offered by Apple.
  • Because the PC ecosystem is one of many partners, it will never get the level of integration that iOS can achieve but many will value the far greater freedom that users have with Windows when compared to macOS.
  • Third, hybrid silicon architectures which should help balance both performance and power much more effectively and I think that this is mostly about Arm.
  • Following the excellent performance and power efficiency claimed by Apple and verified by users of the M1 chip, the pressure is no everyone else to replicate this.
  • This feature appears to be part of that push to ensure that the chip makers like Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, and so on are able to create Arm-based processors that can run Windows as well as the M1 runs MacOS.
• Windows 11 needs to be a successful release and the fact that it is a free upgrade from Windows 10 shows that price is unlikely to be a problem.
• Windows 10 support runs until 2025 meaning that users will have plenty of time to upgrade and that there will be alternatives should the launch not go very well.
• On the surface, the OS looks good as it is not nearly as big of an upgrade as some of those made in the past that led to the relentless good / bad rhythm that Microsoft has suffered in the past.
• Hence, there is a possibility that Microsoft might just make a break with history with Windows 11, but I will reserve judgment until the unforgiving public has got its hands on it.