After all those surveys that gave encouraging insights on the anticipation towards Windows 8 based tablets, here’s another survey whose results are not rosy for Windows 8. According to Forrester Research, consumer interest to purchase Windows 8 tablets is plummeting. The interest fell from 46 percent in the first quarter of the year to 25 percent now. This fall in interest in a product that is still one year away from official launch is not good news. Below are few areas on which the Windows 8 folks at Microsoft should focus so that its tablet-optimized OS will be a hit with both consumers and business users.
- Availability of apps: By the time of launch, Microsoft should ensure that there is an ample library of apps targeting different consumers. Microsoft needs to take third-party app developers into its stride so that they can build apps to utilize the full potential of ARM processors. This new ecosystem of apps and third-party developers is the key differentiator and selling apps is completely a new ball game for Microsoft which used to sell Office.
- Collaboration capability: Users of different flavours of Windows 8 should be able to collaborate and communicate seamlessly. This factor can be a USP in attracting the business segment users. Microsoft is on track with the launch of products like SkyDrive. But a key challenge would be to manage the disparity in the processing power and the different versions of software.
- Simplicity: Focus should be on simplicity in form and function rather complicating the things and driving the customer away. The Metro interface with resizable and movable tiles confirms that Windows 8 is on the right path, but it needs to stay on track.
- Creative solutions to solve past frustrations: Leveraging the power of desktop software on Windows 7 tablets is cumbersome due to incompatibility of the OS with touch screen features. Windows 8 and Metro UI are handling some of these issues. Closure, maximize and minimize options of traditional applications like Word is smooth on touch-friendly Windows 8. But still Microsoft needs to find creative solutions to address issues like selection of individual cells on an Excel sheet. And it needs to do this without pinching users to buy new versions of software.
- Quality: Microsoft needs to think twice before handing Windows 8 to every tablet vendor out there. In the beginning for some time, it needs to work with only premium manufacturers who have an eye for details and quality. After all, the proof of the pudding is in eating and an OS is only as good as the hardware it is paired to.
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[...] previous post on the focus areas of Windows 8 mentioned about the essential need of apps for the success of Windows 8 tablets. And Microsoft [...]