Fixing Windows 8 - Microsoft begins to see reality

Surprise, guess what Microsoft is doing?  Updating Windows 8.1 this spring.  And one of the things they are going to be doing is making the User Interface (UI) more efficient with a keyboard and mouse.  So, it looks as though they are going to be fixing another one of Window's 8's mistakes.  Believe me, it was a mistake.  Eleven months ago when I got my newest laptop I was only slightly enthused to see it came with Windows 8.  Now, don't get me wrong, I like Microsoft, but sometimes those pudding heads running the show just don't think.  It's like they put their heads together and come up with one uniformed thought which goes something like this:  We're so big and powerful we can do what want.  What are the Consumers going to do, dump all of their PC's and buy IMACS?"  So, eleven months ago when I powered up my new laptop and saw Windows I was the OS I groaned.  Feeling that I'd probably been stuck with something I wasn't going to like but was going to have to make do with, I watch the cute, little tutorial videos.  To my dismay they were all about touch screens.  Someone should have told those shit heads at Microsoft that my newly purchased, and fairly expense laptop, did not come with a touch screen.  I don't know which jelly brain in their corporate offices made the decision to crap on those of us who use and mouse and keyboard, but he made it.

The update announcement, which was confirmed yesterday by some voice at Microsoft, had been leaked earlier.  In that leak I was surprised to see Microsoft was claiming that 40% of all devices with Windows 8 installed were touch screen enabled.  When I saw that percentage all I could do was shake my head.  They were going to screw over the majority of PC and laptop owners (60%) to satisfy a minority.  So, their real target customer was those owners of tablets and smart phones, no doubt because a bunch of pudding heads put their noggins together and decided that PC's and laptops are going the way of the dinosaur.  Another bit of bullshit thinking.  We owners of PC's and laptops do not go out and buy a brand new one every two years the way phone owners and tablet owners do. We use ours for working, rather then playing, and as a result can hold on to them for 7 or 8 years.  And if you're really computer savvy you just upgrade your aging computer.  It's a lot less expense to add more memory or increase your RAM then it is to buy a new computer.  Only a fool would buy a new computer if you can snap in a new video or sound card for a fraction of the money.  But those pinheads don't think that way.  If you're not constantly buying the latest laptop or PC then those devices must be dying off.  What horseshit.

One of the funniest things about reading the link above is that the horse's ass who released it makes a comment which goes something like this:  we don't want all of our touch screen users to think we're forgetting about them.  Hey, dumbshit, you crapped on a majority just to try and increase your market share among a minority.  Who the hell did you forget in the first place?  Maybe they still don't see the whole picture.

Bill Gates Returns (almost)

Bill Gates is returning to Microsoft - albeit in an advisory mode, or... something like that.  When I heard that all I could do was wonder what took him so long.  Face it, 2013 was not a banner year for the corporation, in fact it seemed as though every month or so someone with Executive Status was shooting themselves in the foot.  I'm sure Mr. Gates was not at all pleased.  Take Windows.  That's his baby.  He was responsible for an operating system which was unbelievably popular because it worked well.  Windows 8 was loathed by many, including me.  It had been pre-installed on a newly purchased laptop.  I wrote about it back then.  Why someone would create an OS designed more for touch screens then anything else was something I just could not comprehend.  You can use a tablet to view reports, verify information, and send email... oh, and putz around on, but you can't use it for data entry.  Try writing a report on one and you'll realize how time expensive it is.  Windows 8 was so unpopular they tried to do an update and they cursed us with 8.1, which turns out to be just as crappy.  I'd heard it was turning so many Lenovo tablets into expensive paperweights they stopped installing it. I don't know who the pudding brains were who thought Windows 8 and 8.1 were good ideas, but I do suspect they are now working in the mail room.

Almost back in the saddle again

Then there was the Xbox One, which was going down like the Titanic until Microsoft started caving in.  This was really a WTF moment in history.  They forgot that the Xbox was designed for video games.  What Microsoft did, in fact, was drop a shit bomb on gamers and try to turn the Xbox into a "Media Center."  They did this because they made too many assumptions about the Kinect.  You see, they sold a shit load, and as a result some jelly brain at Microsoft thought just about every family room in America had a Kinect attached to an Xbox.  What this jelly brain didn't realize was that he was, in actuality, having a brain fart.  You see, a lot of those Kinects they sold were in kid's bedrooms.  I'm not a kid and I bought one, not so I could do the Zumba, but rather to yell commands while playing Skyrim and Mass Effect 3.  The issues kept rolling out and Microsoft started backpedaling because they had no other choice and that made them look dumb as bricks.

I think Bill Gates is coming back, even in a limited capacity, because in 2013 Microsoft failed in a big way.  They failed to understand the needs of their customer base, and not just their needs, often their basic requirements.  To be a successful corporation in today's world you need to fulfill your customer's expectations.  You need to keep your base happy, because they will turn on you in the blink of an eye and the whole world will know how much they disapprove.