[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Will Windows 8 Survive in the Post-PC World? here

[Moosehouse]

You sir are talking out of your backside

[hrabialolo]

Mr. O'Neill you will be surprise ,just watch when MS catch a speed .

[ZipFolder]

Maybe Windows will need to refocus, but I am sure people still want to use windows because it is a lot cheaper at times than Android or Apple. Business will still want to use Windows. Some business still use XP!

[kjohn034]

Is it assumed that a post pc world will simply be all mobile? I don't think so.
If "mobile" devices have the power of a desktop then fine, i'll gladly dock it to a keyboard, mouse, bigger monitor, and optical drive for dvd ripping. Ooops! that sounds an awful lot like a desktop pc to me. Desktop PC's aren't going anywhere but they will certainly get a lot smaller as they should.
I sure hope Microsoft makes it because buying Apple hardware may bankrupt me.

[LenZek]

Those who insult the writer, rather than debate the technology, obviously have nothing useful to say.

Tablet computers are now shipping with 4 processor cores. Smartphones (eg the Samsung Galaxy SIII next month) will also have 4 cores. Imagine what they'll be the year after, and the year after that. Sixteen? Thirty two cores? Tablets and phones will be VERY powerful computers.

The other factor working against Microsoft is that the world is moving away from the Intel x86 processor, what Windows was traditionally based upon, and moving to the low-powered ARM processor. So all those old Windows x86 applications become useless in an ARM world (Microsoft's ARM-based tablet won't run current Windows apps).

Microsoft is now cornered, like a captured beast, and has nowhere to go. It won't collapse overnight, but will progress into a slow downsize over many years.

[bikdav]

LenZek:

You just brought up one of my big concerns. If x86 apps and files cannot interchange with ARM apps _ and vice versa, I see a BIG mess ahead. when this issue was first brought to my attention, that gave me pause. I like interchangeability.If Windows doesn't do that with windows 8, it won't be attractive.

[symbolset]

"Right?" (crickets)

We went mobile and Microsoft forgot to come with us. They thought they were driving this train but it turns out... not.

They'll still move a bunch of Windows 8 units but the writing is on the wall. Who wants to upgrade their laptop when they spend all their time on a tablet or phone?

IDC isn't exactly legendary with their predictions. They were predicting 30M units for launch year Windows Phone numbers. I'm expecting this transition to be stunningly swift, outpacing their projection by several years.

[karthiq]

I wonder how the previous predictions of these guys turned out.

[ADDanoid]

Maybe it's the television and audio industry that should be worried. After all, if (phones sales + tablet sales) > television sales or (phone sales + tablet sales) > stereo sales then "Oh No!" we must be in the post TV and Stereo era!!!

[NeelGupta]

ARM Computers ie most Tablets and Smartphones shipped with the new Windows cannot Dual Boot ! Windows 8 feature: "Secure Boot" requires manufacturers to lock down the BIOS from loading any other Operating System.
So, Android takes the lead !

[Murkalael]

Well, just a fact, you can't play Starcraft, WoW, RoM, Lineage, etc neither on a tablet nor on a smartphone. As long games like MMORPG keep growing, PC share will be the biggest ever. You need keyboards, mics,TS/Ventrillo and a lot of features that will never fit in the tiny screens of mobile devices.

[scophi]

There is no post-PC world.

Desktops are not going anywhere. Sales are still very strong. They still own the corporate world.
And 80-90% of internet traffic still comes from desktops, not mobile devices.

It has nothing to do with the power or speed of a mobile device. It has to do with purpose. A mobile device isn't designed to do what a desktop does, and vice-versa. There will always be a need for desktops.

Yes, mobile devices are becoming popular. But they are complementary devices, not replacement devices.

Radio didn't disappear with TV came along. Desktops didn't disappear when laptops came around and they won't disappear when tablets take off. People will still buy all three.

This is the mistake that Microsoft is making with Windows 8. They still need to make a complete desktop OS. Metro should be it's own separate OS, not the default environment for desktop installations.

I wish people would stop promoting this ridiculous idea. There is no post-PC world.

[mipa]

Wrong.

[kjohn034]

scophi, on 04 April 2012 - 05:00 AM, said:

This is the mistake that Microsoft is making with Windows 8. They still need to make a complete desktop OS. Metro should be it's own separate OS, not the default environment for desktop installations.

Totally agree with your post but mostly with the fact that Metro should be a tablet/phone OS only. I thought i was the only one who thought this.
The problem is this:
Would anyone develop apps for it? I think not. So Microsoft plugs it into Windows and says all future apps should be the Metro style. They go so far as to include Visual Studio with the SDK and guess what? You can only compile Metro apps with it. So they are obviously strong arming their developers. What do they get in the end? A whole bunch of Metro apps for the tablet scene so they can finally compete with Apple and Android.
And the sad fact is none of these apps belong on the Desktop.

[samirsshah]

Microsoft should have two pronged strategy for post-PC world.

First, instead of trying to bring Metro and Windows 8 to PCs it should rather bring Windows 8 technology to PCs in the form of Windows 7 Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 SP2 (just like what was done with Windows XP SP2). This should have no Metro, no tiles, nothing...(Analogy: Running Metro on a PC is like running Windows 3.1 on Digital Equipment Corporation's VMS, you could have done it but what was the point?)

Second, Microsoft should bring Windows 8 to tablets, which can be both ARM or Intel but the focus is on bringing down the cost as much as possible. There should be no desktop mode but the Windows Explorer in Intel SHOULD NOT execute Windows 7 executables. Instead Windows 8 should have an ability to execute Windows Phone 7 Applications in an enlarged mode (a la iOS) till Windows 8 tablet specific Applications are developed.

Strategy: Support PCs with Windows 7 SP2, open new horizons on tablets with Windows 8 with Metro.
(If you have any doubts about this strategy think of Digital Equipment Corporation's VMS and Windows 3.1 analogy and everything will be crystal clear...)

[kennyrosenyc]

I have no idea where this type of nonsense comes from but I find it disturbing. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A POST PC WORLD. While it may be true that many consumers may choose to drop computers in favor of tablets this is not even Apple's goal. Apple is selling an ecosystem ie. the phone goes with the tablet goes with the computer etc. Why would anybody think that they ever intend to build a tablet that can replace the desktop? It is virtually impossible as desktops are advancing as well. The new generation of components are still too large to fit in a tablet and will continue to be so as they are still getting better. The very notion that you can design a next gen tablet with today's tablet is just plain dumb. Microsoft may become number 2 or even number 3 but so long as the vast majority of development tools reside solely on the Windows it will exist. Apple users have to install Windows to even play games like Skyrim at full resolution with all the bells and whistles. Windows is infiltrating Apple's hardware and while Apple is bragging about the gaming features of their hardware they're just selling more copies of Windows.

[OscarAgreda]

in 5 years from now, we will look at this post and say:

Wow: Shane O'Neill , is Nostradamus.. he saw the future !!

[TOREZA33]

Windows8...ha ha... crap will stay crap, until someone from asian countries take over and makes a complete re-designs.Won't be no more: "windows do not respond"...like these days....

[kennyrosenyc]

TOREZA33, on 04 April 2012 - 10:15 AM, said:

Windows8...ha ha... crap will stay crap, until someone from asian countries take over and makes a complete re-designs.Won't be no more: "windows do not respond"...like these days....

This is totally ignorant. Not only has it been well documented that Windows 8 IS A COMPLETE REDESIGN. It isa redesign that is, as we speak, taking developers input into consideration. In other words, Microsoft is letting people who know how to make software tell them what they need to change. Like say the way they went back and added the Start menu back in. Also, I've never seen 'windows do not respond' anywhere other than your post as it makes absolutely no sense and is not even a sentence. Perhaps you need to upgrade from whatever operating system you have to one that actually uses English. If you meant to say that Windows freezes, that's silly as well. Apple computers freeze about 10% less often than PCs by the numbers. Not even really worth commenting on.