Windows 8 could baffle, perplex customers

Windows 8 represents a radical departure from previous Microsoft operating systems, one that some early users have found frustrating.

By Peter Svensson,?AP Technology Writer / October 22, 2012

In this June 2012 photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer comments on the Windows 8 operating system.

Damian Dovarganes/AP/File

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The release of Microsoft's?Windows?8?operating system is a week away, and consumers are in for a shock.Windows, used in one form or another for a generation, is getting a completely different look that will force users to learn new ways to get things done.

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Microsoft is making a radical break with the past to stay relevant in a world where smartphones and tablets have eroded the three-decade dominance of the personal computer.?Windows?8?is supposed to tie together Microsoft's PC, tablet and phone software with one look. But judging by the reactions of some people who have tried the PC version, it's a move that risks confusing and alienating customers.

Tony Roos, an American missionary in Paris, installed a free preview version of?Windows?8?on his aging laptop to see if Microsoft's new operating system would make the PC faster and more responsive. It didn't, he said, and he quickly learned that working with the new software requires tossing out a lot of what he knows about?Windows.

"It was very difficult to get used to," he said. "I have an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old, and they never got used to it. They were like, 'We're just going to use Mom's computer.'"

Windows?8?is the biggest revision of Microsoft Corp.'s operating system since it introduced?Windows?95 amid great fanfare 17 years ago.

Ultimately,?Windows?grew into a $14 billion a year business and helped make former Chief Executive Bill Gates the richest man in the world for a time. Now, due to smartphones and tablets, the personal computer industry is slumping. Computer companies are desperate for something that will get sales growing again. PC sales are expected to shrink this year for the first time since 2001, according to IHS iSuppli, a market research firm.

The question is whether the new version, which can be run on tablets and smartphones, along with the traditional PC, can satisfy the needs of both types of users.

"I am very worried that Microsoft may be about to shoot itself in the foot spectacularly," said. Michael Mace, the CEO of Silicon Valley software startup Cera Technology and a former Apple employee.?Windows?8?is so different, he said, that manyWindows?users who aren't technophiles will feel lost, he said.

Microsoft is releasing?Windows?8?on Oct. 26, and it doesn't plan to cushion the impact. Computer companies will makeWindows?8?standard on practically all PCs that are sold to consumers.

Speaking to Wall Street analysts on Thursday, Microsoft's chief financial officer Peter Klein said he isn't very concerned that user confusion could slow the adoption of?Windows?8. When Microsoft introduces new features, he said, people eventually realize that "those innovations have delivered way more value, way more productivity and way better?usability." That's going to be true of?Windows?8?too, he said.

Instead of the familiar Start menu and icons,?Windows?8?displays applications as a colorful array of tiles, which can feature updated information from the applications. For instance, the "Photos" tile shows an image from the user's collection, and the "People" tile shows images from the user's social-media contacts. (Microsoft is licensed to use AP content in the?Windows?8news applications.)

The tiles are big and easy to hit with a finger ? convenient for a touch screen. Applications fill the whole screen by default ? convenient for a tablet screen, which is usually smaller than a PC's. The little buttons that surround?Windows?7 applications, for functions like controlling the speaker volume, are hidden, giving a clean, uncluttered view. When you need those little buttons, you can bring them out, but users have to figure out on their own how to do it.

"In the quest for simplicity, they sacrificed obviousness," said Sebastiaan de With, an interface designer and the chief creative officer at app developer DoubleTwist in San Francisco.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ZJWLWArAFKQ/Windows-8-could-baffle-perplex-customers

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