Five ways to save Windows 8

Is it possible to save the Windows 8 operating system? Microsoft should ask this question very seriously. After all, the numbers do not lie. The market has taken Windows 8 even worse than the last unsuccessful desktop OS from Microsoft - Vista. Even ASUS, which did a big bet on Windows 8, reports bad sales. Samsung has decided not to release a tablet with Windows 8 in the profitable market of Germany.

If you just drastically reduce the price of Windows 8 and Office 2013 for mini-tablets, this will not help. Neither Windows 8, nor its close relatives Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 do not even appear in the statistics of Net Applications on mobile devices and tablets for February 2013. Not help, in my opinion, and discounts on Windows 8 for personal computers. Nowadays there are a lot of cheap computers with Windows 8, but they are not selling well.
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So what can Microsoft do to improve the situation? Here are my suggestions.

1) Throw away Metro

Officially, the main interface of Windows is called the "design language of Microsoft", but whatever it is called, it crashed on the desktop. Inveterate fans of Windows will declare that mastering the new system is a snap. To which I will answer: why master something new in order to do the same? Metro, like other unfinished "innovative" interfaces like Linux Gnome 3.x, is a solution without a problem.

Microsoft's interface designers, repeat after me: "The desktop is not the same thing as a tablet or smartphone." Metro can work on the last two, but it has no place on the first.

2) Revert the Aero interface from Windows 7

Unlike Vista or Windows 8, people loved Windows 7 OS. And why? Although Aero was different from the XP interface, he was still well acquainted, comfortable with it. And while there were improvements in it. But the desktop mode of Windows Explorer in Windows 8 is simply no good.

Although there are no radical innovations in Metro, it is still different and annoying. And like Metro, it does not improve the user experience. Why do you think programs like Star8 from Stardock, which return the Start menu, are so popular? I'll tell you: not because people love the old interface, but because the Aero style is more convenient for them.

3) One desktop

And finally, the main question. Let's make the new Aero desktop mode in Windows 8 the only interface. Seriously, why are there two interfaces in one operating system? Why do we need the Internet Explorer 10 navigation bar in the Metro interface and in desktop mode?

And the matter is not only in appearance. Different applications work differently. For example, in IE 10 there is a built-in Adobe Flash. And you think you can see the same sites in IE 10 regardless of where you launched it? You are mistaken.

It turns out that if you run IE 10 from Metro, then Flash can only be viewed if the site is in the Microsoft list Compatibility View. But if you run this site in desktop mode, it will always work without problems! Microsoft wants to completely confuse users, or what?

I will quote IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell: “Some Microsoft solutions in retrospect turned out to be erroneous, in particular, the ban on booting to the desktop mode and deleting the start button. These two things are constantly mentioned. ”

This is hardly surprising. When Windows 8 just appeared, front-end guru Jacob Nielsen immediately stated that two modes on one device is a “recipe for usability issues.” And not only because users have to remember where a function is, but mainly because switching between two interfaces creates more problems than it solves.

Exactly! To summarize, give us one interface, and immediately!

4) Fix Windows marketing

Repeat after me. Windows 8 is not Windows RT. Surface Pro is not Surface RT. People already know this. Do you know who does not know this? Ordinary people. If I were given 10 cents every time when my next not technically enlightened friend asks why his desktop applications do not work in Windows RT or Surface RT, I would have already become rich.

Windows RT, like its Microsoft hardware platform, Surface RT, is a subset of Windows. On RT you can not install "normal" Windows-programs. Only some Metro programs can be installed. RT can not be used in those firms that work with Windows and rely on Active Directory.

In short, RT is not really Windows. So call it differently, write on the Surface RT some other nameplate. Stop misleading users!

5) Improve regular applications in Windows 8

No one is waiting for free Office 2013 on every Windows 8 computer, but have you ever seen regular Windows 8 applications? There is Mail, which does not support Post Office Protocol (POP) or message chains. There is a photo application in which there are no most basic editing functions. If Dropbox can automatically sync anything in a folder on my PC to the cloud and back, then why can't SkyDrive do the same thing?

It seems that Microsoft is already working on improving the regular Windows 8 software. Maybe even we will see the results of this work already this month.

But although it will be nice, in itself it is not enough. Microsoft must fundamentally change and improve the look and feel of Windows 8. Otherwise, it will have to passively monitor the decline in the market share of its OS.

I'm not a big fan of Windows, but in Windows 8 there are a lot of nice moments. And let Microsoft’s promises to improve security are as empty as before, but Windows 8 is actually faster and more stable than Windows 7.

Even two of these three points could make Windows 8 a mandatory upgrade for everyone. If Microsoft swallows pride and gives users a simple, old-style interface in which they can enjoy working, Windows 8 can still win out.

But what if not? Then you need to ensure good availability of Windows 7, at least until the release of Windows Blue, because there will be no big sales of Windows 8.